.. Let me quote from (a book) published in 1882. A District Memoir of F.S. Growse of the Bengal Civil Service and the Collector of Mathura ... "There is not a single building of any antiquity either in the city itself or its environs. Its most famous temple - that dedicated to Kesava Deva - was destroyed, as already mentioned in 1669, the eleventh year of the reign of the iconoclastic Aurangzeb. The mosque erected on its ruins is a building of little architectural value. The so-called Katra, in which it stands, a place to which frequent allusion has been made in the previous chapter is an oblong enclosure, like a sarae,  104 feet in length and 653 feet in breadth. In its centre, is a raised terrace, 172 feet long and 86 feet broad upon which now stands the mosque or Idgah".

'By beyond all doubt this was the last of the famous shrines of Kesava Deva. To judge from the language of the author of the Maasir (Maasir-e-Alamgiri was the full title of the book), its demolition was regarded as a death blow to Hinduism" ... Having destroyed the Kesava Deva temple, Aurangzeb proceeded to build a mosque or an Idgah occupying its entire length, but only 60 feet of its breadth. About five feet lower is another terrace, measuring 286 feet by 268..

I have known many Muslims ... I cannot believe that anyone of them would have not agreed to let the Hindus have their Krishnajanmabhoomi. The stumbling block is politics and election. If only responsibie people could resolve to keep the issue completely out of ulterior considerations there would be no controversy left in Mathura. If only a hundred or more non-political Muslim luminaries were invited to Mathura and acquainted with this history, I feel an overwhelming majority would let the Hindus have their Krishnajanmabhoomi. My experience has been that the Muslims are particularly generous where sentiments are involved. What goodwill and a generous gesture at Mathura would create among Hindus not only in India but for those who reside abroad! (Source: The Organiser, 16 January, 2000)