Kashi Vishwanath Temple Varanasi Uttar Pradesh History and Interesting Facts

Kashi Vishwanath Temple Quick Facts

Kashi Vishwanath Temple Overview

Varanasi city located in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is one of the largest religious and cultural cities in the world. The city of Varanasi is one of the oldest cities of India, whose mention can also be seen in the works of most ancient Indian poets. Uttar Pradesh has also been the birthplace of many famous writers and poets. Kashi Vishwanath Temple located in Varanasi city is famous in the world for its culture, artwork and history.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple History

The Temple is mentioned in several Puranas, most notably in the Skanda Purana, which is one of the oldest Puranas of Hinduism. Qutb-ud-din Aibak, the ruler of Delhi Sultanate, defeated King Mohammad Ghori of Kanauj in a battle in the year 1194 AD, after which the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak started destroying many temples of Varanasi. In which the original form of the ancient Kashi Vishwanath Temple was completely destroyed.

The Temple was renovated by a Gujarati merchant during the reign of Sultan Iltutmish, but it was again demolished during the reigns of Hussain Shah Sharqi and Sikandar Lodhi. During the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar, Raja Man Singh tried to get this temple rebuilt, but Hindus started opposing him because he had married his daughter to the Mughal dynasty.

This temple was rebuilt by Raja Todar Mal in the year 1585. In the year 1669 AD, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb destroyed many temples of Kashi and built the Gyanvapi mosque there, whose remains can still be seen in the rear part of the mosque. The present temple was built near the mosque by Ahilyabai Holkar (Malhar Rao's daughter-in-law) in about 1780 AD, after which the temple was looked after by a hereditary group of Panda or Mahant.

In the year 1900, Pandit Vishweshwar Dayal Tiwari, son-in-law of Mahant Devi Dutt, filed suit for the management of the temple, as a result of which he was declared the head priest of the temple.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple Interesting Facts

1. The present form of this famous temple was built in about 1780 AD by "Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar" of the Maratha Empire.
2. This magnificent temple is dedicated to the Hindu deity Lord Shiva, who is worshiped in this temple in the form of a linga which is 60 cm in height and is surrounded by a 90 cm circumference yoni made of pure silver.
3. This magnificent temple has been severely damaged by many Muslim rulers, such as Qutb-ud-din Aibak in 1194 AD and it was destroyed by Aurangzeb in 1669 AD.
4. In the year 1742 AD, the Maratha ruler Malhar Rao Holkar had planned to rebuild the demolished temple, but his plan failed due to the intervention of the Nawabs of Lucknow as the area was controlled by the Nawabs.
5. Around 1750 AD, the Maharaja of Jaipur started a survey with the aim of buying land in Kashi to rebuild the Kashi Vishwanath temple, but his plan to rebuild the temple failed due to outside interference.
6. In the year 1828, "Baija Bai", wife of the Maratha ruler Daulat Rao Scindia of Gwalior state, built a roofed Tirumala with more than 40 pillars in the Gyan Vapi complex.
7. Gyanvapi well, ghat, and other nearby temples were constructed in Kashi from about 1833-1840 AD.
8. To the East of the pillared complex of this temple lies a 7 feet high stone idol of The Nandi bull, which was gifted to this temple by the King of Nepal.
9. The dome on top of this magnificent temple is made of pure gold. To make this dome out of gold, in the year 1835 AD, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji donated 1 ton of gold to the temple.
10. Silver has also been used in many places in this grand temple, which was donated to the temple in the year 1841 by a ruler of Nagpur "Bhosale".
11. What makes this temple most famous are its 3 gold domes, with the tallest dome having a total height of about 15.5 meters.
12. More than 3,000 tourists visit this temple every day and on some special occasions, their number reaches more than 1,000,000.