Look at this picture
(The temple is visible)
You can see for yourself that when Aurangazeb sent his minions to destroy the Kashi Vishwanath temple - they only removed the top and one side.
The pillars and plinth of the temple were reused to build the Gyan Vapi Mosque and are clearly visible at the back.
(You can see it in colour also)
(This entire back part of mosque is the broken temple with bricked up doorway - previously it was the temple entrance from west with Nandi facing it. Now it is blocked up and is the wall facing Mecca)
(Quibla wall facing Mecca uses the columns and plinth of temple. Even the stone blocks visible were reused from the temple.)
(There are many inscriptions in Sanskrit and kannada in the basement from the temple as well as Hindu designs and patterns in the reused stones)
We don't need ASI to tell us that the mosque is standing on top of a temple.
It's right there !!!
All those who have visited Kashi Vishwanath temple have seen it with our own eyes - despite barricades. When I went to Varanasi in mid 2024, I could easily see the back wall pictured above. Sadly, cameras are not allowed. They have opened a bit of the basement also and all is visible of the underground Pillars also. Pillars illustrated above are clearly visible for whole world to see.
Go and see !
We can see for ourselves - only an idiot would say otherwise.
But Congress and Owaisi are not idiots - oh no!
They are something else.
Having said that - the ASI finally came out and said what all of us have been saying all along.
Let me show you Somnath temple - see below. After it was rebuilt (after repeated previous destructions starting with Mohd Gazni, it was always rebuilt), Aurangazeb had the final version destroyed and made it into a mosque too.
Aurangazeb liked to leave the destroyed temple parts visible for all to see - the slave should be made to feel his slavery and subjugation, right?
(Somnath temple turned into a monstrous looking mosque with minaret after Aurangazeb finished with it - see the similarity of how the pillars were reused and a dome built on top to create a crooked mosque - same as how the Gyanvapi Mosque was made from the previous temple?)
It's the same plan - they did it everywhere. The temple was left visible for all to see that it had been broken.
Now let me tell you the history.
The original Kashi Vishwanath temple was called the Vishveshwara Temple. We don't know what it looked like.
It was destroyed by Qutubuddin Aibak in 1194.
For many years, the site was lying devastated.
Razia Sultan (when Iltumish, her father, empowered her) built a mosque called Razia Mosque in the 1220s, using the stones pulled down from the temple.
However, it was built a little further away from the original site and is still standing. It is still very popular with Muslims - called the Razia Masjid in popular parlance. See details in below answer:
My answer to Why did Iltutmis make his daughter Rajia sultan his successor when his son was alive? Koundinya's answer to Why did Iltutmis make his daughter Rajia sultan his successor when his son was alive?
Gyan Vapi is a tank (well of knowledge) which was in existence from ancient times. It was attached to the Vishveshwara Temple and holy for the Hindus. It continued to exist after the original temple was gone.
After the Ghurid (Horrid?) destruction, on the original temple site, over the centuries from 1194 to about 1490s, Hindus built another temple to Shiva. Kashi will always be Kashi and Hindus will go there.
We don't know what it looked like either.
Sikander Lodi destroyed that temple too in 1493, after the Sharqi dynasty of Jaunpur Sultanate had been defeated and subjugated by his predecessor.
Hussain Shah Sharqi of Jaunpur had partially broken the temple in 1450s as well. He had carried off some stones including the idols for his Jama Masjid there. The site of the temple was once again lying in a semi demolished state.
(Atala mosque in Jaunpur built by the Tughlaks in mid 1300s is repurposed Atala Devi temple - the pattern of destruction repeats itself)
However, Kashi temple site, though destroyed once again, was still used by the Hindus as a site for pilgrimage despite being in ruins.
You can destroy the temple but you cannot destroy the Ganga river and it's holy river banks - which still attracted the pilgrims to Kashi.
During Akbar’s reign, Raja Man Singh of Amber - a feudatory of Akbar - petitioned him to have the temple rebuilt.
Akbar agreed.
Akbar tasked his Finance Minister Todar Mal to make the temple. He was a Hindu who is credited with creating the wonderful tax system that sustained the Mughal Empire for 150 years as well as adopting Persian as the official language.
Todar Mal rebuilt the Kashi Vishwanath temple in 1585, using the funds donated by Raja Man Singh of Amber
Let's give credit where credit is due - Akbar allowed it to be built. Didn't even collect temple tax.
Of course Akbar was smart - he knew that one could willingly collect heavy taxes from the temple related activities even without direct tax. In Akbar's time, many temples and Sufi Saint dargahs were built - because Akbar knew that pilgrims were a rich source of revenue. Jahangir and Shahjahan, who followed grandad Akbar, also left the temples alone for the indirect revenue they brought. Kashi thronged with pilgrims come to bathe in the holy Ganga.
