Kashi Vishwanath Temple

In the beginning, when the cosmos was young, a dispute arose between Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu over who was supreme. Their argument shook the heavens and the earth. Suddenly, a massive, blindingly radiant column of fire — the Jyotirlinga — pierced through all three worlds, stretching endlessly in both directions. Neither Brahma nor Vishnu could find its beginning or end.

From this infinite pillar of light, Lord Shiva revealed himself, declaring Kashi — the luminous city — as his eternal abode. He decreed that anyone who dies in Kashi shall receive Moksha, liberation from the endless cycle of birth and death. Shiva himself whispers the Taraka Mantra into the ears of the dying here.

The city of Varanasi is considered older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend. Mark Twain once wrote that Varanasi is "older than all of these, and looks twice as old as all of them put together." The temple has been demolished seventeen times by invaders and rebuilt each time, a testament to the indomitable spirit of devotion. The current magnificent structure was rebuilt by the great Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in 1780.

Every evening, as the sun sets over the Ganga, the entire city transforms during the Ganga Aarti — thousands of oil lamps float on the sacred river as ancient Sanskrit hymns fill the air. During Dev Deepawali, the gods themselves are said to descend to bathe in the Ganga, and over a million earthen lamps illuminate every single ghat for miles.

Destroyed and rebuilt numerous times across centuries. The current structure was built by Ahilyabai Holkar in 1780. The grand Kashi Vishwanath Corridor was inaugurated in 2021.

Maha Shivaratri and Dev Deepawali illuminate the entire city and ghats with millions of oil lamps.

Features iconic golden spires and domes plated with 820 kg of gold donated by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The new corridor connects the temple directly to the ghats.