The 19th century shrine dedicated to goddess Durga is one of the finest temples of Varanasi, It is also known as the ‘Monkey Temple’, as the temple area is infested with large number of aggressive monkeys. Durga Kund, the adjoining temple tank affords a fine view of the temple.
Archive for Temples
Durga Temple
Category: Temples /
Tags: Durga Kund, Durga Mandir, Durga Puja, durga temple, goddess durga, Varanasi
Tulsi Manas Temple
This beautiful modern temple dedicated to Lord Rama is said to be located on the same place where Tulsidas, the great medieval seer and poet, lived and wrote the epic “Shri Ramcharitmanas”. Verses from Ramcharitamanas, the story of Lord Rama, are exquisitely carved on the walls of the temple. The landscaping around the shrine adds to its beauty.
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Bharat Mata Temple
This unique temple was inaugurated in 1936, by Mahatma Gandhi and was- gifted by two nationalists Babu Shiv Prasad Gupta, a leading numismatists and Shri Durga Prasad Khatri, an antiquarian. The temple enshrines one of the most perfect relief maps of Indian sub-continent and Tibetan Plateau carved out of marble. The mountains, rivers and the sacred pilgrim sites can be clearly seen on the map. Pilgrims circumambulate the map and enjoy the full view from the second floor.
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Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple
The ancient temple in the heart of Varanasi is one of the most important Shaivite pilgrim site. It enshrines the first of the twelve Jyotirlinga. The temple dedicated to Shiva, known here as Vishwanath or Vishveswara, the ‘Lord of the world’, is in fact the main centre of devotion for the pilgrims visiting Varanasi. It is believed that even a glimpse of the sacred jyotirlinga is a soul-cleansing experience that transforms life and puts it on the path of knowledge and bhakti. The temple has been a living embodiment of cultural traditions since time immemorial. Great saints and spiritual personalities like Adi Shankaracharya, Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekanand,
Goswami Tulsidas, Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati, Gurunanak etc. have visited the shrine.
The original temple was destroyed by Aurangzeb, the Mughal ruler and was rebuilt in 1776, by Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore. In 1835, the shikaras of the temple were gold plated by Maharaja Ranjeet Singh of Punjab and shrine also came to be known as golden temple.
The shrine of Annapurna Bhavani dedicated to goddess Shakti, the divine female energy is located nearby.
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New Vishwanath Temple
The modern temple with lofty white marble shikhara is located within the Banaras Hindu University Campus. It was planned by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya and built by the Birlas, one of the leading business house of India. The temple is supposed to be modelled on the original Vishwanath temple, which was destroyed by Aurangzeb. It is open to all, irrespective of caste or creed.
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Kamakhya (Kamachha) Devi Temple
The most famous among the goddess pithas (“benches”) in India is Kamakhya Devi whose temple is at the Kamaksha suburb of Guwahati city in Assam (northeast India). She is represented in Kashi in the neighbourhood named after her, Kamachha. Here she resides in a temple, which is small but very popular among the local dwellers. Devotees believe that the goddess came to Kashi directly from Kamaksha at the request of one of her devotees from Kashi who by his arduous austerity and rituals persuaded the goddess to come and settle in Kashi. Her image is installed over an altar of Shri Yantra. She is eulogised as one of the Shaktis (” great power”), and as one of the Yoginis. Among the devotees who are followers of Tantrism, Kamaksha Devi is the pre-eminent deity. During nine-nights of the waxing fortnight of Ashvina (September-October), special decorations and celebrations are performed by the devotees.
In the Kamaksha Devi temple is the image of her partner Krodhana Bhairava (“the angry Bhairava”), representing one among the eight forms of Bhairava, the terrifying form of Shiva, who protects the inner city in all the eight directions. Nearby is another form of Bhairava, called Batuka (“boy”). In the veranda of the Batuka Bhairava temple is the image of Ghrishaneshvara linga, representing one among the 12 Jyotira lingas of Shiva.
A little walk to the further west along the main lane is Vaidyanatha (“Lord of Physicians”), another among the 12 Jyotira lingas like the one mentioned above. Vaidyanatha, with many miracles to his credit, is very popular in the neighbourhood, which is named after him as Baijnattha. In this temple compound are the lingas of Kaholeshvara and Brahmapadeshvara.
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Category: Temples /
Tags: batuka, Bhairava, Brahmapadeshvara, devotees, goddess, India, Kamachha, kamakhya devi photo, kamakhya devi temple, kashi, rituals, shiva, varanasi tourism, yantra, Yoginis