Prayers were offered inside one of the cellars of the Gyanvapi mosque
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.
The court had told the local administration to make arrangements within seven days to allow people to pray in the cellar.
The order by judge AK Vishvesha came a day after an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report on the mosque complex was made public.
The ASI survey, ordered by the same court, in connection with a related case, suggested that the mosque was constructed during Aurangzeb's rule over the remains of a Hindu temple.
Wednesday's order was delivered on the petition of Shailendra Kumar Pathak, who said his maternal grandfather Somnath Vyas offered prayers till December 1993, according to Madan Mohan Yadav, the petitioner's lawyer.
The mosque committee refuted the petitioner's version. The committee said no idols existed in the cellar, so there was no question of prayers being offered there till 1993.
"We are very happy that we have got the permission to resume puja there," Jitendra Nath Vyas said, adding he, family members, and priests performed the puja in the presence of district officials.
The mosque has four 'tehkhanas' (cellars) in the basement, and one of them is still with the Vyas family.