Kashi: Embodiment of Bharatiya civilisation

Kashi, ‘Luminous,’ City of Light, was the embodiment of Indian civilisation for millennia. A visitor to the city in the nineteenth century recalled her ancient grandeur,  “… Benares is a city of no mean antiquity. Twenty-five centuries ago, at the least, it was famous… While many cities and nations have fallen into decay and perished, her sun has never gone down… Her illustrious name has descended from generation to generation, and has ever been a household word …” (Sherring 1868: 7-8).

Archaeological mounds at Rajghat Plateau, on the northern outskirts of the city, represented the ancient settlement of Kashi. …

The preliminary excavation was significant for the religious history of the region, as it revealed ‘a temple hall supported on twelve pillars’ (Singh 1985: 58)…

Excavations at Rajghat traced the earliest settlement of the site to the 8th century BCE, with three major settlements; Varanasi, Sarnath, and Aktha (Jayaswal 2015: 87; Narain and Gopal 1969: 11)…

Excavations at Aktha in 2002-2004 and 2006, revealed it was a site of great antiquity (18th/19th century BCE). Located on a major land route, it emerged as a settlement in the time of the later Vedic Samhitas, due to the movement of rishis who frequently travelled from the Himalayan region to places in the middle Ganga plain. It became an abode of rishis, performing Vedic sacrifices (Rishipattan). A significant number of geometric potsherds, or Kapala, were found at Aktha; Kapala was an important ritual object of Vedic yagna (Jayaswal 2009: 2-3, Jayaswal 2015: 87, 96. 100). The first reference to Kashi was in the Paippalada recension of the Atharva Veda (V.22.14)…

The grammarian Panini, mentioned Varanasi as the capital of Kashi janapada, and its citizens as varanaseya (Agrawala 1953: 60)…

Visvesvara temple in Kashi was desecrated, its pillars also taken to Jaunpur, and used in the Lal Darwaza mosque. A ten-line inscription, in Sanskrit in Nagari script, dated 1296 CE, engraved on the third octagonal pillar in the first row of the masjid opened with an adoration of Ganapati. The inscription itself indicated its original site was Visvesvara temple. Bayizid Bayat, in his memoir, Tazkira-Humayun O Akber, confirmed that stones of the demolished temple were used by him…

Inscription No. XXXVI, dated Samvat 1353 (1296 CE), found at Lal Darwaza masjid, clearly showed that the pillar was brought from Banaras, as were “undoubtedly,” many others (Fuhrer 1889: 50).

In 1809, one of the worst Hindu-Muslim clashes in Benares’s modern history broke out, though it lasted for just three days. Aurangzeb had erected a mosque at the site of the Visvanatha temple built by Narayana Bhatta/Todar Mal. Subsequently, Ahilya Bai Holkar constructed another Visvanatha temple, as close as possible to the Visvanatha temple/ Gyanvapi mosque. The mosque and temple adjoined each other; and were the site of periodic communal tensions. The so-called War of the Lat spread out over three sacred spaces –

Visvanatha temple (Bisheshwar), Kapalamochan tank, and Gyanvapi mosque. As in several instances where temples were partially, or wholly, destroyed, Hindus held on to the site, though it was situated in the midst of a mosque, and tomb ground. Muslims permitted Hindus some access to the Lat, in return for a share of the offerings, as they admitted in the Muslim Memorial, submitted to the British on November 27th 1809,

“For some years the lower classes of Hindus and Musalmans have annually celebrated the marriage of the Laut, and have divided the offerings between them” (Robinson 1877: 23).

—-The Muslim Memorial also acknowledged that Hindus had instated some idols near the Lat, which they removed, or covered with grass, when Muslims came to offer namaz,

“Near the Laut of the Eedgah there is a peepul tree, and under this tree the Hindus put some idols and made it a place of their idolatry. When the Musalmans gathered together for the purposes of prayers at the Eed, &c., the Brahmins on the spot removed the idols. If there happened to be any which could not be conveniently taken away they were carefully concealed with grass. The faithful on the day of the Eed used to perform the sacrifice there and never met with any interruption from the Hindus” (Robinson 1877: 23).

In 1809, Madhu Rai, a Nagar, on recovering from an illness and in fulfilment of a vow, began to make a stone temple of Hanuman, in a portion of the contested ground common to the mosque of Aurangzeb and Bisheshwar (Visveshvara) temple (Robinson 1877: 5).

A gathering of Julahas (weavers), who used the idgah, objected, declaring that it represented a permanent encroachment on their space. On October 19, Madhu Rai stopped work, pending settlement of the issue. However, next day, as per Phil Robinson’s report,

“ … word went round that there would be no prayers at sunset in any of the mosques in the neighbourhood, and those who wished to pray should repair to the mosque within the old Bisheshwar enclosure” (Robinson 1877: 5).

Consequently, Musalmans gathered at the disputed ground, and not only occupied the space attached to the mosque, but also the terrace of the Lat and the precincts of Bisheshwar temple. The crowd did not disperse when prayers were over; instead, as Phil Robinson stated, it set about to “pollute” the Lat, and the surroundings, that they knew were sacred to Hindus… (Robinson 1877: 5). There was complete disorder in the city…

Visvesvara temple in Kashi was desecrated, its pillars also taken to Jaunpur, and used in the Lal Darwaza mosque

The aftermath – Magistrate Watson recommended entire site be handed to Hindus. The Magistrate, Mr. Watson proposed that the entire site be handed over to Hindus as part of an overall policy of separating the two communities…He suggested Musalmans at Bisheshwar be restricted to the mosque and the linked terrace, and Hindus confined to the sacred walk around the mosque, and the Gyanvapi well. Musalmans also be excluded from Kapalmochan. He noted that Musalmans had no particular attachment to the site; they held it in estimation only because it marked the ascendency of their religion over that of the other…

The advise was ignored … and Hindus and Mussalmans were permitted to repair their sacred structures… April 8, 2021, Civil Judge, V directed the Archaeological Survey of India to survey the Gyanvapi site to determine whether the religious structure presently standing, was superimposed on another earlier one. The ASI Report concluded,

“Based on scientific studies/ survey carried out, study of architectural remains, exposed features and artefacts, inscriptions, art and sculptures, it can be said that there existed a Hindu temple prior to the construction of the existing structure.”