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Gyanvapi Mosque
The Gyanvapi Mosque is a mosque located in Varanasi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The site was originally an ancient Hindu temple of Shiva or Kashi Vishwanath, one of the twelve sacred Jyotirlingas. The mosque was constructed in c. 1678 CE during the reign of the Muslim Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, a decade after he issued a royal decree (firman) in 1669 ordering the destruction of the ancient Hindu temple.
A comprehensive ASI survey found that the mosque was constructed on the remains of a pre-existing large Hindu temple. The present structure incorporates architectural components of the previous temple, with visible Hindu motifs and sculptures on its pillars. However, both Hindus and the Muslims claim the right to the land, and ownership is currently disputed.
The site originally had a Vishweshwar temple devoted to the Hindu deity Shiva. It was built by Todar Mal, a premier courtier and minister of Akbar, in conjunction with Narayana Bhatta, a pre-eminent Brahmin scholar of Banaras from Maharashtra, during the late 16th century.
The temple contributed to the establishment of Banaras as a vaunted center of Brahminic assembly, drawing scholars across the subcontinent esp. Maharashtra, for adjudicating a spectrum of disputes concerned with Hindu religious law. Architectural historian Madhuri Desai hypothesizes that the temple was a system of intersecting iwans —a borrowing from Mughal architecture— with prominent pointed arches; it had a carved stone exterior.
What was on the site prior to the temple is debated by scholars and has been extensively contested by the local Hindu and Muslim populations. Desai said these multiple histories of the original temple and tensions arising out of the location of Gyanvapi fundamentally shaped the sacred topography of the city.
21st-century accounts of the history of the mosque, as purveyed by Hindus, centre around a litany of repeated destruction and re-construction of the original temple which is situated in contrast to the timelessness of the lingam. The original temple was allegedly uprooted by Ghurids in 1193/1194 CE, upon the defeat of Jayachandra of Kannauj; the Razia Mosque was constructed in its place, a few years later. The temple would be rebuilt by a Gujarati merchant during the reign of Iltutmish (1211–1266 CE) at today's site — in what used to be Avimukteshwara's precincts — only to be demolished by Hussain Shah Sharqi (1447–1458) of the Jaunpur Sultanate or Sikandar Lodi (1489–1517) of the Delhi Sultanate.
The earliest manuscripts of Skanda Purana (c. 810 CE) describe Banaras to be the kshetra of Avimukteshwar; there is no mention of Vishweshwar. The slightly later Matsya Purana, too, attests the supremacy of Avimukteshwar and does not mention Vishweshwar; however, certain corrupt manuscripts include it, suggesting a late interpolation. Krtyakalpataru, an encyclopedia of traditional Hindu law, written during the reign of Govindachandra (c. early 12th century) quoted a detailed description of Banaras — including an enumeration of all religious sanctuaries — from the Linga Purana; Kedareshwur was the only linga that was recorded to have been housed in a temple, Avimukteshwara was mentioned to be in the north of a sacred well, and of the two references to Vishweshwar, one is a literal reference to Shiva being the "Lord of the Universe" while the other is a linga. None of the extant Gahadavala inscriptions refer to a Vishveshwar shrine. Seals, excavated from Rajghat, mention Vishveshwar for the first time only in the first decade of the twelfth century; however, they soon become extremely abundant esp. as the Avimukteshwara seals, prevalent for centuries, die out.
Desai said it appears unlikely that there existed any prominent-enough Vishweshwar temple in Banaras, during the Ghurid raids (c. late-12th century) — or even during Razia Sultana's reign (fl. 1236) —, to have attracted particular attention in conflicts. She said that Hindu traditions were not timeless but fluid in time and space — they shared a dialogical relationship with popular practice as well as patronage. The Vishweshwar lingam received prominence only between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries with the Kashikhand being the first text to attempt establishing Vishweshwar as the guardian deity of the city.
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Gyanvapi Mosque
The Gyanvapi Mosque is a mosque located in Varanasi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The site was originally an ancient Hindu temple of Shiva or Kashi Vishwanath, one of the twelve sacred Jyotirlingas. The mosque was constructed in c. 1678 CE during the reign of the Muslim Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, a decade after he issued a royal decree (firman) in 1669 ordering the destruction of the ancient Hindu temple.
A comprehensive ASI survey found that the mosque was constructed on the remains of a pre-existing large Hindu temple. The present structure incorporates architectural components of the previous temple, with visible Hindu motifs and sculptures on its pillars. However, both Hindus and the Muslims claim the right to the land, and ownership is currently disputed.
The site originally had a Vishweshwar temple devoted to the Hindu deity Shiva. It was built by Todar Mal, a premier courtier and minister of Akbar, in conjunction with Narayana Bhatta, a pre-eminent Brahmin scholar of Banaras from Maharashtra, during the late 16th century.
The temple contributed to the establishment of Banaras as a vaunted center of Brahminic assembly, drawing scholars across the subcontinent esp. Maharashtra, for adjudicating a spectrum of disputes concerned with Hindu religious law. Architectural historian Madhuri Desai hypothesizes that the temple was a system of intersecting iwans —a borrowing from Mughal architecture— with prominent pointed arches; it had a carved stone exterior.
What was on the site prior to the temple is debated by scholars and has been extensively contested by the local Hindu and Muslim populations. Desai said these multiple histories of the original temple and tensions arising out of the location of Gyanvapi fundamentally shaped the sacred topography of the city.
21st-century accounts of the history of the mosque, as purveyed by Hindus, centre around a litany of repeated destruction and re-construction of the original temple which is situated in contrast to the timelessness of the lingam. The original temple was allegedly uprooted by Ghurids in 1193/1194 CE, upon the defeat of Jayachandra of Kannauj; the Razia Mosque was constructed in its place, a few years later. The temple would be rebuilt by a Gujarati merchant during the reign of Iltutmish (1211–1266 CE) at today's site — in what used to be Avimukteshwara's precincts — only to be demolished by Hussain Shah Sharqi (1447–1458) of the Jaunpur Sultanate or Sikandar Lodi (1489–1517) of the Delhi Sultanate.
The earliest manuscripts of Skanda Purana (c. 810 CE) describe Banaras to be the kshetra of Avimukteshwar; there is no mention of Vishweshwar. The slightly later Matsya Purana, too, attests the supremacy of Avimukteshwar and does not mention Vishweshwar; however, certain corrupt manuscripts include it, suggesting a late interpolation. Krtyakalpataru, an encyclopedia of traditional Hindu law, written during the reign of Govindachandra (c. early 12th century) quoted a detailed description of Banaras — including an enumeration of all religious sanctuaries — from the Linga Purana; Kedareshwur was the only linga that was recorded to have been housed in a temple, Avimukteshwara was mentioned to be in the north of a sacred well, and of the two references to Vishweshwar, one is a literal reference to Shiva being the "Lord of the Universe" while the other is a linga. None of the extant Gahadavala inscriptions refer to a Vishveshwar shrine. Seals, excavated from Rajghat, mention Vishveshwar for the first time only in the first decade of the twelfth century; however, they soon become extremely abundant esp. as the Avimukteshwara seals, prevalent for centuries, die out.
Desai said it appears unlikely that there existed any prominent-enough Vishweshwar temple in Banaras, during the Ghurid raids (c. late-12th century) — or even during Razia Sultana's reign (fl. 1236) —, to have attracted particular attention in conflicts. She said that Hindu traditions were not timeless but fluid in time and space — they shared a dialogical relationship with popular practice as well as patronage. The Vishweshwar lingam received prominence only between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries with the Kashikhand being the first text to attempt establishing Vishweshwar as the guardian deity of the city.