Video: After 30 Years, Hindu Priest Prays Inside Gyanvapi Mosque Cellar

New Delhi: 

Thirty-one years ago, a Hindu priest of the Vyas family stopped performing prayers inside Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque. Today, Jitendra Nath Vyas, a member of the Vyas family, prayed for the first time inside the mosque next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.

This became possible after a district court said a priest can perform prayers before the idols in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque, a significant development in the legal battle over the structure.

“Vyas ji’s cellar was opened after 31 years for prayers,” temple trust president Nagendra Pandey said, according to news agency PTI. “It was necessary to follow the court’s orders, so the district administration made all the arrangements with great promptness,” Mr Pandey said, adding the cellar was opened at 10.30 pm on Wednesday.

Ashutosh Vyas, another family member, said they did not enter the cellar, but only priests went inside.

“We are very happy that the cellar opened yesterday after such a long time,” Ashutosh Vyas told NDTV.