KASHI VISHWANATHA TEMPLE

Standing on the western bank of India's holiest river Ganges, Varanasi is the oldest surviving city of the world and the cultural capital of India. It is in the heart of this city that there stands in its fullest majesty the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in which is enshrined the Jyotirlinga of Shiva, Vishweshwara or Vishwanatha. Here gravitate the teeming millions of India to seek benediction and spiritual peace by the darshan of this Jyotirlinga which confers liberation from the bondages of maya and the inexorable entanglements of the world. A SIMPLE GLIMPSE OF JYOTIRLINGA IS A SOUL-CLEANSING EXPERIENCE THAT TRANSFORMS LIFE AND PUTS IT ON THE PATH OF KNOWLEDGE AND BELIEF.Vishweshwara Jyotirlinga has a very special and unique significance in the spiritual history of India. Tradition has it that the merits earned by the darshan of other jyotirlinga scattered in various parts of India accrue to devotee by a single visit to Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

 Deeply and intimately implanted in the Hindu mind, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple has been a living embodinent of our timeless cultural traditions and highest spiritual values. The Temple has been visited by all great saints- Adi Shankaracharya, Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekanand, Goswami Tulsidas, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, Gurunanak and several other spiritual personalities.

The Viswanath temple of the [BHU]BANARS HINDU UNIVERSITY is a massive temple complex consisting of seven temples. The Shiva temple is in the ground floor and the Lakshmi Narayan and the Durga temples are in the first floor. This elegant temple structure is located almost at the center of the University campus. The laying of the foundation stone of the temple took place in March, 1931 and it took almost three decades to complete its construction. Its sky penetrating spiraling top is 252 ft. high. The whole of Geeta and extracts from the sacred Hindu scriptures are inscribed with illustrations on the inner walls of the temple. Devotees, pilgrims and tourists from all over the world visit the temple throughout the year. Religious discourses are held periodically in the central hall of the temple. Viswanath temple is the spiritual center of the University