The temple was built following a unique plan which incorporated some aspects of Mughal Architecture also, on top of the levelled site of the original Vishveshwara Temple. Previous structures were removed to make way for the huge temple.
The original Gyan Vapi tank was used as the temple tank of Kashi Vishwanath temple built by Todar Mal.
The pillars and arch of the Alamgiri or Gyan Vapi Mosque retain the previous temple plinth and stones - so we know what the temple looked like - it's still visible - you can see it right there !
Above is the gate of the temple, now walled up as the Qibla, but it's an old drawing.
The British artist who drew the above sketch was the famous James Princep in 1834 - he is the person who deciphered our Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts - He calls it the Temple of Vishveshwur at Benaras (read his own lettering). In those days, all was well known.
No communists to hide history.
The modern photo version of this drawing is already posted above.
There is no real doubt, only brainwashed communists can doubt this.
For many decades, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Benaras flourished once again, during the peak of the Mughal Empire. From 1585 to 1669.
Then came Aurangazeb.
Aurangazeb passed a Royal Farman and had the temple partially demolished and built a mosque called the Alamgiri Mosque (official name of Gyanvapi mosque) to be built in its place.
(The Royal Farman of Aurangazeb to destroy the temple of Viswanath at Benaras with English translation)
(Actual Firman for the destruction of Kalkaji Mandir by Aurangazeb)
All of the destruction is well chronicled by a Dutch traveller of the time
But we don't need even that evidence.
All of this is recorded by Aurangazeb himself in his commissioned biography - his court chronicles
So yes, Aurangazeb destroyed the Kashi Vishwanath temple - there is no doubt at all.
Akbar allowed it to be built
Aurangazeb destroyed it.
The story of the Mughal Empire is encapsulated within the above two phrases about the temple - the empire that Akbar built, Aurangazeb destroyed by his religious mania.
The empire fell soon after he died. What he did to Hindus, Nadir Shah did to his successors.
After the last destruction by Aurangazeb, the Kashi Vishwanath temple became the Alamgiri Mosque.
Over time, the “Gyan Vapi” or well of knowledge became important to the Muslims also as a wazukhana and so it was called the Gyanvapi Mosque in popular parlance
After the fall of the Mughal Empire, the Maratha Empress Ahilyabai Holkar built the present day Kashi Vishwanath temple - but on the side of the Gyan Vapi Mosque, in 1780.
In the 1770s, Awadh (oudh)was under the control of the East India Company, under Warren Hastings. Benaras was a part of Awadh. Hastings refused to let Ahilyabai Holkar demolish the Gyanvapi mosque to make the temple. So she made the temple adjacent to it.
You can see them both side by side here.
Notice how the Marathas didn't destroy a site of Muslim worship - although they could have from 1740s onwards.
That's the difference between Hindus and Muslims - also visible side by side.
Also notice the size difference between the original temple and the present tiny temple.
Notice how the present temple is a miniature of the original plan - you can see how the Muslims repurposed the temple to suit their requirements.
This is the entire site of the Kashi Vishwanath temple on the banks of the Ganga - you can see everything.
The Razia mosque is a little further from this site
Here they are, side by side once again, above.
Below is the Gyan Vapi.
Above pictures show the site of the original Gyan Vapi - fountain of knowledge. It's now covered up and bring excavated.
The Gyan Vapi was converted into a Wazukhana for the Alamgiri Mosque by Aurangazeb, similar to the one shown above.
Notice the Nandi (bull) facing away from the present day temple in this old ASI photo from British times?
That's also a part of the original Kashi Vishwanath temple built by Man Singh. Above you can see how it looked a few decades ago.
It faces the present day Gyanvapi mosque - because it's the Nandi of the previous temple that Aurangazeb destroyed.
This present day gateway can be seen in the satellite views posted above - the Nandi faces the way the original temple was constructed. If you go to the Kashi Vishwanath temple now - it is a must see.
Should a mosque built by destroying a temple with visible signs of subjugation and destruction in the form of the plinth, pillars and Nandi still visible - be allowed to continue?
Should Muslims be allowed to pray within such a structure?
This is what the original Kashi Vishwanath temple looks like inside. It's a mosque.
Should a tyrant like Aurangazeb be allowed to leave behind the signs and markers of his tyranny?
Should Muslims apologise for what their ancestors did?
Or should we let things be - but showcase the deeds of the Muslim ruler and deeds of the Hindu ruler for all to see side by side?
