New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS): The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday welcomed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's remarks on the Gyanvapi dispute, stating that it is incorrect to persist with the claim that the site is a mosque.

VHP National Spokesperson Vinod Bansal emphasised that the Chief Minister’s statement should be taken seriously and urged for a swift resolution to the matter.

Bansal reiterated that Kashi, home to the Gyanvapi complex, is a historic religious and educational hub, where Adiguru Shankaracharya gained enlightenment. The city, he said, is the sacred land of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishwanath.

Highlighting the controversy, Bansal asserted that invaders had attempted to occupy this revered land of Lord Vishwanath Mahadev, and what some now refer to as a mosque is in fact the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Shiva. He stressed the importance of ‘liberating’ the site.

According to Bansal, the physical structure of the site, including the walls and the lower dome, exposes the falsehood behind claims that it is a mosque.

He argued that, based on its architecture, history, and religious significance, there should be no doubt that the place belongs to Lord Vishwanath.

"In this context, any insistence on it being a mosque is inappropriate," he concluded.

Earlier, UP CM Yogi Adityanath expressed reservations with those assuming Varanasi’s Gyanvapi mosque as a place of Muslim worship and said that Gyanvapi was actually 'Vishwanath' (Lord Shiva).

"Durbhagya se Gyanvapi ko log doosre shabdon mein masjid kahte hain…lekin who Gyanvapi saakshat Vishwanath Ji hain," (Unfortunately people in other words describe Gyanvapi as a mosque but it is in fact Lord Shiva), CM Yogi Adityanath said while speaking at a seminar in Gorakhpur on Saturday.

The UP CM's remark came a day after Varanasi court's order which rejected the Hindu side's plea seeking directions to the local District Magistrate (DM) to repair the basement of Vyas ji located within the premises of Gyanvapi mosque complex.