The divine aura of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi

It is not very easy to describe in words, the feeling that engulfed me when I visited the Kashi Vishwanath temple of Varanasi. To write about this symbol of Lord Shiva himself, which veritably is the symbol of the Hindu religion itself is not an easy task.

The Kashi Vishwanath temple enshrines one of the twelve “Jyotirlingams” of Lord Shiva and is the focal point of devotion of Hindus from all over the globe who come here to seek salvation or moksha. The temple is located in the Vishwanath Galli near Godowlia in Varanasi and while the original temple was destroyed by the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, the new temple built very close to the original one is now the center of Hindu worship. The Kashi Vishwanath temple is an ancient temple and many ancient Hindu scriptures are replete with the description of the temple and its religious importance. The Temple has been visited by all great saints- Adi Shankaracharya, Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekanand, Goswami Tulsidas, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, Gurunanak and several other spiritual personalities.

Though the original temple was destroyed by Aurangzeb who built a mosque in its place, but the traces of the old temple can be seen behind the mosque. The present temple was built by Maharani Ahilya Bai of Indore in the year 1776 after she saw Lord Shiva in her dream. And Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab had the temple spire and the dome plated with 1000 kg of gold.

There is a small well in the temple called the “Gyan Vaapi” meaning the wisdom well. Legend has it that during the time of the invasion by Aurangzebs army, one of the priests of the temples had jumped in this well to hide the jyotirlinga from the invaders.

Standing in the temple amidst the ringing of the bells and the reverberating recitation of the religious shlokas, the sight of men and women overwhelmed with devotion, I felt as if some sort of electric charge had started flowing through my body. I know it sounds funny, but there is definitely an aura about the place which is inescapable. I was mesmerized and instinctively remembered Lord Shiva and thanked him for granting me this opportunity to be present here at that moment. There are small temples for KAAL BHAIRAV, Dhandapani, Avimukteshwara, Vishnu, Vinayaka, Sanishwara, Virupaksha and Virupaksh Gauri in the complex.

In 1983, the management of temple was handed over to a trust set up the state government of Uttar Pradesh. The president of the trust is Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh, the former king of Kashi (Varanasi) and the executive committee of the trust is headed by the divisional commissioner as Chairman.