Kashi Vishwanath TempleKashi Vishwanath Temple is one of the most famous temples dedicated to
Lord Shiva located in
Varanasi, U.P. in
India. The Temple stands on the western bank of the river
Ganga, and is one of the
12 Jyotirlingas.
Varanasi city is called
Kashi and hence the temple popularly came to be known as
Kashi Vishwanath Temple. It is also mentioned about this temple in
Kashi Khanda of
Skanda Purana.
The main deity is known by the names
Shri Vishwanath and
Vishweshwara.
The etymology of the name
Vishveshvara is
Vishva: Universe,
Ishvara: Lord, one who is the
Lord of the Universe!
The Temple has been destroyed many times in the past by
Mughals. The last structure was demolished by
Aurangzeb, the
6th Mughal emperor. He destroyed the whole Temple, idols in it & 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.
Since
1983, the whole temple has been managed by the
Govt. of U.P.@Mandir
