The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an appeal of the Gyanvapi management committee against an Allahabad High Court order which held that lawsuits for "restoration" of a temple where the mosque stands in Varanasi are maintainable.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attended the Dev Deepawali Mahotsav at the Ghats of Varanasi. Modi witnessed the spectacle of Dev Deepawali in which rows of lamps were lit on the bank of Ganga.
'You don't realise your life has changed in just three days.' 'It's when you come back to the city that it starts hitting you but you now have the power to manage the challenges Life throws at you.'
The Gyanvapi issue has been at the centre of a long-drawn legal battle with the Hindu side arguing that the Gyanvapi mosque was allegedly built on the remains of a pre-existing temple, while the Muslim side has contested the claim.
"It's my destiny to serve Maa Ganga," Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi told Varanasi after an hour-long ceremony on the banks of the scared river.
After eggs, ink was thrown at Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal while he was undertaking a road show in Varanasi on Tuesday following his visit to the Kal Bhairav and Kashi Vishwanath temples.
Madan Mohan Yadav, an advocate of the Hindu side, claimed the survey team found a Shivling in the complex near 'wazookhana'
The petitions filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board had also challenged a Varanasi court order of April 8, 2021 to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The Supreme Court of India will hear a plea from the mosque management committee challenging an order rejecting its petition in the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh on January 15. The Allahabad High Court had rejected the mosque committee's plea, stating that the religious character of the Shahi Idgah mosque needed to be determined. The case involves claims that the mosque was built after the demolition of a temple, a claim disputed by the mosque committee. The Supreme Court will now decide on the maintainability of the mosque committee's plea.
The stars performed a series of pujas at Varanasi's famous Kashi Vishwanath temple and the Sankat Mochan temple during the early hours of Monday.
The National Green Tribunal has been informed by the Uttar Pradesh government's environment department that over 1.12 lakh trees will be felled in the protected forest area in the state to make way for the upcoming Kanwar Yatra route.
District judge A K Vishvesh on Friday directed the ASI to conduct a detailed scientific survey -- including excavations, wherever necessary -- to determine if the mosque in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh is built upon a temple.
'The survey work went on in a peaceful manner and, there has been no objection from anyone.'
Bollywood celebrates Maha Shivratri with prayers and pictures.
Khan said, "I personally have nothing against any individual or any group opposing my efforts, but I am just deeply saddened by their mental sickness, the ignorant mindset and the injury they inflict upon mankind."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that after fulfilling Bharatiya Janata Party's poll promise on Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya, work has begun in Mathura and Vrindavan as well.
The various terrorist outfits through letters, e-mails and SMSs had threatened to strike in UP on Friday, which necessitated the stringent security measures across the state, the reports reaching Lucknow at the state headquarters said.
"We agree with the Supreme Court that this matter is complicated and this requires a serious and experienced judge. Court has said the district court will look into it. We agree with the Supreme Court," he said.
Security has been beefed up at all sensitive places and security personnel have been deployed in strength to thwart designs to create problems in the state, sources said.
The committee argued that only the Waqf Board has the right to hear any matter pertaining to the mosque.
Underlining the Bharatiya Janata Party's commitment to cultural development of the country, party president J P Nadda on Monday said that contentious religious matters would be decided by "courts and the Constitution" and the party would implement the decisions in letter and spirit.
Jitendra Singh Visen, president of Vishwa Vaidik Sanatan Sangh, however, refused to divulge the reason behind the decision.
The Act prohibits conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.
District Judge A K Vishvesh ordered that it would continue to hear the petition seeking the right to worship in the temple.
Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders, including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, waved at the large crowd as the procession wound its way through Varanasi's roads.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader took a dip in the Ganga, visited the Kashi Vishwanath temple before he declared war against Narendra Modi.
Modi is on a two-day visit to his constituency, which began on Monday with the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.
The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday urged a Varanasi court not to make its Gyanvapi mosque complex survey report public for at least four more weeks, according to the lawyer for the Hindu side.
Advani and Dr Joshi might not attend the consecration ceremony due to health and age-related reasons. Advani is 96 and Dr Joshi will turn 90 next month.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, meeting activists held during protests against the amended Citizenship Act and accusing the government of acting against the Constitution.
Accompanied by a large entourage, including the kids, the couple reached Varanasi by a private plane in the afternoon.
... resulting in a Rs 2 trillion economic spinoff.
The ASI, which was to submit the report of the survey by October 6, now has time till November 6 to do so.
Visiting Varanasi for Dev Deepavali should be on your bucket list.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, ventured out on the streets of Varanasi in the early hours of Tuesday and visited the just-inaugurated Kashi Vishwanath Dham and the Banaras railway station.
More than 51,000 diyas were lighted on Friday on Dev Deepawali at a Varanasi ghat to form 'Batoge to Katoge' -- a slogan given recently by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a call apparently to Hindus to stay united.
The photocopies have to be verified by the district judge, the high court said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a Gyanvapi panel plea it inadvertently disposed of on July 24 while staying an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) survey on the mosque premises to determine if it was built upon a temple.
The Muslims side said that they have received the letter and it will be deliberated upon in a meeting.
To maintain law and order, he said, the entire city has been divided into sectors which have been allocated police force as per their requirement.