Gangotri Temple

Gangotri is a town and a Nagar Panchayat (municipality) 98 KM from Uttarkashi in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirathi. It is on the Greater Himalayan Range, at a height of 3,100m.

 Gangotri, the origin of the River Ganges and seat of the goddess Ganga, is one of the four sites in the Char Dham yatra circle . The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and acquires the name Ganga (the Ganges) from Devprayag onwards where it meets the Alaknanda. The origin of the holy river is at Gaumukh, set in the Gangotri Glacier, and is a 19 km trek from Gangotri.

 According to Hindu mythology, Goddess Ganga took the form of a river to absolve the sins of King Bhagiratha’s predecessors, following his severe penance of several centuries.

 This shrine of goddess Ganga is one of the four pilgrim place ( Char Dham ) of Hindu religion. It is 228 KM from Yamunotri temple, another pilgrim place of Char Dham Yatra. Uttarakashi is the gateway to Gangtri and there is no other way to reach Gangotri by road. Here road ends and trekking rout to Gomukh starts. Goumukh is the glacier from which river Ganga starts. The temple of Gangotri remains open from May 1st week and closes at 3rd week of October. The exact date changes every year as they are based on the Hindu calendar. It opens on Akshaya tritya day which falls around Ist week of May or before that. The temple closes on Diwali festival day which falls during last week of October. After closing of the temple goddess Ganga is taken to a place located at a lower height than the Gongotri as these areas get heavy snow fall during winter.

There are some view points on the way to enjoy the journey. Snow peak mountains can be seen while approaching Gangotri.

 There are some bridges joining two hills and rivers flowing at a very low level from the bridges. These breath taking views are not to be missed.

 Submerged Shivlingam

 According to legend, King Sagar, after slaying the demons on earth decided to stage an Ashwamedha Yagna as a proclamation of his supremacy. The horse which was to be taken on an uninterrupted journey around the earth was to be accompanied by the King’s 60,000 sons born to Queen Sumati and one son Asamanja born of the second queen Kesani. Indra, supreme ruler of the gods feared that he might be deprived of his celestial throne if the ‘Yagya’ (worship with fire) succeeded and then took away the horse and tied it to the ashram of Sage Kapil, who was then in deep meditation. The sons of the King Sagara searched for the horse and finally found it tied near the meditating sage. Sixty thousand angry sons of King Sagara stormed the ashram of sage Kapil. When he opened his eyes, the 60,000 sons had all perished, by the curse of sage Kapil. Bhagiratha, the grandson of King Sagar, is believed to have meditated to please the Goddess Ganga enough to cleanse the ashes of his ancestors, and liberate their souls, granting them salvation or Moksha.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple

Kashi Viswnath temple situated in Varanashi  also known as Banaras, kashi In Uttar Pradesh , India. Legend maintains that Lord Shiva manifested himself in the from of a lingam at 12 holy cities in India, Varanasi being one of them. These lingams we known as JYOTIRLINGAMS. To the side of the temple is Gyan-Kupor(‘The well of Knowledge’). The Jyotir lingam of the original Vishwanath Temple, is believed to be hidden in the well by his devotees to protect it from the early Muslim invaders.

 Shiva The Supreme: Shiva Linga

 The structure of the cosmic reality, according to ancient Hindu thought, consists of the three fundamental stages called

Generation     ( Evolution ) ( Shrishthi )         who generate the Universe

Operation       ( Existence )    ( Sthiti )              who operates  the Universe

