सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाथं च श्रीशैले मल्लिकार्जुनम ।
उज्जयिन्यां महाकालमोङ्कारममलेश्वरम ॥
परल्यां वैद्यनाथं च डाकिन्यां भीमशङ्करम ।
सेतुबन्धे तु रामेशं नागेशं दारुकावने ॥
In a series of Jyotirlinga Darshan, we will give you brief information about 12 Jyotirlingas in Bharat i.e. India.
The most visited Jyotirling – Varanasi or Kashi or Banaras. Though the name comes from the not very well-known rivers – River Varuna and River Assi ( Varuna – Assi = Varanasi) the city is well known for The River Maa Ganga ( Mother Ganga)
The Vishwanath Dham temple is visited by over 70 lakh devotees every year.
The temple of Kashi Vishwanath has a long history where the temple was destroyed a number of times by Muslim Invaders and rebuilt every time with greater glory…. The last time it was destroyed by Aurangzeb in the year 1669 and rebuilt by The Queen of Indore – Rani Ahilyabhai Holkar in 1777.
On 13th December 2021 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Grander and Larger than life temple complex of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Mandir. The most important spot after the redevelopment is the Corridor connecting Lalita Ghat and the Main Temple where you can just take a bath in the River Ganga and walk up the temple with Ganga Jal to offer to Lord Shiva (Earlier it used to take about 45min to reach and now it takes just 5 minutes)
Before the development, the temple was just 3000 Square feet in area and now the Upgraded and Restored temple is spread over 500000 Square feet. Where every day more than 2lakh devotees can visit the temple without any hurdle. The Project was completed in just 21 months in spite of the pandemic. Every corner of the complex is beautifully carved on sandstone and pink stone.
During the restoration of the temple complex and the corridor, more than 40 small and big temples were found buried under houses and shops and all of them were given respectable places in the Tourist Facilitation Centre in the complex.
In the temple complex, you can visit the Well of Wisdom ( Moksha Dham) where the Shivling was hidden every time the temple was destroyed. The most beautiful Golden Dome of Kashi Vishwanath Temple is the highlight of the temple complex.
Apart from the Temple complex, the most important tourist attraction is the Boat ride and Ganga Aarti which takes place every day in the evening on the Ganga Ghats. The view of Ganga Aarti from the boat is a beautiful sight.
Other places of tourist interest in and around Varanasi are – Bharatmata Mandir, Sarnath, Durga Temple, Tulsi Manas Temple, and Banaras Hindu University and Prayagraj(120kms).
Twelve Jyotirlingas:
- Somnath, Saurashtra, Gujrat
- Shri Shailam, Mallikarjuna, Andhra Pradesh
- Mahakaal, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
- Amaleshwara, Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh
- Vaidyanath, Parali, Maharashtra
- Bhimashankar, Dakini, Maharashtra
- Rameshwaram, Setubandha, Tamilnadu
- Nageshwara, Darukavana, Gujrat
- Vishwanath, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
- Tryambakeshwar, Nashik, Maharashtra
- Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
- Grishneshwar, Ellora, Maharashtra
