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Kashi Vishwanath

A temple rebuilt, again and again

Kashi has been a centre of Shiva worship for well over two thousand years. The temple you visit today is the latest in a long line — destroyed several times and always rebuilt by devotees.

Scripture
Skanda Purana, Kashi Khanda
Present temple
1780
Built by
Rani Ahilyabai Holkar
Gold plating
1830s
The gold-plated spires of the Kashi Vishwanath temple

காட்களில் மோசடியாளர்களிடம் எச்சரிக்கை. கங்கை காட்களிலும் கோயில் தெருக்களிலும் தங்களை “வழிகாட்டி” அல்லது “பூசாரி” என்று சொல்லிக்கொள்ளும் தரகர்கள் VIP தரிசனம், பூஜை, படகு சவாரி அல்லது “தகனக் கட்டைக்கான நன்கொடை” என்று கேட்டு அலைகிறார்கள். யாருக்கும் முன்பணம் கொடுக்காதீர்கள்; சேவையைப் பெறுவதற்கு முன் பணம் செலுத்தாதீர்கள். கோயில் சேவைகளை அதிகாரப்பூர்வ அறக்கட்டளை மூலம் மட்டுமே பதிவு செய்யுங்கள்.

Timeline

  1. Antiquity

    Kashi in scripture

    Kashi appears in the Puranas and epics as Shiva’s own city. The Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana describes Vishweshwara as its presiding deity and maps hundreds of shrines around him.

  2. 12th–17th c.

    Destroyed and rebuilt

    Historical sources record the temple being demolished during several invasions and rebuilt each time by local rulers and devotees. In 1669 the temple standing at the time was demolished on the orders of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

  3. 1780

    Ahilyabai Holkar’s temple

    Rani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore, the Maratha queen famed for restoring temples across India, built the present temple next to the original site.

  4. 1830s

    The golden spires

    Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab donated gold to plate the temple’s domes and spire.

  5. 1983

    The temple trust

    The Uttar Pradesh government took over management under the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983, through a board of trustees.

  6. 2021

    Kashi Vishwanath Dham

    A large corridor project cleared the dense lanes around the temple and linked it directly to the Ganga ghats. It was inaugurated on 13 December 2021.

The Maratha and South Indian connection

Maharashtrian visitors often feel at home here for a reason: the Maratha rulers — the Peshwas, Holkars, Scindias and Bhonsles — built and repaired many of Varanasi’s ghats and temples in the 18th century. Panchganga, Scindia, Bhonsle and Ahilyabai ghats all carry their names.

South Indian lineages have kept a presence in Kashi for centuries too. Kedar Ghat and Hanuman Ghat are home to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada families, mutts and choultries. The house at Hanuman Ghat where the Tamil poet Subramania Bharati lived as a young man is now a memorial, and the annual Kashi Tamil Sangamam celebrates the bond between Kashi and Tamil Nadu.

Kashi Vishwanath Dham

Before 2021, devotees reached the temple through narrow, crowded lanes. The Dham project acquired and cleared surrounding buildings — uncovering several old temples in the process — and created a wide stone precinct running down to Lalita and Manikarnika ghats. Today pilgrims can bathe in the Ganga and walk straight up to the temple.

உள்ளூர் குறிப்பு. Look for the small temples that were rediscovered inside old houses during construction; several are now preserved inside the corridor.

அடிக்கடி கேட்கப்படும் கேள்விகள்

பக்தர்கள் கேட்கும் கேள்விகள்

Who built the current Kashi Vishwanath temple?
Rani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore built the present temple in 1780.
Who manages the temple today?
The Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, set up under the Uttar Pradesh Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983.
When was the corridor inaugurated?
The Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor was inaugurated on 13 December 2021.