Line drawings, GPR imaging: At Gyanvapi, 40-member ASI team maps out survey

After the top court’s verdict, ASI Director-General KK Basa told The Indian Express, “Our team under the overall supervision of AD-G Alok Tripathi will carry out the survey exactly as per the directions of the court.”

While Tripathi refused to comment on the methods his team will deploy on the site, an official source said that in view of the SC directions the ASI survey will mostly entail line drawings, documentation, GPR (ground penetrating radar) imaging and written notes, besides photography and videography.

The ASI team, the sources added, is also using several non-invasive scientific techniques to ascertain the age of the mosque complex. “If any pottery or other objects are discovered on the premises, the team will determine their age archaeologically, and inform the court in their report,” said an official source.

The team will also physically look at all nooks and corners of the complex, inspect the aspects archaeologically and photograph them to create a detailed map. It will also orally inform the court about what was seen where — for instance, which wall faces the temple or where the idols are located at present – and present supporting evidence such as pictures.

With the SC directing against excavations inside the complex, the sources said, the ASI team could, if permitted, carry out excavations outside the mosque complex as the layers in its vicinity are expected to be of the same age and having similar deposits.

Since carbon dating of stone is not possible, officials said, the ASI team will also inform the court of other archaeological techniques at its disposal if a more detailed survey is required.

According to experts, however, a combination of methods that ascertain the date of the structure would suffice since the purpose of the survey is to establish if a temple existed before the mosque came up. “These methods may also include stylistic comparisons of artefacts/ idols,” said a former ASI official. Besides Tripathi as the survey lead, the ASI headquarters in Delhi has also dispatched Niraj Sinha, Director of its Museums and Epigraphy divisions. The epigraphy branch caters to surveys and documentation of inscriptions, and conducts study and research on those elements.

Senior archaeologists from ASI’s Sarnath Circle (under whose jurisdiction Varanasi falls) have also been roped in for the survey, besides technicians, photographers, clerical staff for measurements etc, and other support staff.

Before being named as its ADG for three years in April 2021, Tripathi led ASI’s Underwater Archeology Wing. As an underwater archaeology expert, he is credited with locating the remains of the Princess Royal ship off Lakshadweep’s Bangaram Island.  Prior to that, he was professor and head of the Department of History at Assam University, Silchar, and has also helmed the university’s Centre for Archaeology and Museology.