Vishwanath Temple at Uttar Kashi
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, Gurunanak have visited this site.A visit to the temple and
a bath in the river Ganges is one of many methods 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 the Ganges 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.
The Shiva temple has been mentioned in Puranas
including Kashi Khanda (section) of Skanda Purana. In 11th century A.D.,
Hari Chandra reconstructed the temple. Muhammad Ghori destroyed it
along with other temples of Varanasi during his raid in 1194[citation
needed]. Reconstruction of the temple started soon after. This was
demolished by Qutb-ud-din Aybak.[5] After Aybak's death the temple was
again rebuilt. In 1351 it was destroyed again by Firuz Shah Tughlaq, who
also had Hindu holy works translated in Persian. The temple was rebuilt
in 1585 by Todar Mal, the Revenue Minister of Akbar's Court.Aurangzeb
ordered its demolition in 1669 and constructed Gyanvapi Mosque, which
still exists alongside the temple .Traces of the old temple can be seen
behind the mosque. The current temple was built by Ahilya Bai Holkar of
Indore in 1780. The temple spire and the dome are plated with 1000 kg of
gold donated by the mighty Jatt Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab,
in 1835.
The temple complex consists of a series of smaller shrines, located
in a small lane called the Vishwanatha street, 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. 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. It is said that the main priest of the temple had jumped in
the well with the Shiv Ling in order to protect the (Jyoti-r)Ling from
the invaders..
The Varanasi city is addressed with vivid names such as ancient
city of ghats, cultural capital and so on. Varanasi becomes immensely
sacred due to the existence of Mahadev (Lord Shiva). The never ending
joyous spirit of the city is in close proximity with the essence of
Kashi Vishwanath.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment