Allahabad High Court orders carbon dating of ‘Shivling’ at Gyanvapi

Tags: State News

The Allahabad High Court has recently ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a carbon dating test of a 'Shivling' located inside the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, India.

An overview of the news

• The court order came in response to a petition filed by a group of Hindu activists, which claimed that the mosque was built on the site of a Hindu temple.

• Activists argued that the 'Shivling' inside the mosque was proof of the presence of a pre-existing Hindu temple at the site.

• The carbon dating test will be carried out by a team of experts from the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

• The court has given this order so that it can be determined whether there is any evidence of a pre-existing temple at the site.

• Gyanvapi Mosque is a17th-century mosque located in Varanasi, one of the holiest cities in India.

What is Carbon dating? 

• Carbon dating is a scientific technique used to determine the age of organic materials by measuring the amount of carbon-14 present in a sample.

• Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon that is produced in the upper atmosphere when cosmic rays interact with nitrogen atoms.

• Carbon-14 is absorbed by plants and animals through photosynthesis and consumption, and its concentration in living organisms is nearly constant.

• When an organism dies, it stops absorbing carbon-14, and the carbon-14 in its body begins to decay at a predictable rate.

• By measuring the amount of carbon-14 remaining in a sample, scientists can calculate how long the organism has been dead.

• Carbon dating can be used to determine the age of material approximately 50,000 years old.

• Carbon dating is a widely used technique in archaeology, geology and other fields.

• Carbon dating is an important tool for understanding the history of life on Earth and the development of human civilizations, and has contributed to important discoveries in fields such as evolutionary biology, paleontology, and anthropology.