Kashi Vishwanath Temple

Kashi Vishwanath Temple is one of the most famous Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. The temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Ganges, and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest of Shiva temples. The main deity is known by the name Vishvanatha or Vishveshvara meaning Ruler of The Universe. Varanasi city is also called Kashi, and hence the temple is popularly called Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The temple has been referred to in Hindu scriptures for a very long time as a central part of worship in the Shaiva philosophy. It has been destroyed and re-constructed a number of times in history. The last structure was demolished by Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal emperor who constructed the Gyanvapi Mosque on its site. The current structure was built on an adjacent site by the Maratha ruler, Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore in 1780.

• Aurangzeb cared nothing for art, destroyed its "heathen" monuments with coarse bigotry, and fought, through a reign of half a century, to eradicate from India almost all religions but his own. He issued orders to the provincial governors, and to his other subordinates, to raze to the ground all the temples of either Hindus or Christians, to smash every idol, and to close every Hindu school. In one year ( 1679-80) sixty-six temples were broken to pieces in Amber alone, sixty-three at Chitor, one hundred and twenty-three at Udaipur; and over the site of a Benares temple especially sacred to the Hindus he built, in deliberate insult, a Mohammedan mosque.
  • Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage, ch. XVI

• The Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi is very certainly located on the exact site of the Vishvanath temple, and visibly includes remains of the old temple walls.
  • Ayodhya: the case against the temple, by Koenraad Elst (2002)

• The Lord Cherisher of the Faith learnt that in the provinces of Tatta, Multan, and especially at Benares, the Brahman misbelievers used to teach their false books in their established schools, and that admirers and students both Hindu and Muslim, used to come from great distances to these misguided men in order to acquire this vile learning. His Majesty, eager to establish Islam, issued orders to the governors of all the provinces to demolish the schools and temples of the infidels and with the utmost urgency put down the teaching and the public practice of the religion of these misbelievers.'...'It was reported that, according to the Emperor's command, his officers had demolished the temple of Viswanath at Kashi.'..
  • Maasir-i-Alamgiri, translated into English by Sir Jadu-Nath Sarkar, Calcutta, 1947, pp. 51-60

• It is a small mosque wholly devoid of magnificence, erected, according to Mussulman practice, upon the ruins of a Hindoo temple. The limited site on which it was built may not have admitted of the usual display of beauty or splendour, or the imperial founder may have considered it more as a monument of triumph than of grandeur — have desired rather that it should express contempt than command admiration, Benares was indeed taken and plundered, and given up to every excess, by Mahomed Gauri in the year 1194; but the mosque in question was constructed by Aurungzebe, who has left behind him many similar proofs of his persecution of the Hindoos. A humane king would have lamented the past injuries of his subjects, a great one would have repaired them, but Aurungzebe, in a more enlightened age, and without the palliation of his predecessor, a barbarian and a conqueror, deliberately augmented the desolation of the city, the object of veneration of a whole people, and treated with derision and dishonour the religious feelings of its most peaceful inhabitants. It struck me as one of the most remarkable instances of the passive character of the Hindoos that they should have suffered the lofty minarets of this mosque to tower over their temples so long, and to be the first objects that meet the eye of the pilgrim on his approach to the far-sought sanctuary of his religion.
  • Travels in India a hundred years ago, with a visit to the United States; by Thomas Twining. (About Aurangzeb's mosque in Benares). Quoted in Jain, Meenakshi (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts.

• Your visit at the demise of the Muslim rule, O ruler of men! proves to be as soothing as a shade to a sun-stricken man. Your darsana (appearance) here is like ointment to the wound sustained by our heart on our seeing the mosque near the Visvanatha temple.
  • Bharatendu Harishchandra while welcoming the Prince of Wales in 1875. Quoted from Narain, Harsh (1993). The Ayodhya temple-mosque dispute: Focus on Muslim sources. Delhi: Penman Publishers. p. 2. [1]

• “When I go to the Vishwanath Mandir in Benares and listen to the most powerful, magical aarti I hear from the priests that the knowledge of it will probably die because the temple is now controlled by secular bureaucrats”.
  • Tavleen Singh, quoted in [2] [This article is a major extract from the article "Sita Ram Goel, memories and ideas" by S. Talageri, written for the Sita Ram Goel Commemoration Volume, entitled "India's Only Communalist", edited by Koenraad Elst, published in 2005.

• At the back of the mosque and in continuation of it are some broken remains of what was probably the old Bishwanath Temple. It must have been a right noble building ; there is nothing finer, in the way of architecture in the whole city, than this scrap. A few pillars inside the mosque appear to be very old also.
  • — Edwin Greaves, Kashi the city illustrious, or Benares, 1909[14] Edwin Greaves (1909). Kashi the city illustrious, or Benares. Allahabad: Indian Press. pp. 80–82.

