|
subsidiary shrines. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple
enshrines the Jyotirlinga of Shiva, Vishweshwara or
Vishwanatha. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple attracts
visitors not only from India but as well as from abroad.
Only Hindus are allowed to visit the Temple.
History of Kashi Vishwanath Temple
It is believed that the Jyotirlinga in the Kashi
Vishwanath Temple goes back to the time of the epics.
According to a legend, the Lord Shiva manifested himself
in the from of a lingam at 12 holy cities in India,
Varanasi being one of them. These lingams were known as
Jyotirlingams. The city was destroyed in 1193 by
Mohammed Ghori and nearly 600 years later ended with the
plunder of Banaras by Warren Hastings. Due to all these
happenings, the temple was rebuilt a number of times.
The original temple was located across the road. Large
scale reconstruction of the temple began during Akbar’s
reign in 1585 but it was dismantled less than 100 years
later when Aurangzeb came to power. This temple was
destroyed in 1669 by the Emperor Aurangzeb who built the
Gyanvapi Mosque on this place. The traces of the old
temple can be seen behind the mosque. Aurangzeb built
the Gaynvapi Mosque by using columns from the original
temple razed by him. Even today the western wall of the
mosque show the minarets towering 71 meters above the
Ganges of a temple which had very intricate and fine
artwork on it. Both the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the
Gyanvapi mosque are adjacent to each other. When the
temple was destroyed by the Aurangzeb, the original
Jyotirlinga was removed and hidden in a well by a
priest. The present temple was constructed by Rani
Ahilaya Bai Holkar, the ruler of Indore, in 1776. In
1835, at the instance of the Sikh ruler of Lahore,
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the temple Shikhara was gilded
with gold leaf. Gold plating was done on its 15.5 meter
high spire. One ton of gold donated by Maharaja Ranjit
Singh has been used in the gold plating of the spire.
Due to its Gold Shikhara this temple is also known as
the Golden Temple. This temple was renovated by Maharani
Khaneti, wife of Sudarshan Shah in 1857. Various great
saints like the Adi Shankaracharya, Ramkrishna
Paramhansa, Swami Vivekanand, Goswami Tulsidas, Maharshi
Dayanand Saraswati, Gurunanak and several other
spiritual personalities have visited this Temple.
About The Temple
There is a well called Jnana Vapi i.e. wisdom well which
is located to the north of the main temple. As one
enters the temple from the southern side then on the
left side there are three temples in a row one behind
the other, Vishnu Temple, Virupakshi Gauri Temple and
Avimukta Vinayaka Temple. A cluster of five lingas
enclosed in a temple is called Nilakantheshvar temple.
To the right just near the entrance is the temple
enshrining a linga called Avimukteshvara. There is a
controversy regarding the original Jyotirlinga at the
place, which suggests that not the Vishwanatha but the
Avimukteshvara is the original Jyotirlinga. Just above
the Avimukteshvara Vinayaka are temples of Shanishchara
and Virupaksha. Near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple is a
well known as the Gyan Kuan (well of knowledge). This is
said to contain the Shiva lingam from the original
temple. The well is protected by a stone screen and
canopy. It water is said to indicate the highest
spiritual illumination. The Vishwanatha temple consists
of a mandapa and a sanctum. Inside the sanctum, a linga
is set into the center of the floor in a square silver
altar. The Linga is of black stone. This Linga is about
60 cm. high and has 90 cm. circumference. With its
pointed spires, it is typically Central Indian in style,
and the exterior is finely carved. Close to this shrine
is a temple of Sanischar (Saturn) and the Annapurna
Temple. During the Aaratis, Shiva is decorated with
leaves shaded under huge cobra. It is the belief of the
people of Banaras that Baba Vishwanath is responsible
for the happiness and sadness of the lives of the people
of Banaras.
New Vishwanath Temple
The New Vishwanath Temple is located in the campus of
the Benaras Hindu University. As a replica of the
original temple, this temple was built by the Birlas,
the industrialist family. The temple is open to people
of all religions and creeds. |
