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The Kashi Vishwanath Temple is a well-known Hindu shrine in Kashi, India. Lord Shiva is the deity worshipped in the temple. It is located on the bank of Ganga, the holy river. The temple is one of the twelve holiest shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, known as the Jyotirlingas. It is located in the city of Varanasi at Vishwanath Gali in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Varanasi was once called Kashi, which meant “shining”. Shri Vishwanath and Vishweshwara mean “Lord of the Universe”; these are the names of the main deity of the temple. Hence the name Kashi Vishwanath Temple has been given to the shrine. The temple has been managed by the Uttar Pradesh government since 1983.
Origin and History of Kashi Vishwanath Temple
The temple had been repeatedly destroyed by the invaders. Many Indian kings tried to rebuild and repair the temple premises. The final reconstruction was done by Indore’s Ahilya Bai Holkar in the 1780s. This shows that the temple existed for a long time while being subjected to multiple destructions and reconstructions.
The present temple structure consists of three domes. The ruler of Punjab at the time, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, donated gold to cover two of the three domes. A historic well called the GyanVapi or Wisdom Well still exists on the temple premises. According to a legend, the well was used to hide the idol of Kashi Vishwanath to protect it from invasion. The history of the temple can be studied based on different periods.
Ancient Era
The Kashi Vishwanath temple finds its mention in the Puranas. It is mentioned in the Kashi Khanda segment of the Skanda Purana.
Sultanate Era
The ancient Vishwanath temple was damaged in the battle between Qutubuddin Aibak and the Raja of Kanauj in 1194 CE. A few years later the Razia Mosque was built in its place. A Gujarati trader reconstructed the temple in 1230 when Iltutmish was the Sultan of Delhi. But it was destroyed again when Hussain Shah Sharqi and Sikandar Lodhi were the rulers of Delhi.
Mughal Era
Raja Man Singh constructed the Vishwanath temple again during the rule of Akbar, the 3rd Mughal emperor. Raja Todar Mal rebuilt the temple in its original place in 1585, but traditional Brahmins boycotted it because Raja’s daughter had married an Islamic ruler. Vir Singh Deo, during Jahangir’s reign, completed the older temple’s construction. In 1669 Aurangzeb, the 6th Mughal emperor demolished the temple and the lingam. He built Gyanvapi Mosque in its place.
Pre-Independence British Era
In 1742, Maratha emperor Malhar Rao Holkar planned to build the temple again in its place after bringing down the mosque. But the in charge of the province, Avadh’s Nawab, did not let him do so. Then, Jaipur’s Maharaja planned to buy land surrounding the mosque to construct the temple in 1750. But his plans also did not come to completion. In 1780, the current temple was constructed in the proximity of the mosque by Ahilya Bai Holkar, the daughter-in-law of Malhar Rao Holkar.
Between 1833 and 1840, many neighbouring temples and ghats were constructed around Gyanvapi well. Contributions were made to the temple by many Indian royal families and kingdoms. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the ruler of the Sikh Empire contributed gold for the dome plating of the temple in 1835. He did this as per his wife, Maharani Datar Kaur’s request. Nagpur’s Raghuji Bhonsle III contributed silver for the temple in 1841. Around 1860, the Rana of Nepal gifted a stone statue of the Nandi bull, 7 ft in height, which still stands to the colonnade’s east.
Post-Independence
The temple complex is made up of a collection of smaller shrines that are placed along the river in a little alley known as the Vishwanatha Galli. In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Project. The project was executed to improve the access between the Ganga ghat and the temple by increasing space and preventing overcrowding. As per the project, the total area of the temple will be increased to about 50,000 sq. metres. Approximately 1,400 households and businesses in the corridor’s vicinity were relocated and given compensation. During the renovation, more than 40 centuries-old damaged temples were found and reconstructed. The Prime Minister inaugurated the site for the pilgrims on December 13, 2021, in a ceremony. The temple’s sanctum sanctorum was gold-plated in February 2022 after an anonymous South Indian donor contributed 60 kg of gold to the temple.
Conclusion
The Kashi Vishwanath Temple is a famous Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva in Kashi, India. It is located on the bank of Ganga, the holy river. The temple is one of the twelve holiest shrines dedicated to Lord Shiva, known as the Jyotirlingas. It is located in the city of Varanasi at Vishwanath Gali in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. The temple had been repeatedly destroyed by the invaders. Many Indian kings tried to rebuild and repair the temple premises. This shows that the temple existed for a long time while being subjected to multiple destructions and reconstructions. The Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Project was started in 2019 to improve the access between the Ganga ghat and the temple. In December 2021, the first phase of the project was completed and dedicated to the pilgrims.
