Varanasi is the Holy City

Chaturmasya Deeksha

The Poornima (full moon day) in the month of Ashadha is called ‘Guru Poornima’. On this sacred day, worship is offered to Brahma Vidyacharyas - the great luminaries of hoary antiquity, who through their Supreme grace, have handed over the knowledge of Brahman - Brahma Vidya - through a long, continuous and uninterrupted line of Acharyas, to the world of seekers of Self. Special pujas are performed to the hierarchy of Gurus, Parama Gurus, Parameshti Gurus, Parapara Gurus and all Brahma Vidya Acharyas, seeking their inestimable blessings to realise the Supreme Truth. This is also
called ‘Vyasa Puja’, for, Sri Vedavyasa stands foremost in the line of these preceptors. It was Vyasa who codified the Vedas into four divisions and integrated the messages of the Upanishads relating to Brahman, Jiva and the Universe in his great book, the Brahmasutras. He is rightly addressed as one of ‘vast intellect’ (???????????) ‘the ancient sage’ (??????????) by whom was lit the lamp of knowledge, feeding it with the oil of Mahabharata.
Suka, Gaudapada and Govindabhagavatpada kept this light burning; then came the Great Master Sri Sankaracharya, who carried it far and wide throughout Bharata Varsha.

A popular verse compendiously expresses the many dimensioned greatness of Veda Vyasa and Sri Sankaracharya and offers obeisance to them:
The term Chaturmasya means four months. The term Chaturmasya Vrata is a Vrata to be observed for a period of four months. But according to the Vedic dictum one ‘paksha’ or a fortnight is taken as one month, and traditionally the Vrata is observed only for two months. During the rainy season, Sannyasins observe Chaturmasya and stay at one place to meditate on the Absolute Reality and instruct their disciples in the spiritual lore.
so expresses the Srimukha issued by the Acharyas of Sringeri Math.

Before observing the Chaturmasya Sankalpa, they perform Vyasa Puja and pay homage to Dakshinamurti, Sadasiva and to the Acharyas who came after him, to the framers of the canons of Brahma Vidya - the knowledge of Brahman - to the great seers of the parampara and to the preceptors. The Narada Parivrajakopanishad which codifies the conduct of the Sannyasins in detail, lays down that Sannyasins must be moving from place to place, to avoid getting entangled with the dealings and habits of the people of the village or town. But during the rainy season, they must halt at one place for a period of four months and observe the Chaturmasya Vrata.
The mendicant monk, except in the rainy season, may stay one night in a village and five nights in a city; during the rains, he may stay four months in a village or town. He shall not stay for two nights in a villages; if he stays, affection, lust, etc., may find scope to deflect him and thereby he may go to hell. In the outskirts of a village, in a secluded spot, he may pitch his camp and go about for alms like a worm on the ground; during the rains, he shall stay at one place.
If, during the rainy season, the Sannyasins move from one place to another, they may cause injury to many insects and worms that breed and move about on the ground during the season. But as the Sannyasins have taken the vow of non-injury to all creatures (Ahimsa and Abhaya), they should refrain from causing harm to any living being. Moreover, constant travel will also come in the way of Sannyasins having any time for ‘Brahma-vichara’ or for continued profound meditation; So, they halt at one place once in a year for four months and engage themselves in the meditation of the Supreme Brahman, in the company of their Gurus and other Sannyasins, clearing their doubts on complex metaphysical problems.
During the Chaturmasya Vrata,

POSTED BY RAJU NARAYANASWAMY

Kashi Vishwanath Temple - About Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi

Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi Varanasi is the city of thousand temples. The main temple in Varanasi is the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, the presiding deity of Varanasi. Situated amidst the crowded lanes of Varanasi, the temple of Vishwanatha can be approached from a lane called Vishwanatha lane. Inside the courtyard is the temple of Vishwanatha surrounded by many subsidiary shrines. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple enshrines the Jyotirlinga of Shiva, Vishweshwara or Vishwanatha. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple attracts visitors not only from India but as well as from abroad. History It is believed that the Jyotirlinga in the Kashi Vishwanath Temple goes back to the time of the epics. According to a legend, the Lord Shiva manifested himself in the from of a lingam at 12 holy cities in India, Varanasi being one of them. These lingams were known as Jyotirlingams. The city was destroyed in 1193 by Mohammed Ghori and nearly 600 years later ended with the plunder of Banaras by Warren Hastings. Due to all these happenings, the temple was rebuilt a number of times. The original temple was located across the road. This temple was destroyed in 1669 by the Emperor Aurangzeb who built the Gyanvapi Mosque on this place. The traces of the old temple can be seen behind the mosque. Aurangzeb built the Gaynvapi Mosque by using columns from the original temple razed by him. Even today the western wall of the mosque show the minarets towering 71 metres above the Ganges of a temple which had very intricate and fine artwork on it. Both the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the Gyanvapi mosque are adjacent to each other. When the temple was destroyed by the Aurangzeb, the original Jyotirlinga was removed and hidden in a well by a priest. The present temple was constructed by Rani Analya Bai Holkar, the ruler of Indore, in 1776. In 1835, at the instance of the Sikh ruler of Lahore, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the temple Shikhara was gilded with gold leaf. Gold plating was done on its 15.5 meter high spire. One ton of gold donated by Maharaja Ranjit Singh has been used in the gold plating of the spire. Due to its Gold Shikhara this temple is also known as the Golden Temple. This temple was renovated by Maharani Khaneti, wife of Sudarshan Shah in 1857. Various great saints like the Adi Shankaracharya, Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekanand, Goswami Tulsidas, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, Gurunanak and several other spiritual personalities have visited this temple. About the Temple There is a well called Jnana Vapi i.e. wisdom well which is located to the north of the main temple. As one enters the temple from the southern side then on the left side there are three temples in a row one behind the other, Vishnu Temple, Virupakshi Gauri Temple and Avimukta Vinayaka Temple. A cluster of five lingas enclosed in a temple is called Nilakantheshvar temple. To the right just near the entrance is the temple enshrining a linga called Avimukteshvara. There is a controversy regarding the original Jyotirlinga at the place, which suggests that not the Vishwanatha but the Avimukteshvara is the original Jyotirlinga. Just above the Avimukteshvara Vinayaka are temples of Shanishchara and Virupaksha. Near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple is a well known as the Gyan Kapur Kuan (well of knowledge). The Vishwanatha temple consists of a mandapa and a sanctum. Inside the sanctum a linga is set into the center of the floor in a square silver altar. The Linga is of black stone. This Linga is about 60 cm. high and has 90 Cm. Circumference. Though the interior of the temple is not large and elaborate it presents the peaceful atmosphere ideal for worship. Close to this shrine is a temple of Sanischar (Saturn) where offerings are made to appease the deity in times of trouble, and the Annapurna Temple dedicated to the goddess of anna or grain. The five Aaratis of Mahadev is very famous. At this time Shiva is decorated with leaves shaded under huge cobra. Thousands of people came at this particular time to visit the decorated Vishwanath. It is the belief of the people of Banaras that Baba Vishwanath is responsible for the happiness and sadness of the lives of the people of Banaras. New Vishwanath Temple The New Vishwanath Temple is located in the campus of the Benaras Hindu University. As a replica of the original temple, this temple was built by the Birlas, the industrialist family. The temple is open to people of all religions and creeds.

Know something about Varanasi

Please visit the site and have good brief about Kashi-Varanasi
Some devotees from Canada have developed the site www.Varanasi-Temples.com after considerable research. The site gives brief details of various temples in Varanasi (Kashi) as mentioned in Kashi Khand (Skanda Puran). The site will be uploaded regularly and in due course, it may become a good inter-active web-site.

If a person worships one deity in Kashi (Varanasi) he will derive some amount of Punya. If he worships several deities, the punya earned grows manifold. According to Pundits, he will derive the same amount of Punya if he publicises about the temples. I request you to kindly read about each and every temple (159 photos uploaded till now). More and more people shouljavascript:void(0)d come to know about this. Circulate about this site to your near and dear ones. Be a part of this holy task.