Located on the banks of Holy
Ganga River ,
Kashi Vishwanath
Temple dedicated to Hindu God Shiva in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh in India is the gateway to Moksha
(liberation) in Hinduism. A holy dip in the Ganga
washes away the sins and purifies the soul, and with the blessing of Kashi Vishwanath
one attains moksha.
Legend has it that Shiva first manifested in the form of a
fiery Shivling without an end or beginning at Kashi. This is mentioned in the
Shiv Purana.
Another legend has it that Shiva wanted to have a south
facing temple and thus Kashi
Vishwanath Temple
came into being. Mahadev Shiva has instructed that before worshipping him,
prayers should be offered to Surya, Chandra and Ganesha - the deities are found in the main gate of the temple. There can be no life
on earth without Surya. Chandra is one who nourishes the herbs and medicines.
Ganesh represents all animate and inanimate in the universe.
As per Skanda Purana, the temple was built in 490 AD. The
present structure of the temple was constructed by Queen Ahilya Bai of Indore in 1780 AD. The
gold plating of temple was performed in 1839 by 1000 kg donated by Ranjeet
Singh, King of Punjab.
The entire Kashi
Vishwanath Temple
complex is spread over 3000 sq ft area. The main sanctum sanctorum of Kashi
Vishwanath is facing south and is nearly 10 X 10 feet. The Shivling is located
in a 2 feet deep silver trench. The yoni pitha is constructed uses gold.
In front of the main sanctum sanctorum, there are murtis of
Hanuman, Satyanarayan, Goddess Parvati, Goddess Annapurna, Abhi Mukteshwar Mahadev, Tarkeshwar Mahadev and Bhuvneshwar Mahadev.
The most important festival at Kashi Vishwanath
Temple is Shivratri and
Rangbhari Ekadashi during Holi. The most sacred period is the Shravan month (July
to August).