Hindu prayers offered at Gyanvapi after court nod

Two Hindu priests offered prayers to idols of deities, including Lord Shiva in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi Masjid shortly after midnight on Thursday, hours after the Varanasi district court ordered the chamber be opened after three decades in what was a huge victory for Hindu petitioners in the decades-old dispute.

- Sudhir Kumar

The rituals performed by priests Kashi Vishwanath Temple Omprakash Mishra and Ganeshwar Shashtri lasted between lasted between 12.40am and concluded at 1.30 am. Thereafter, at around 3.30am on Thursday, the first time that Hindu prayers were allowed in the 17th century Islamic shrine since December 1993.

"The order of the district court has been complied with," said district magistrate S Rajalingam.

Mishra and Shashtri performed the prayers in the cellar as the ring of the tolling bells echoed in the stone cellar, said Jeetendra Nath Vyas, a member of the family who consider themselves hereditary owners of the premises.

We are very sad. We are running from pillar to post for the justice. But no hope for justice is left," said AIMC joint secretary SM Yasin.

Vishnu Shankar Jain, who represented the Hindu petitioners, said there will be five prayers every day in the cellar - Mangla at 3:30am, Bhog at 12pm, Apranh at 4pm, Sanykaal at 7pm and Shayan at 10:30pm.

"The district administration has ensured the compliance of the order of the district court and pooja was performed in the southern cellar," he said.

The developments came a day after district judge AK Vishvesha granted the family of a late priest the right to resume prayers in the southern cellar of the mosque after three decades, saying that the petitioner Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas and a priest appointed by the Kashi Vishwanath trust, which manages the temple next door, will be allowed to enter the premises.