"On 22 September 1755, seized by bigotry, a local qazi (judge of Muslim canonical law) and a muhtasib (censor of morals) rallied together a band of fanatical Muslims and destroyed the Vishwanath shrine. A rare manuscript, Delhi Chronicle, documents this unfortunate event: ‘They [the qazi and muhtasib] overthrew the golden pitcher which had been fixed on the top … they plundered some men who were going to worship it, they cut down a pipal tree and threw it into well.’"