The Kashi Vishwanath Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. It is located in Vishwanath Gali, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. The temple is a Hindu pilgrimage site and is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines. The presiding deity is known by the names Vishwanath and Vishweshwara (IAST: Viśvanātha and Viśveśvara), literally meaning Lord of the Universe.
The temple had been demolished several times, most recently by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, who constructed the Gyanvapi Mosque on its site. The current structure was built on an adjacent site by the Maratha ruler Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in 1780.
Since 1983, the temple has been managed by a board of trustees set up by the government of Uttar Pradesh.
Legend:
It is believed that Varanasi is the first Jyotirlinga to manifest itself. According to the legend, it was at this place that Shiva (the Hindu god of destruction) manifested as an infinite column of light (Jyotirlinga) in front of Brahma (the Hindu god of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu god of preservation) when they had an argument about their supremacy.
In order to discover the origin of the luminous column, Vishnu took the form of a boar (Varaha) and tracked the column beneath the ground, while Brahma, who assumed the shape of a swan, scoured the heavens in an attempt to locate the apex of the column. However, both of them were unsuccessful in identifying the source of the luminous column. Yet, Brahma deceitfully asserted that he had discovered the summit of the column, while Vishnu humbly admitted his inability to find the starting point of the radiant column. Due to Brahma's deceit over the discovery of the origin of the luminous column, Shiva penalised him by cutting his fifth head and placing a curse upon him. This curse entailed that Brahma would no longer receive reverence, whereas Vishnu, being truthful, would be equally venerated alongside Shiva and have dedicated temples for eternity.
Hindu scriptures describe Vishweshara as the sacred deity of Varanasi, holding the position of king over all the other deities as well as over all the inhabitants of the city and the extended circuit of the Panchkosi, an area (the sacred boundary of Varanasi) spreading over 50 miles.
Jyotirlinga:
The Jyothirlinga is an ancient axis mundi symbol representing the supremely formless (nirguna) reality at the core of creation, out of which the form (saguna) of Shiva appears. The Jyothirlinga shrines are thus places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light.
There are twelve 'self manifested' Jyotirlinga sites that take the name of the presiding deity; each is considered a different manifestation of Shiva. At all these sites, the primary image is a lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolising the infinite nature of Shiva.
The twelve jyothirlinga are located at Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra, Baidyanath Jyotirlinga in Deoghar, Jharkhand, Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
Temple structure:
The temple complex consists of a series of smaller shrines located in a small lane called the Vishwanatha Gali, near the river. The linga of the main deity at the shrine is 60 centimetres (24 in) tall and 90 centimetres (35 in) in circumference, housed in a silver altar.[40] The main temple is a quadrangle, and there are shrines to other gods all around it. There are small temples for Kala Bhairava, Kartikeya, Avimukteshwara, Vishnu, Ganesha, Shani, Shiva and Parvati in the complex.
There is a small well in the temple called the Jnana Vapi, also spelled Gyan Vapi (the wisdom well). The Jnana Vapi well is located to the north of the main temple, and during the invasion by the Mughals, the Jyotirlinga was hidden in the well to protect it at the time of invasion. It is said that the main priest of the temple jumped in the well with the lingam in order to protect the Jyotirlinga from invaders.
There is a Sabha Griha or Congregation Hall leading to the inner Garbha Griha or Sanctum Sanctorum. The venerable Jyotirlinga is a dark brown coloured stone which is enshrined in the Sanctum, placed on a silver platform. Structure of the Mandir is composed of three parts. The first compromises a spire on the temple. The second is gold dome and the third is the gold spire atop the sanctum bearing a flag and a trident.
The Kashi Vishwanath temple receives around 3,000 visitors every day. On certain occasions, the numbers reach 1,000,000 and more. Noteworthy about the temple is 15.5-metre-high gold spire and gold Onion dome. There are three domes each made up of pure gold, donated by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1835.
The Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor was constructed between Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Manikarnika Ghat along the Ganges River, providing various amenities for pilgrims.
History of the temple:
Stories about the Kashi Vishwanath Temple can be found in an ancient text called the Kashi Kanda. This text tells a story about a wisdom well that can be found on the temple's site. The Kashi Kandi is the fourth section of a much larger Hindu sacred work called the Skanda Purana, which covers various topics from history to religion. The very first temple on the site is said to have been built by King Vikramaditya 2500 years ago and renovated in the 12th century.
Varanasi has a great deal of river frontage, with steps or ghats available for pilgrims to wash in the holy water of the Ganges. Although the River Ganges has long been associated with religious, healing, and cleansing powers for Hindu worshippers, the history of Kashi Vishwanath is also tied into Muslim history. The period of the Mughal Empire's presence in India affected the practice of Hinduism in some cases, including the fate of their temples.
Significance of Kashi Vishwanath temple:
The significance of Vishwanath, in terms of its location and practices, can be seen in the stories of Shiva. The manuscripts of the Skanda Purana were written on palm leaves, some as old as the 9th century. One contained a story between the 5th and 13th centuries, where a form of Shiva called Ishan dug a ditch to get water where there was none on the earth. The water that Shiva drew out was considered a liquid form of enlightening wisdom, or gyana, that came before the River Ganges. Another story tells of Shiva revealing himself as a pillar of light as he broke through the earth's crust. The place where this occurred was named Vishwanath, meaning "Lord of the Universe," another name for Shiva. The first Jyotirlinga temple was built at this location in the 11th century. Hindu belief that Shiva appeared at the site further reinforces their commitment to seeing the site officially recognized as a holy place for their temple.
Vishwanath's linga is often treated as a "puja" or altar. Practitioners clean and adorn the linga before chanting, praying, or contemplating on Shiva. Some practitioners choose to go to Varanasi as a place for their death as they believe that washing themselves in the Ganges will cleanse them of the deeds of this life, thus helping them to reincarnate in the best manifestation possible for the next.
