हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Vishalakshi Temple, Kashi

Varanasyam Vishalakshi: in the lanes behind Mir Ghat, the Devi of Kashi sits where, by the Peetha Nirnaya, the jewelled earring of Sati fell. Tamil pilgrims to Kashi hold her in special love.

Built: Ancient peetha; the present temple is maintained by the Nattukottai Nagarathars of Tamil Nadu, who renovated it in 1971Where: Uttar Pradesh (Varanasi, near Mir Ghat)Deity: Devi Vishalakshi, the wide-eyed Mother; Bhairava as Kala Bhairava25.31° N, 83.01° E
  1. 1971
Photo: Kailash PL · CC BY-SA 4.0

01Manikarnika

The Peetha Nirnaya says that at Varanasi the karna-kundala, the earring of Sati, fell, and that the Devi here is Vishalakshi with Kala Bhairava, the kotwal of Kashi, as her Bhairava. Some lists name her eyes or her face instead. The Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana ties the Manikarnika ghat to a jewel from an earring dropped into the kund dug by Bhagwan Vishnu, and Kashi joins the two names. Vishalakshi is also one of the nine Gauris of Kashi worshipped through Navaratri.

02Annapurna and Vishalakshi

In Kashi, Vishwanath is the lord and the Devi has two great seats: Annapurna, who feeds the city, beside the Vishwanath temple, and Vishalakshi near the river. The present shrine is built in the southern style, with a small gopuram, and is cared for by the Nattukottai Nagarathars, the Chettiar merchants of Tamil Nadu, who have kept choultries and temples in Kashi since the nineteenth century. Two murtis stand in the sanctum, the older one behind. Through Navaratri the women of Kashi come for her darshan.

The life of this place

  1. 1971The temple is renovated with the help of patrons from Tamil Nadu.
Visiting

Walk up the lanes from Mir Ghat or Manikarnika; the temple is a few minutes from the Kashi Vishwanath Dham.

Nearby

Kashi VishwanathRebuilt
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Kashi Vishwanath

The Jyotirlinga of Kashi, the city Shiva never leaves, where death on the ghats is said to bring moksha. The temple was destroyed in 1194 and 1669 and stands today beside the mosque built on its old plinth.

Annapurna Temple, VaranasiStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

Annapurna Temple, Varanasi

The temple of Annapurna beside Kashi Vishwanath, where Mahadev himself is said to beg his food. An 18th-century Annapurna murti stolen from Varanasi about a century ago came back from Canada and was installed in the Vishwanath Dham in November 2021.

Varahi Devi Temple, Varanasi (Panchasagar Shakti Peetha)Standing
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Varahi Devi Temple, Varanasi (Panchasagar Shakti Peetha)

A small Devi shrine in the lanes behind Man Mandir Ghat, open only in the early morning, where the Varahi murti sits below the floor. It is the most often named site of Panchasagar, the Shakti Peetha of Sati’s lower teeth.

The Ghats of KashiStanding
Maratha ascendancy and the Sikh empire

The Ghats of Kashi

Some eighty-four stone ghats run for nearly seven kilometres along the crescent of the Ganga from Assi to Raj Ghat. At Manikarnika the cremation fires never go out.