Destroy            ( Involution )  ( Samhara )      who destroys  the Universe

 That occurs in a cyclic process of infinity. Each one of the forms is controlled by a God, named Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the Operater) and Shiva (the destroyer); these three Gods are called the Trinity. Shiva, being the last to complete the cycle from where the new cycle starts, is known as Mahadeo, the Supreme Divinity. The iconographic form of the Shiva, the Linga represents the unity of these three states of cosmos .The Linga consists of the three parts. The first is a square base of three-layers at the bottom showing the three mythical (realms) lokas, symbolizing Generation,the place of Brahma. The second is an octagonal round form in the middle showing the eight directions, symbolizing existence (operation)the place of Vishnu; and third is a cylinder at the top with a spherical end, symbolizing involution or Destroying of the cosmic cycle,the place of Shiva. This icon shows the supreme state of integrity, the ultimate form of Shiva linga itself is a symbol of cosmic mandala. As Sadasiva (eternal reality) Shiva is represented as linga, standing also for ‘total knowledge’. As Rudra, the destroyer, his consort is Kali. As Bhairava, the terrible destroyer, his consort is Durga. As a jovial god living in the Himalaya . As possessor of all forms of divine power Shiva rooms at the bottom of everything that is moving, that is how he is called Ishvara, derived from I-cara, i.e. I the centre, and cara, the rhythm of movement.

History

A Shiva temple has been mentioned in Puranas including Kashi Khanda (section) of Skanda Purana.In 490 AD , the Kashi Vishwanath Temple was built. In 11th Century AD, Hari Chandra constructed a temple. Muhammad Ghori destroyed it along with other temples of Varanasi during his raid in 1194. Reconstruction of the temple started soon after. This was demolished by Qutb-ud-din Aibak. After Aibak’s death the temple was again rebuilt with the permission of his successor Iltutmish. In 1351 it was destroyed again by Firuz Shah Tughlaq, who also had Hindu holy works translated in Persian. The temple was rebuilt in 1585 by Todar Mal, the Revenue Minister of Akbar’s Court. Aurangzeb again demolished in 1669 and constructed Gyanvapi Mosque, which still exists alongside of the temple. Traces of the old temple can be seen behind the mosque. The current temple was built by Ahilya Bai Holkar, the Hindu Maratha queen of Malwa kingdom, in 1780. The temple spire and  dome are plated with 1000 kg of gold donated by the Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab, in 1835.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple  is one of the most famous Hindu temple of Lord Shiva and is located in Benaras, the Holiest existing Place of Hindus, where at least once in life a Hindu is expected to do(Yatra) pilgrimage, and if possible, also pour the remains (ashes) of cremated ancestors here on the River Gange. It is in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Ganges,and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest of Shiva temples. The main deity is known by the name Vishwanatha or Vishweshwara meaning the Ruler of the universe. The temple town that claims to be the oldest living city in the world, having 3500 years of documented history,is also called Kashi and hence the temple is popularly called as Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Due to this 15.5m high golden spire(golden cover bulit by Maharaja Ranjit Singh-ruler of Lahore), the temple is sometimes called as the Golden Temple.

Displaying a gesture of impeccable harmony, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and a Mosque in Varanasi co-exists in the same premises. The tough security at the temple entrance have not been even close to affect the spirit of devotees to visit their Lord.

 Importance of the temple

The temple is widely recognized as one of the most important places of worship in Hindu religion and most of the leading Hindu saints, including Adi Sankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Goswami Tulsidas, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Gurunanak have visited this site. A visit to the temple and a bath in the river Ganges is one of many methods believed to lead one on a path to Moksha (liberation). Thus, people from all over the nation, try to visit the place at least once in their lifetime. There is also a tradition that one should give up at least one desire after a pilgrimage the temple, and the pilgrimage would also include a visit to the temple at Rameswaram in South India, where people take the water samples of the Ganges to perform prayer at Rameswaram temple and bring back the sand from near that temple to Kashi.

 The Temple Timings

 The Vishwanath temple opens daily at 2.30 A.M. for Mangala Aarti and between 3 to 4 A.M. ticket holders are permitted to join. The timing of general Darshan is from 4 to 11 A.M. The timing for midday Bhog Aarti is from 11.30 to 12 A.M. Between 12 noon to 7 P.M.,  free to genral Darshan. From 7 to 8.30 P.M. the Sapta Rishi Aarati is held after which Darshan is possible again till 9 P.M. At 9 P.M. the Shringar/Bhog Aarati starts and after that Darshan can be only from outside. Shayana Aarti starts at 10.30 P.M. and the temple closes at 11 P.M. Most of the offerings at the Kashi Vishwanath temple are given to poor.