• The great Vishvanath temple was destroyed no less than three times during the centuries. It is said that in AD 1994, when first attacked by Aibak, and on each subsequent occasion, Brahmins hid the jyotirlinga... The temple was subsequently rebuilt at another location, where too it was ravaged...
  • Jain, M. (2013). Rama and Ayodhya., p 107

• if owing to the power of foreign rulers, there is no linga at all in that place, even so, the dharma of thee place itself should be observed, with rites of circumambulation, salutation, etc...
  • Narayana Bhatta (16th cent.), Tristhalisetu. in Jain, M. (2013). Rama and Ayodhya., p 107

• In some cities, Varanasi or Lucknow, for example, mosques dominate the landscape. In Varanasi, of course, deemed by many the Hindu city par excellence, small temples literally dot the ghats and city, although most of them date no earlier than the late eighteenth century It is particularly interesting that Rani Ahilya Bai Holkar’s newly constructed Vishvanath temple, the focal tirtha in all Varanasi, is notably smaller than the adjacent mosque constructed during Aurangzeb’s reign from the spoils of an earlier Vishvanath temple.” Yet the Rani was a woman of considerable resources, and the temple was built in 1777 when Hindu political power dominated in Varanasi.” Had she wished to build a larger temple, rather than one almost lost in the interior gullies of Dasashvamedh Ghat, she could have done so.
  • DAVID GILMARTIN, BRUCE B. LAWRENCE - Beyond Turk and Hindu_ Rethinking Religious Identities in Islamicate South Asia 125ff. (also in Jain, M. (2010). Parallel pathways: Essays on Hindu-Muslim relations, 1707-1857.)

• The object of the Marathas in all these undertakings was religious as well as political. They particularly intended to get the holy places of Prayag and Kashi back into Hindu possession. On 18th .June 1751 a Maratha agent writes, “ Malharrao has pitched his monsoon camp in the Doab. He intended to pull down the grand Mas j id built by Aurangzeb at Benares and restore the original temple of Kashi-Vishveshwar. The Brahmans of Kashi feel extremely terrified at such a move, for they realize the Muslim strength in these places. What the holy Ganges and the Protector Vishveshwar can ordain will come true. The Brahmans are going to send a strong appeal to the Peshwa against any such attempt by his Sardars.”
  • In 1751. quoted in "New History Of The Marathas Vol.2" Sardesai., also in Jain, M. (2010). Parallel pathways: Essays on Hindu-Muslim relations, 1707-1857.

• Even if the linga of Vishveshvara here is taken off somewhere and another is brought in and established by human hands, on account of the difficulty of the times, whatever is established in that place should be worshipped.… And if, owing to the power of foreign rulers, there is no linga at all in that place, even so, the dharma of the place itself should be observed, with rites of circumambulation, salutation, etc., and in this way the daily pilgrimage [nityayātrā] shall be performed.
  • Nārāyana Bhatta, who compiled a digest of Purānic verses on Kāshī, Gayā, and Prayāga in his Tristhalīsetu, in Eck, Diana L - Banaras_ city of light. also in Jain, M. (2010). Parallel pathways: Essays on Hindu-Muslim relations, 1707-1857.

• The great Vishwanath temple was destroyed at least thrice from the twelfth century onwards. It was first attacked by Aibak in 1194 ce. Queen Raziya (r. 1236-1240), during her short chaotic reign, appropriated the site and had a mosque constructed there. The further history of Visveshvara has been described as “one of stubbornness and bigotry”. The temple became a prime symbol of Hindu resistance; they repeatedly rebuilt, as Muslims continually destroyed.
  • Jain, M. (2019). Flight of deities and rebirth of temples: Espisodes from Indian history. 93-4

• though here the linga of Visvesvara is removed and another is brought in its place by human beings, owing to the times, the pilgrims must worship whatever linga is in this place.
  • Narayana Bhatta in (O’Hanlon 2011: 196-197). quoted in Jain, M. (2019). Flight of deities and rebirth of temples: Espisodes from Indian history.

• ... the pagoda of Benares, which, after that of Jagannath, is the most famous in all India, with which it is even, as it were, on a par, being also built on the margin of the Ganges, and in the town of which it bears the name .
  • (Tavernier Vol. II 1889: 230). in Jain, M. (2019). Flight of deities and rebirth of temples: Espisodes from Indian history.

