Kashi Vishwanath Temple ||Lord Shiva
Channel: Pawan Sharma
Date: 18/06/2021

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 had been demolished by many Muslim rulers many times, last time It was demolished by Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal emperor who constructed the Gyanvapi Mosque on its site.[1] The current structure was built on an adjacent site by the Maratha ruler, Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore in 1780.[2]

Since 1983, the temple has been managed by the government of Uttar Pradesh. During the religious occasion of Shivratri, Kashi Naresh (King of Kashi) is the chief officiating priest.
The temple is mentioned in the Puranas including the Kashi Khanda (section) of Skanda Purana. The original Vishwanath temple was destroyed by army of Aibak in 1194 CE, when he defeated the Raja of Kannauj as a commander of Mohammad Ghori. The temple was rebuilt by a Gujarati merchant during the reign of Delhi's Sultan Iltutmish (1211–1266 CE). It was demolished again during the rule of either Hussain Shah Sharqi (1447–1458) or Sikandar Lodhi (1489–1517). Raja Man Singh built the temple during Mughal emperor Akbar's rule. Raja Todar Mal further re-built the temple with Akbar's funding at its original site in 1585.[3]

In 1669 CE, Emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the temple and built the Gyanvapi Mosque in its place.[4] The remains of the erstwhile temple can be seen in the foundation, the columns and at the rear part of the mosque.[5]