India court allows Hindus to pray inside disputed mosque

An Indian court weighed in on one of the country's most sensitive religious disputes on Wednesday by permitting Hindu worshippers to pray inside a mosque in the city of Varanasi.

The Gyanvapi mosque is one of several Islamic houses of worship that Hindu activists have sought for decades to reclaim for their religion.

It was built in the 17th century by the Mughal empire in a city where Hindu faithful from across the country cremate their loved ones by the Ganges river.

The court in Varanasi ruled that Hindu worshippers — who believe the mosque replaced a destroyed temple to the deity Shiva — could pray in the building's basement.

Its verdict ordered district authorities to "make proper arrangements within the next seven days" to facilitate worshippers.

The decision is the latest in a long-running legal saga over Gyanvapi's future.

This month, India's official archaeological agency said a survey of the site appeared to corroborate the belief that it was originally home to a temple, according to local news reports.

Last week, Modi presided over a grand inauguration ceremony in the nearby city of Ayodhya for a Hindu temple built on grounds once home to the centuries-old Babri mosque.

The prime minister described last week's opening of the temple as "the advent of a new era".

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