The Supreme Court on Friday directed the authorities to provide worshippers at the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi with sufficient number of tubs to store water for wuzu, or ablution, reported The Hindu.

The wuzu khana, or ablution tank, and adjacent washrooms of the mosque had been sealed off last year after a video survey of the building, allowed by a Varanasi civil court in May, had found an oval object present on the premises.

The Hindu litigants claim that the object was a shivling, a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, the caretaker of the mosque, however, claims that the object is a fountainhead in the ablution tank.

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The Supreme Court had then directed the local authorities to ensure that the Muslims were not hindered in their observance of namaaz. On April 6, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee approached the Supreme ourt against the continued sealing of the ablution tank during the month of Ramzan.

On Friday, a division bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha suggested that long tubs be put to use at the mosque, reported The Indian Express. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, said that the district magistrate would ensure the water is available at the mosque complex.

Mehta also told the court that the authorities have provided mobile toilets 70 metres away from the mosque. The toilets inside the mosque were also sealed since its entry was through the disputed area where the alleged Shivling was said to have been discovered.

The Gyanvapi mosque case pertains to a plea filed by five women petitioners who claim that an image of the Hindu deity Shringar Gauri exists at the back of the western wall of the mosque. They are demanding that they be allowed to offer daily prayers and observe other Hindu rituals at the site.