Amid the controversy over the 22 locked rooms in the basement of the Taj Mahal, the Archaeological Survey of India has released some photographs of closed underground cells.
The toll in the clashes between police and protesters opposing a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, rose to four following the death of one more injured person, officials said on Monday.
The Uttar Pradesh government has informed the Supreme Court that the disputed "private well" near the Mughal-era Jama Masjid mosque in Sambhal was situated on public land. The state government said the petitioner failed to disclose there was a well within the boundary walls of the mosque known locally as "yagna koop". The committee, in a spot inspection, found that the well was situated outside the mosque boundary wall, the report said. The report said the state was committed to ensuring peace and harmony in the region and any restraint on the use of such public wells by the community at large may not help in achieving that goal.
The Allahabad high court on Wednesday extended the stay on a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises by the Archaeological Survey of India till Thursday.
The Supreme Court of India has ordered a status quo on a private well located near the entrance of the Sambhal Jama Masjid, prohibiting any action regarding the well without its permission. The order came in response to a plea by the mosque's management committee, which challenged a lower court order that allowed a survey of the mosque, citing concerns over violence and loss of life during previous surveys. The court also instructed the authorities to file a status report within two weeks.
The ASI team, comprising more than a dozen members, reached the complex in the morning.
The objections against the suit were raised by the management committee of the mosque and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board.
The United States has handed over to India 297 antiquities, which were smuggled out of the country, during the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official statement said on Sunday.
Five members of the Muslim side also participated in the survey. Its advocate Tauheed Khan said advocates of the Intezamia Masjid Committee Akhlaq and Mumtaz accompanied the survey team.
The Allahabad high court on Thursday reserved till August 3 its order on a plea against the survey of Gyanvapi mosque premises by the Archeological Survey of India.
Before the violence and rioting that erupted in Nagpur on Monday, March 17, over Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb came provocative statements from various political leaders.
Be it a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Buddhist or Jain, everyone is welcome at the dargah, Rijiju said.
Aggrieved by the direction, Dhar city's head cleric Waqar Sadiq said they (Kamal Maula Mosque management committee) will challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.
Seven FIRs have been lodged in connection with the violence over a court-ordered survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, naming Samajwadi Party MP Zia-ur-Rehman Barq and local SP MLA Iqbal Mehmood's son Sohail Iqbal as accused. Three people were killed and scores of others injured on Sunday as protesters opposing the survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid clashed with police. The district administration has imposed prohibitory orders and barred the entry of outsiders into Sambhal till November 30.
The Supreme Court ordered on Monday that no invasive work would be undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to determine if the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi was built upon a temple and agreed to hear a plea moved by the mosque committee during the day.
A body representing the 'Khadims' of the Ajmer dargah has condemned a plea in a local court that seeks to declare the shrine of Khawaja Gharib Nawaz as a temple, saying right-wing forces were trying to "isolate" Muslims and "disrupt" communal harmony in the country.
After MNS threat, some people in Khultabad area, where the tomb is located, tried to lock the structure.
The Allahabad high court on Thursday allowed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a scientific survey at the Gyanvapi premises in Varanasi to determine whether the 17th-century mosque has been constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple.
The Allahabad high court on Tuesday extended the interim stay till September 30 on a Varanasi court order directing the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a physical survey at the Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex and further proceedings in this case.
Rakhi Singh has accused the Muslim side of destroying Hindu symbols on the Gyanvapi premises and demanded protection of the entire complex in order to ensure that these symbols are not lost.
The apex court rejected an appeal challenging a July 10 decision of the Allahabad high court which had also dismissed the plea finding no error or illegality in the order of a Mathura civil judge who had decided to first hear the issue of maintainability of the suit as raised by management committee of the mosque.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
The cultural richness that began from a narrow bank of the Yamuna has continued for over 7 centuries. And you literally go underground for as little at Rs 50 to see it!
'The irony of this country is that the party in Opposition and the party in power both depend on Muslims.'
The Taj Mahal and other centrally protected monuments closed for around two months due to the Covid pandemic will be reopened on June 16, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official said.
The Allahabad high court on May 12 ordered determination of the age of the structure claimed to be 'Shivling' using modern technology.
"Four tourists were arrested for offering namaz at the mosque in Taj Mahal premises on Wednesday. Three of them are from Hyderabad and one is from Azamgarh. They have been booked under the section of 153 of IPC. They have been presented in the court," said Vikas Kumar, Superintendent of Police (City).
The Hindu side had claimed in the lower court that a Shivling was found during the videographic survey.
In a relief to the Hindu side, the Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Allahabad high court order allowing the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a scientific survey at the Gyanvapi mosque complex to determine if the 17th-century structure was built upon a pre-existing temple.
'During the nine years of BJP rule, not a single temple has been reconstructed.' 'They might have constructed the Ram temple as it is an emotional issue. But they are not much interested in issues like heritage.'
'While suppression of information is acceptable for the government, the Opposition's efforts at pinning the government and its leaders is labeled anti-national,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Standing at the edge of Dholavira is witnessing history textbooks crammed in school coming to life. One is suddenly standing face to face with a 4,000-year-old civilisational site that is now but a ruin.
Amidst the controversy over the Gyanvapi Mosque complex in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that labelling Gyanvapi as a mosque complex will only lead to controversy and that the Muslim side should accept its 'historical mistake' and offer a solution.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra will hear the plea of Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee.
The Allahabad high court on Monday fixed November 30 for hearing a revision petition challenging the Varanasi district judge's order by which the lower court had refused the demand of carbon dating of a 'Shivling' claimed to have been found in the Gyanvapi mosque complex.
Mumbai's Mahakali or Kondivite Caves have been in existence since the times of the Mauryan empire.
The Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee on Wednesday dismissed Jyotirmath Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand's allegations that 228 kg gold bought for lining the Kedarnath temple's internal walls is missing, and asked him to approach authorities if he had any evidence.
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.
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