The Gyanvapi originally the temple but later converted into Mosque is located Adjacent to Kashi Vishwanath temple in Banaras, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Shivling (symbol of Lord Shiva) was discovered after the water inside a pond like well, which is used as Wuzukhana by Muslims, was pumped out of it. After the Shivling was unearthed during the survey, Civil Judge (Senior Division) Ravi Kumar Diwakar ordered the sealing of the disputed Gyanvapi structure and prevented Muslims from entering.
CHRONICLE OF GYANVAPI OR VISHWESHWAR MAHADEV
4th-5th century– The Kashi Vishwanath temple is said to have been built during the Gupta period by Chandragupta 2, also known as Vikramaditya.
653 AD– The famous Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang had given a glimpse of the Kashi Vishwanath or Vishweshwar Mahadev temple in his writings.
16TH CE-The site originally had a Vishweshwar temple or Vishwanath temple, established by Todar Mal in conjunction with Narayana Bhatta—the head of Banaras’s most-famous Brahmin family.
17th CE– Vir Singh Deo Bundela, a close associate of Jahangir, appears to have refurbished the temple. Precise details about the temple and the history of the site are debated to an extent.
1669 –Aurangzeb ordered the demolition of the temple and commissioned the construction of the Gyanvapi mosque, in its place. The temple’s plinth was mostly preserved and continued to function as the mosque’s courtyard; the southern wall was transformed into the qibla wall, complete with cusped arches, external mouldings, and toranas. The name of the mosque is derived from an adjoining wall, the Gyan Vapi (“Well of Knowledge”).
The pious knowledge of the Well was converted into Wuzukhana where muslim use to wash their hand, foot and many other body parts before offering prayer.
1776-1778- Ahilyabai Holkar, Malhar Rao’s successor (and daughter-in-law), built the current Kashi Vishwanath Temple to the south of the mosque, but it had a very different spatial configuration and was ritually discordant.
1809-Tensions were raised when the Hindu community attempted to build a shrine on the “neutral” territory between the Gyanvapi Mosque and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Soon after, the Holi and Muharram festivals fell on the same day, sparking a communal violence. On the scene, a Muslim mob murdered a Hindu cow and poured its blood into the well’s sacred water. The Gyanvapi was set on fire and attempted to be destroyed.
1984- In 1984, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and right-wing Hindu Nationalists launched a nationwide movement to recapture mosques built on the sites of Hindu temples, notably the Gyanvapi. But was stopped to avoid a communal riot.
2019- In March 2019, a few muslim local residents were caught burying a small statue of GOD Nandi near the north wall of the Gyanvapi structure.
Kashikhand of skanda Purana literature says -The Vishweshwar lingam started to occupy a popular place in the religious life of Hindus sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries, and Vishweshwar was the major deity of the city.
American scholar Diana L. Eck finds medieval chronicles to affirm the notion of Adi-Vishweshwar premises being the original home of the lingam.
In 1884 JAMES PRINSEP, an antiquary and colonial administrator also mentioned in his book called the society of India.
Hindu civilization being continually oppressed by Muslim invaders, since time immemorial.
The temple had reportedly existed for more than 1700 years (from the reign of a Vikramaditya) until being razed by Aurangzeb, as evidenced by the continued presence of a Lingam among other aspects, and Hindus were devoid of their religious prerogative to provide water to lingams.