• The name of this temple (which is the most venerated in Benares) is Bisseshwar or Visseshwar. Crossing the little court, which was very splashy from the quantity of libations poured out, we ascended a very narrow staircase, up which no stout person could go, to what might be called the leads of the temple. Here were three quadrilateral domes close together, which are being gilded from money left by Ranjit Sing. Immense sums were sent with a portion of his ashes to various temples, and amongst others to this one. The temple is very small in comparison to European places of worship. On descending, we were led along a curious passage full of images and altars like the first (the whole having much the appearance of the entry to a museum of antiquities), - to a well in which, when the former temple was desecrated by the Muhammadans under Aurangzeb, the god took refuge. It is surrounded by a railing, and offerings of flowers, water, and rice are continually thrown down to propitiate the helpless divinity. The odour of sanctity of Hindu Mythology is not more agreeable to the olfactory nerves than that of the Romish begging fraternities – so we quickly left the spot. The Brahmans seem in no way different in dress from their countrymen, except that all of those in the temple had their heads and beards partially shaved. Most of them wore red mantles. The remains of the former temple were very fine. On its ruins Aurangzeb built a mosque, which we proceeded to visit, and coming from the idol temple, I felt a relief, and even an emotion of sympathy with the simple building we entered, where, at least, there was nothing outward and visible to dishonour the Most High. The only thing which it contained was a raised place for the mullah to preach from.
  • Mrs. Colin Mackenzie, Mackenzie, Mrs. Colin, Life In The Mission, The Camp, And The Zenana Or Six Years In India, 3 vols., Richard Bentley, 1853. quoted from Jain, M. (editor) (2011). The India they saw: Foreign accounts. New Delhi: Ocean Books. Volume IV Chapter12

• “In August, 1669, the temple of Vishvanath at Banaras was demolished. The presiding priest of the temple was just in time to remove the idols and throw them into a neighbouring well which thus became a centre of interest ever after. The temple of Gopi Nath in Banaras was also destroyed about the same time. He (Aurangzeb) is alleged to have tried to demolish the Shiva temple of Jangamwadi in Banaras”, but could not succeed because of opposition.
  • Maasir-i-Alamgiri, p. 88., R. Sharma, quoted from Lal, K. S. (1992). The legacy of Muslim rule in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 6

• Thousands of pilgrims who visit Mathura or walk past the site of Vishvanath temple and Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi everyday, are reminded of Mughal vandalism and disregard for Hindu sensitivities by Muslim rulers.
  • Lal, K. S. (1992). The legacy of Muslim rule in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 3 (also in K.S. Lal, Historical Essays)

• Mosques of Alamgir (Aurangzeb). It is said that the mosque of Benares was built by Alamgir on the site of the Bisheshwar Temple. That temple was very tall and (held as) holy among the Hindus. On this very site and with those very stones he constructed a lofty mosque, and its ancient stones were rearranged after being embedded in the walls of the mosque. It is one of the renowed mosques of Hindustan. The second mosque at Benares (is the one) which was built by Alamgir on the bank of the Ganga with chiselled stones. This also is a renowned mosque of Hindustan. It has 28 towers, each of which is 238 feet tall. This is on the bank of the Ganga and its foundations extend to the depth of the waters. Alamgir built a mosque at Mathura. It is said that this mosque was built on the site of the Gobind Dev Temple which was very strong and beautiful as well as exquisite…”
  • Maulana Hakim Sayid Abdul Hai: Hindustan Islami Ahad Mein (Hindustan under Islamic Rule, Urdu translation) Majlis Tehqiqat wa Nashriat Islam, Nadwatul-Ulama, Lucknow. With a foreword by Maulana Abul-Hasan Ali Nadwi. Quoted in Arun Shourie: Hideaway Communalism (Indian Express, February 5, 1989) and in Shourie, A., & Goel, S. R. (1990). Hindu temples: What happened to them.

• Om! Glory be to Ganapati. In Ayodhya lived formerly Sadhesadhu, the speaker of truth, beloved of good men, whose delight consisted in the welfare of all beings. His son was the famous Sadhunidhi, whose son Padmasadhu, of steadfast virtue, on the north side of the entrance to the Visvesvara temple at Kasi built a solid and lofty temple of god Padmesvara, on Wednesday, the twelfth day of the waning moon of the month of Jyaishtha, in the year of Plava: Samvat 1353, on which day this eulogy was written.
  • The Padmesvara inscription of 1353 CE recording the construction of the Padmesvara (Vishnu) temple on the north-side entrance of the Visveshvara temple at Kashi by Padma Sadhu. (Fuhrer 1889: 51). quoted in Jain, M. (2019). Flight of deities and rebirth of temples: Espisodes from Indian history. 90ff

ASI Survey Report, 2023 [3]

• Comparison of the inscription found in the lower room inside the existing structure, with a copy which was made by the ASI in 1965-66, establishes that attempt was made to erase last two lines of the inscription mentioning about the construction and expansion of the mosque.
  • [4]

• During the scientific investigations/ survey of existing structure a number of Sanskrit and Dravidian inscriptions were noticed on the pre-existing structure and existing structure. Most of these inscriptions which сап be dated from 12th to 17th century have been reused in the structure, suggesting that the earlier structures were destroyed and their parts were reused in construction / repair later.
  • [5]

• During the survey, a number of inscriptions were noticed on the existing and pre-existing structures. A total of 34 inscriptions were recorded during the present survey and 32 estampages were taken. These are, in fact, inscriptions on the stones of the pre-existing Hindu temples, which have bееп re-used during the construction! repair of the existing structure, They include inscriptions in Devanagari, Grantha, Telugu and Kannada scripts. Reuse of earlier inscriptions in the structure, suggest that the earlier structures were destroyed and their parts were reused in construction repair of the existing structure.
  • [6]

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Kashi Vishwanath Temple