- Home
- /
- Top Stories
- /
- BREAKING: Gyanvapi | 'Carbon Dating...
BREAKING: Gyanvapi | 'Carbon Dating Of 'Shiva Linga' Not Possible, Only Its Upper Part 'Binder' Can Be Carbon Dated': ASI In Allahabad HC
Sparsh Upadhyay
12 May 2023 5:14 PM IST
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) today submitted its report before the Allahabad High Court specifying its opinion on the methods that it can incorporate to ascertain the age of the Shiva Linga that has purportedly been found inside the Gyanvapi Mosque premises in Varanasi.The Submission has been made before the bench of Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra-I which is presently hearing a...
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) today submitted its report before the Allahabad High Court specifying its opinion on the methods that it can incorporate to ascertain the age of the Shiva Linga that has purportedly been found inside the Gyanvapi Mosque premises in Varanasi.
The Submission has been made before the bench of Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra-I which is presently hearing a revision plea moved by 4 women Hindu worshippers challenging the Varanasi Court's October 14 order wherein the court had rejected their plea for conducting a scientific probe of the 'Shiva Linga', to determine its age.
In its report, accessed by LiveLaw, the ASI has categorically stated that direct dating of the Shiva Linga/Lingam is not possible and the age can be ascertained only with proxy dating of materials which can directly correlate with the establishment of the lingam if there is any.
"For an object of religious significance such as Shiv Lingam or for that matter any other object or symbol made of stone etc, we have to get the dates from the surrounding sediments and items," the Report states
Our readers may note that Carbon dating is a widely-used method that is applied to establish the age of organic material, that is to say, things that were once living.
Significantly, it has been further stated in the ASI's report that Radiocarbon dating of rock material is not possible as it lacks the presence of atmospheric-derived14C.
However, the report adds that the images of the Shiva Linga show that the top part of it is divided into five sectors/parts (image attached below) and if these parts have been embedded together or added(pasted) at a later stage with the help of some binding material (containing plant products, cement, mortar, etc), then that particular binder can be radiocarbon dated and the age of that binder could be ascertained which can, in turn, throw some light on the age of religious symbol or modifications at later stages, if any.
#BREAKING: The Archaeological Survey of India (@ASIGoI) today told the #AllahabadHighCourt that carbon dating of the purported 'Shiva Linga' inside the #Gyanvapi Mosque IS NOT POSSIBLE and only the top part of the Lingam, Binder, can be carbon dated.#ShivaLinga pic.twitter.com/KLhWC6FQrA
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 12, 2023
However, a further caveat has been added that only a small amount (~10gm) of the binder will be scratched out for dating and that this investigation will only tell the age of the binder and embedment of the top portion and not of the religious symbol. However, through this technique, it can be inferred that the religious symbol is older than the embedment process.
The report further states that based on the discussions that took place in the meeting of various research labs with the Director General of ASI, the following activities are proposed:
- Use ground penetrating radar (GPR), which can confirm whether the religious symbol is protruding out of the in-situ rock (Swayambhu) lying underneath the Gyanvapi premises.
- While studying the geology of Varanasi, this area is mainly alluvial deposits and the chances of getting igneous/sedimentary rocks underneath are minimal and therefore zircon dating may be moved towards the end.
- If that is the case, then the U-Pb isotopes present inside the zircon mineral can be measured to find out the formation age of the rock.
However, a caveat has been attached to this suggestion that this technique works in the time domain of the order of million years and therefore, it can only tell the in-situ nature of the religious symbol having the present for a very long time and this method is destructive and about 5kg of material is required for extracting the zircon minerals.
Importantly, it has further been suggested that a site visit of the concerned researchers from various research laboratories can be planned/allowed so that a planned and focused study could be conducted and more possibilities of new ideas/methods could emerge.
The background of the case
It may be noted that the Anjuman Masjid committee (which manages the Gyanvapi Mosque) has been calling the structure found inside the mosque premises in question as a 'Fauwara/Fountain'. On the other hand, the Hindu worshippers have been calling the structure as 'Shiva Linga'.
It may further be noted that hearing the matter on November 5, the Court issued a notice to the Archaeological Survey Of India (ASI) essentially asking the DG, ASI to give her opinion on the following issues by November 21, 2022.
"...whether investigation of the structure found at site, subject matter of Original Suit No.18 of 2022 if examined through the methods of Carbon Dating, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Excavation and other methods adopted to determine its age, nature and other relevant information is likely to damage it or a safe evaluation about its age can be done."
Essentially, this issue came for the Court's consideration as the Revisionists (Laxmi Devi And 3 Others), while challenging the Varanasi Court's October 14 Order, have also sought HC's direction to the ASI to conduct a scientific probe of the 'Shiva Linga' through the methods of Carbon Dating, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and Excavation.
The Revisionists further seek a direction to the ASI to give its opinion through the issue of a Commission for scientific investigation to determine the age, nature, and other constituents of the Shivlingam, employing the abovementioned methods.
For the uninitiated, a prayer (scientific probe of the 'Shiva Linga') to this effect was earlier made before the Varanasi Court in September 2022, however, the same was rejected taking into account the Supreme Court's May 17 order to protect the spot where the "Shiva Linga" was claimed to have been found during the survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.
"If Carbon Dating or Ground Penetrating Radar is permitted and if any damage is caused to the 'Shiva Linga' then it would be a violation of the Supreme Court order to protect it and it might also hurt the religious sentiments of the general public," remarked the Varanasi Court while dismissing HIndu worshippers' plea.
Challenging that order, the instant revision plea was moved before the High Court last year in November.
