Kashi Vishwanath Temple: The Mysteries and Everything That Accompanies
One of the most worshipped, followed, visited, traveled, and talked about temples in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple is home to Lord Shiva in his Vishwanath form or the one who has conquered the world and is the God of the Universe or the “Vishwa Ke Nath”.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple is the epitome of spirituality as lakhs and lakhs of devotees come here every day to pay their regards to the holy establishment of Lord Shiva’s presence in the city and the temple also known as the Dhyan Lingam or the Shivlinga representing Shiva in deep meditative state.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple commemorates the first of the twelve Jyotirlingas as per Hindu Mythology. A Jyotirlinga means the physical representation of Lord Shiva in his original form manifested by itself without any manual or human intervention. This manifestation, also known as Swayambhu in Sanskrit means that Lord Shiva’s representation came to be established in its original and purest form without any human involvement and thus it is very auspicious and very special.
Kashi Vishwanath: The Story
There are many stories of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, but we will mention two of them here.
We all know about the story in which Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma, the administrator of the world and the creator of the universe came into a huge fight talking about which one is more powerful and which one is the bigger God, and then, Lord Shiva had to resolve their fight by taking a form of a huge light in the middle of the Earth and get the two to discover either end of the source of light.
When both Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma failed, Lord Brahma tried to play a small no-harm trick by lying about his accomplishments and thus after knowing about it all, Lord Vishnu’s honesty was praised and Lord Brahma’s lie was punished.
An important thing to note here is that Lord Shiva was in a deep meditative state after he took the form of a huge source of light and even after the results were declared, Lord Shiva left that large source of light, as a representation of himself being there forever and that symbol is the self-manifested or Swayambhu Shivalinga of modern day Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
This story has been represented in multiple places in multiple manners but each story ends with the fact that since this was explored in Varanasi, the holy city of Kashi, that is why Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple is the first one and the most auspicious one among the 12 total Jyotirlingas.
Another story is that once, Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati went on to take a tour of the universe and find a great place they could call their own. When Lord Shiva passed through the Ganga Ghats of Kashi, through the breezy Ghats and fields, he loved the city's nature and location. Lord Shiva decided to rest for a while and then continue his journey.
While in a state of rest, Lord Shiva took the disguise of an old monk who was tired and he laid down on the banks of the river Ganga and dozed off.
When Shiva woke up, he found a plate full of food kept near him. He could easily understand that a good samaritan, who might have seen him tired and asleep felt empathetic towards him and gave him the food to eat. This is also why there is a very famous saying in Varanasi, “Mahadev ki nagri mein koi bhookha nahi sota” meaning no one sleeps hungry in the city of Mahadeva (Lord Shiva).
Lord Shiva blessed the people and inhabitants of Varanasi so that they don’t sleep hungry or let anyone else sleep hungry. After this, Lord Shiva thought of staying for a few more days in Varanasi and he wasn’t in a mood to leave. He started liking Kashi, the more he stayed here, and slowly, he decided not to leave Kashi, thereby making Kashi or Varanasi or Banaras his place to be for the future. This is why Varanasi is called the “Mahadev Ki Nagri” or the “City of Kashi”.
Now, Lord Shiva was on a tour to go through the entire universe and know what is going on everywhere and how he can improve the lives of people there. However, since he did not want to go beyond Kashi or Varanasi, the Gods and the Godmen were very tense and confused.
Narad Rishi, or Saint Narad, then had an idea. He requested Goddess Parvati, who had already completed the round, to go to Lord Shiva and ask him to come back to Kailash Mountain and take up his role again. But Lord Shiva denied going, and therefore, Goddess Parvati also said that she would only leave if Shiva left or that she would stay in Kashi only for her life.
Even if this was an ordeal and this was to end after some time, slowly, every God and Goddesses and Godmen came to Kashi and requested Lord Shiva to leave Kashi, but somehow slowly each of them started finding peace, solace, and comfort in this city.
Everyone wanted to stay here for much longer, and therefore, all the Gods also started staying in Kashi. When everyone was staying in Kashi, they all started doing all the Bhajan/ Keertan, or worship, Pooja, and daily chores in Kashi itself, making it much more heavenly than ever.
This is why, Lord Shiva became fixated on Kashi and called it an Anandavani, or the place where there is a lot of peace and comfort.
This is also why Varanasi is the only place in which there is one Swayambhu temple for every god, goddess, and Godman.
Kashi Therefore is the place for all the Gods and all the Goddesses. Every person born or dying in Kashi experiences a special bond with this place and the same happens with the travelers as well.
This is how, the Kashi Vishwanath came into existence in the form of a Shivalinga, with maximum importance to the mere sight of Lord Shiva through a peak.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple came into existence a little later.
Kashi Vishwanath: The History
After Lord Shiva established a part of himself as Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi, the temple in its earlier days was called the Adi Vishweshwara Temple or the Ishwar of all the Vishwas or the total Universe. Devotees even made sure to worship this temple and the Swayambhu Shivlinga every day by giving huge importance to the Shivalinga.
History has it that when Mohammad Ghor tried invading India and demolishing the temple of Adi Vishweshwara, he couldn’t demolish the Shivalinga and after he was thrown off, the temple was rebuilt by Raja Maan Singh and Todar Mal. After several years, Aurangzeb again tried demolishing the temple and built a mosque over the temple. The devotees were still in the belief of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and they kept worshipping at the temple.
Several years later, Ahilya Bai Holkar, the Maratha Queen reclaimed the Hindu Temple land and rebuilt the temple. She thus called the temple Kashi Vishwanath or the Lord of the Universe sitting in Kashi. She thereby is considered to be the bravest warrior to have been able to take back her land from the usurpers since the other rulers kept failing at the task.
Ever since then, the Government of Independent India has been making several changes, allocations, and reforms to make the temple area a place where the devotees can manage their beliefs better.
In 2021, the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi made a huge investment wherein he allocated a huge budget to revamp the entire area canvassing the temple and making the temple corridor connecting it to the Ghats of river Ganges (Ganga). Subsequently, there has been a continuous row over the Gyanvapi Mosque, the one built by Aurangzeb as there are various schools of thought, with one of them claiming that the mosque hides more Hindu places of worship and only when it will be demolished will there be a proper establishment of justice in full circle.
Kashi Vishwanath Temple: Dhyan Lingam
Why is Kashi Vishwanath Temple known as the Dhyan Lingam? A lot of sources on the internet have claimed that Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple is considered to be the Dhyan Lingam or the Dhyanaliga. Let us explore to see how true is that, if it is true.
If we bifurcate the word Dhyanalinga or Dhyana Lingam, Dhyana means meditation or focus in Sanskrit, and Linga or Lingam means the form that helps. So the Form that helps to meditate is generally called the Dhyanalingam or the Dhyanlinga.
In normal phrases, a place where you can sit peacefully, think about life, death, and everything around and enjoy life to its fullest, is the Dhyan Lingam, or the form that gives you all the atmosphere to work and worship.
There have been a lot of things said and unsaid about the Kashi Vishwanath Temple but it is considered to be the most important as it is the first of the twelve Jyotirlingas and it is considered the most auspicious and the most loved. This is why almost 7 crore people seem to witness the holy Shivalinga and imbibe the positivity in their lives.
There are a lot of things that can still be said and written about the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple. So if there is anything you want to add to this or suggest as a change or feedback, do let us know at wa.me/918542929702 or info@rudrakshahub.com and we shall be happy to discuss the same with you. Till then, smile and enjoy with Rudraksha Hub..!!
