History, Importance, Timings, Festivals, Architecture, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga Temple, Varanasi, Uttara Pradesh, India
Kashi Vishwanath Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva and one of the holiest shrine for Hinduism is located on western bank of the sacred river Ganga in one of the most holy city and one of the Sapta Puri – Varanasi, in state of Uttar Pradesh. Lord Shiva is known here as Vishvanath or Vishveshwara which mean Ruler of Universe or Nath – Lord of entire world. In the ancient time Varanasi or Banaras is knows as Kashi and even today Hindu pilgrims refer as Kashi. Thus Vishwanath temple in Varanasi is popular as Kashi Vishwnath and also popular as Golden Temple of Varanasi due to pure gold spire and dome. It is believed that from thousands of year the Jyotirlinga located here thus from the ancient time Kashi becomes the major pilgrimage destination and cultural capital of India. Kashi is believed to be the oldest city of the world in history and also known as the city of Lord Shiva.
There is interesting legend behind the Jyotirlinga temples, as per the Shiva Purana, once Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu had the tussle over their supremacy. To prove the supremacy, both Lord approaches Lord Shiva, then Lord Shiva takes the form of endless column of light and asked both Lord to find the roots. But Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma were not able to find the roots of columns. So, Jyotirlinga are the shrines of Lord Shiva where he appeared in the form of a fiery column of light.
Kashi Vishwanath temple is one of the most prominent shrine of Varanasi where thousands of devotee visit every day and during special day like Maha Shivratri, Sravan month and Monday it witnesses millions of devotee. The temples is here since centuries but it was constructed and destroyed several time during various time period. The current temple structured was constructed in the year 1780 by the Maratha monarch, the great Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar of the Indore. Lord Shiva came in dream of Rani Ahilyabai and then Ranhi had started construction of this architectural marvel temple.
Kashi Vishwanath temple was constructed by the Hari Chandra in the 11th century which was destroyed by army of Aibak in 1194 CE. Then again temple was rebuilt and demolished in 12, 14 and 15 centuries. In the current temple two domes of the temple were covered by the gold which is donated by the Punjab Kesari Maharaja Ranjeet Singh in 1839, the Bhosales of Nagpur donated silver to the temple and gold for the third dome was offered by the Ministry of cultures and Religious affairs of Uttar Pradesh Government.
Within the temple campus you can find well called Jnana Vapi or wisdom well. Interesting story attached with this well, the main saint of the temple was jumped in to the well with the Jyotirlinga to protect from the invaders. There are various small temples such as the Kaalbhairav, Avimukteshwara, Vishnu, Vinayaka and Virupaksh Gauri are located in the temple campus. In the center of campus you can blessed with Darshan of Jyotirlinga which is made out of black stone, and around 60 cm tall and 90 cm in circumference seated I solid silver plinth.
You can reach Kashi Vishwanath temple through the narrow walk way called Kashi Vishwanath Gali. It is very popular gali of the Varanasi specially for shopping of puja goods, sweets, banarasi saree, dress, jewellery, toys, idols, books, posters, bangles etc. also you can enjoy Baranasi chay, Banarasi paan, street food here.
Kashi Vishwanath temple holds great religious significance and also mention in ancient Hindu sacred text - Skanda Purana. As per the Vishwanath Khanda, the ancient city is located at the heart of Varanasi, between Dashashwamedha Ghat and Godaulia to the south and west and Manikarnika Ghat on the river to the north. Nearby the Kashi Vishwanath temple there are several major and small temple like Markandey Mahadev Temple, Bharat Mata Mandir, Mrityunjay Mahadev Temple, Kalbhairav Temple, Sankatha Temple, Annapurna Temple, Tulsi Manas Mandir, Birla Temple, Vyasa Temple, Vishalakshi Temple, Tilbhandeshwar Temple, Durga Temple, Sankat Mochan Temple, Panchganga Ghat, Nepali Temple, Scindia Ghat, Yoga Training Centre, Dasaswamedh Ghat, Ganesh Mandir GhatBeni Mahadev Temple etc. which attracts devotee throughout the year.
Kashi is said to be the land of Gods and great saint, thus Kashi is believed to great land for salvation. Lot of great saint like Adi Sankaracharya, Goswami Tulsidas, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda, Gurunanak etc. had visited Kashi Vishwanath temple and took the holy bath in sacred river Ganga. It is belief that devotees of the Lord Shiva get freedom from the cycle of the death and birth.
How to reach Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
As Kashi Vishwnath temple is one of the holiest shrine, one of the twelve Jyotirlinga, located in one of the Sapta Puri or holiest city of Varanasi Uttar Pradesh, India. Millions of devotee and tourist around the world reached here with great faith in Lord Shiva, thus it is very well connected with all major cities of India via Road, Rail and Air network. The temple is located at just 5 km away from the Varanasi railway station and you can reach temple from any corner of cities via cab or rickshaw. Varanasi has major railway junction from where you can get train to all the cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Indire, Allahabad, Dehradun etc. at very high frequency. Varanasi has also Airport from where you can flight to several cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Gaya, Hyderabad, Bhuvaneshwar etc. Also Varanasi is import district of Uttar Pradesh thus it is well connected by state and national highway. Varanasi is located at 120 km from Allahabad, 331 km from Kanpur, 319 km from Lucknow, 252 km from Patna, 220 km from Ayodhya, 250 km from Chitrakoot, 252 km from Fatehpur, 200 km from Gorakhpur, 260 km from Gaya.
