Kaashi vishwanath- a beautiful temple in India

India is a beautiful country with variety of religions and culture. Different people of different religions and cultural live together in India. This is the most distinctive feature of India which you cannot find anywhere else in the whole world.

Varanasi is a beautiful city located in Uttar Pradesh, India. It has number of temples because of which it gets tourist’s attraction. One such temple is Kaashi Vishwanath temple. It is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple is situated on the bank of Ganga River. Ganga is a holy river in India. This temple is considered to be as one of twelve jyotirlingas. It means it is one of the holiest Shiva temples. The temple was named after a deity of Shiva, called Vishwanath. Another name for Varanasi city is Kaashi that’s why the temple is named Kaashi Vishwanath temple.

Significance

For the Hindus, Kaashi Vishwanath temple has great significant. This temple is the centre for worshipping according to Shaiva philosophy. This temple got destroyed and then reconstructed many times in history. During the religious festivals and occasions, large number of people visit Kaashi Vishwanath temple. The temple gets most crowds on Shiv Ratri. According to Hindu Mythology, on the day of Mahashivratri, Lord Shiva got married with Goddess Parvati. So all over the India, this festival is celebrated by worshipping Shiva and Parvati and people distribute food items.

History

This temple was mentioned in Puranas. The original temple was destroyed in 1194 CE by Qutb-ud-din Aibak’s army when Raja of Kannauj got defeated by him. This time was then reconstructed by Gujarati merchant when there was rule of Sultan Iltutmish in Delhi. Later on during the reign of Hussein Shah Sharqi, the temple was again demolished. During the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar, Raja Man Singh again reconstructed the temple. Later on in 1669 CE, Aurangzeb, the mughal emperor destroyed the temple and in that place, he built Gyanvapi Mosque. Then in 1742, Malhar Rao Holkar, who was a Maratha ruler destroyed the Mosque and rebuilt the Kaashi Vishwanath temple.

Structure

The temple consists of small shrines located in small lane called Vishwanatha Galli. The temple is quadrangle and is surrounded by different shrines of gods. Kaashi Vishwanath temple consists of different small temples for Dhandapani, Kaalbhairav, Avimukteshwara, Vinayaka, Vishnu, Virupaksha, and Shanishwara in its complex. The structure of kaashi Vishwanath temple comprises of three parts.

Importance

Kaashi Vishwanath temple is regarded as one of the most important place for worship in Hindu religion. Inside the temple, there is a jyot