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Kashi Vishwanath Temple
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kashi Vishwanath Mandir. | |
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| Name: | Kashi Vishwanath Mandir. |
| Creator: | Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar |
| Date built: | 1780 |
| Primary deity: | Vishwanath (Shiva) |
| Architecture: | Mandir |
| Location: | Varanasi |
Kashi Vishwanath temple is one of the most famous Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and is in the holy city of Varanasi, India. The temple stands on the western bank of Hinduism's holiest river Ganges, and the deity is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas the holiest of Shiva deities. The main deity is known by the name Vishwanatha or Vishweshwara meaning the Ruler of the world. The temple town that claims to be the oldest living city in the world, with 3500 years of documented history[1] is also called Kashi and hence the temple is popularly called as Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Due to this 15.5m high golden spire, the temple is sometimes called as the Golden Temple[2], similar to the Sikh Gurudwara at Amritsar.
The temple has been in Hindu mythology for a very long time and a central part of worship in the Shaiva philosophy. The original temple has not yet been found and due to invasions, the temple has been destroyed and rebuit a number of times. The current structure is believed to have been built by Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore in 1780 [3]. Since 1983, the temple is being managed by Govt. of Uttar Pradesh. During the religious occasion of Shivratri, Kashi Naresh is the chief officiating priest and no other person or priest is allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum. It is only after he perorms his religious functions that others are allowed to enter.
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The Shiva temple is believed to have been there in the site for thousands of years, as mentioned in old scriptures. The Mughal emperor Akbar allowed the temple to be constructed[4] but his grandson, the Islamic ruler Aurangzeb ordered its demolition in 1669 and constructed Gaynvapi Mosque, which still exists alongside the temple [5]. This mosque has minarets towering 71 metres above the Ganges River and the traces of the old temple can be seen behind the mosque. The temple spire and the dome are plated with 1000 kg of gold donated by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab, in 1835[6].
The temple complex consists of a series of smaller shrines, located in a small lane called the Vishwanatha Galli, near the river. The linga the main deity at the shrine is 60 cm tall and 90 cm in circumference housed in a silver altar [2]. There are small temples for Mahakala, Dhandapani, Avimukteshwara, Vishnu, Vinayaka, Sanishwara, Virupaksha and Virupaksh Gauri in the complex. There is a small well in the temple called the Jnana Vapi (the wisdom well) and it is believed that the Jytorlinga was hidden in the well to protect it at the time of invasion.
The temple is widely recognized as one of the most important places of worship in Hindu religion and most of the leading Hindu saints, including Adi Sankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Goswami Tulsidas, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Gurunanak have visited this site [5]. According to Hindu mythology, a visit to the temple and a bath in the river Ganga is believed to lead one on a path to Moksha (liberation). Thus, people from all over the nation, try to visit the place at least once in their lifetime. There is also a tradition that one should give up at least one desire after a pilgrimage the temple, and the pilgrimage would also include a visit to the temple at Rameswaram in South India, where people take the water samples of Ganga to perform prayer at the temple and bring back the sand from near that temple. Due to the immense popularity and holiness of this temple, hundreds of temples across the nation have been built with the same style and architecture.
In Sid Meier's Civilzation IV, the Kashi Vishwanath temple is featured as a wonder for any civilization that discovers the Hindu religion.