"The most interesting of the ruined buildings of ancient Benares now existing are those which have been appropriated by the Muhammadans. At the back of the mosque of Aurangzib, near the Golden Temple [Vishwanath], is a fragment of what must have been a very imposing Brahminical or Jain temple. The south wall of the mosque is built into it. Tradition points to this as being part of the original temple of Vishweshwar destroyed by Aurangzib. From the style it would appear to belong to the time of Akbar, or about the beginning of the sixteenth century. The raised terrace in front of the mosque is built upon some very much older structure, which Sherring suggests might have been a Buddhist vihara or temple monastery. This, however, is mere conjecture … it is quite possible that the whole quadrangle in which the mosque stands, originally contained a number of Brahminical, or perhaps Jain temples and monasteries of many different periods, such are as often found grouped together in places considered especially sacred by any sect of Hindus."