Varanasi: A Varanasi court has adjourned the hearing on ‘carbon dating’ of the Shiv lingam found in the Gyanwabi Masjid to the 11th.
The famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple is located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Adjacent to this temple is the Gyanwabi Mosque. It is said that during the time of the Mughal kings, Kashi Vishwanath demolished a part of the temple and built a mosque.
In this context, on August 18, 2021, 5 Hindu women filed a petition in the Varanasi District Court, demanding to be allowed to worship the goddess Singhara Gauri located on the wall of the Gyanwabi Mosque.
Hearing this petition, the court ordered a field survey to be conducted at the Gyanwabi Mosque. According to this, an inspection was conducted in the mosque and a report was filed in the court last May. It mentioned that there is a Shiva lingam in the middle of the Osukana of the mosque.
The Supreme Court heard the case on May 17. At that time, the judges ordered to seal the location of the Shiva lingam in the Gyanwabi Masjid. The Varanasi district court can decide whether the case merits further trial, the judges said. Following this, the Varanasi District Court accepted the case for trial on September 12.
In this context, Hindu women appealed to the Varanasi court to conduct a ‘carbon dating’ study to find out the true age of the Shiva lingam found in the Gyanwabi Masjid.
Only one of the 5 Hindu women who filed the suit objected to the ‘carbon dating’ study. According to his side, if ‘carbon dating’ is done the Shivalingam will be broken. He said that this cannot be accepted.
The Anjuman Indajamia Committee, which manages the Gyanwabi Masjid, has also strongly opposed the ‘carbon dating’ study.
In this context, the case came up for hearing in the Varanasi District Court yesterday. Arguments were then presented by the Hindu women’s side and the Anjuman Indajamia Committee side. Justice Ajay Krishna Vishwas, after hearing the arguments of all parties, ordered that the Anjuman Indajamia Committee should give a written reply on the ‘carbon dating’ study by the 11th.
The judge also ordered the Hindu side to explain whether the structure (Shivalingam) found in the Gyanwabi mosque is related to the case or not and whether a commission can be set up for scientific investigation.
The next hearing of the case was adjourned till 11th. The court is expected to decide on whether or not to conduct ‘carbon dating’ on that day.
What is ‘Carbon Dating’?
Living things contain carbon. This carbon has an isotope called carbon-14. From this a chronology called ‘dating’ can be done.
That is, an organism decomposes into organic matter over time. According to this, we can calculate the period to which animals and plants belong by looking at the organic ratio change after they die. This is called ‘carbon dating’.
However, the age of inanimate objects like rocks and metals cannot be predicted by ‘carbon dating’. Accordingly, the Gyanvapi Shiv Lingam cannot be ‘carbon dated’ directly. However, experts have said that ‘carbon dating’ can be done through grains, pieces of wood, clothes and ropes that were worshiped when the Shiva lingam was consecrated.