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Uttaranchal Vishwanath Temple
The temple of Kashi Vishwanath is one of the well known temples of Hindus which is in dedication of Lord Shiva. The temple is located at Varanasi which is considered as the sacred place of Hindus. The temple falls in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Vishwanath temple is spotted on the west embankments of Ganges, the holy river. It comes among the twelve Jyotirlingas, the temples of Shiva which are regarded as holy. The major deity is referred to as Vishweshwara or Vishwanatha which means ‘Ruler of the universe’. The city in which it is located is called kasha therefore the temple is commonly known as Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
This temple is mentioned in Hindu theology as well and since long it remained a prominent part for worship according to the philosophy of Shaiva.
History
There is description of Shiva temple in the Puranas as well which includes section Kashi Khanda of Skanda Purana. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple got built in 1490 and it was 11th century AD when Hari Chandra built a temple. The temple was destroyed by Muhammad Ghori along with some other temples of Varanasi. It again got destroyed by Qutub-ud-din aibak and in 1351 again it was devastated by Firuz Shah Tughlaq. There was reconstruction of temple done by Todar Mal in 1585. He was the minister of revenue in the court of Akbar. The demolition of the temple was again ordered by Aurangzeb in 1669 and the building of Gyanvapi mosque took place which remains to exist beside this temple. There are traces of ancient temple which can be spotted behind this mosque. People believe that major priest of this temple had jumped in the well along with Shiva Linga and therefore the actual Shiv-linga is witnessed there. There have been generous contributions for renovating this temple by several noble families of India belonging to several old kingdoms. There are operations carried out in the temple with these contributions.
Architecture
The complex of the temple comprises of an array of small shrines found in a small lane known as Vishwanatha Galli which lies close to the river. As far as the Linga is concerned, the major deity at this shrine has 60 cm height and 90 cm circumference and is covered in the silver altar. Various small temples dedicated to Kaalbhairav, Vishnu, Dhandapani, Vinayaka, Avimukteshwara, Sanishwara, Virupaksh gauri and Virupaksha are found within this complex. One can found a small well spotted in this temple known as Jnana Vapi meaning the wisdom well and people have a belief that the Jytorlinga got hidden in this well for protecting it during the invasion time. The temple of Kashi Vishwanath draws about 3000 visitors almost every day. There are few occasions when these numbers goes to 100,000.
How to Reach
By Air
The Indian Airlines avails its service to International airport of Lal Bahadur Shastri which lies at a distance of merely 22 kilometers from Varanasi while 30 km distant from Sarnath. One can avail direct flights as well as connecting flights regularly for reaching Varanasi from New Delhi. There is connectivity with all the prominent cities of the country for reaching this Holy place. Few cities having their connectivity through Airways may be mentioned as Kanpur, Lucknow, New Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Agra etc to name a few. For reservations, the travelers may get an access to Indian Airlines.
By Rail
The Varanasi railway station is a significant and prominent rail junction. This city has an access to service of trains from almost all the major corners of India such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Allahabad etc to name a few and has direct connectivity of rails from several cities.
By Road
The city of Varanasi falls on NH2 or National Highway running from Calcutta to New Delhi and there is NH7 which reaches even Kanya Kumari along with NH29 connecting Gorakhpur. There are buses, taxis etc easily available from the nearby cities to reach Varanasi. There are roads found in good conditions which serve the purpose in all the weathers. Few significant road connections are with Agra, Bhopal, Kanpur, Allahabad, Khajuraho, Sarnath, Patna and Lucknow etc. UPSRTC buses also ply here.
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