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Kashi Vishwanath Temple

Kashi Vishwanath Temple

Photo: Architkumar1234 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Varanasi, India
Client / Owner
Ahilyabai Holkar
Year
Completed 1780
Access
Public
Typology
Spiritual
Style
—

Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore built the present temple in 1780, next to the Gyanvapi Mosque. The article names no architect or style. It describes a spire of 51 feet (15.5 m), a gold dome and a gold spire in the sanctuary. Maharaja Ranjit Singh funded gold plating in 1835, and the article says a tonne of gold was used.

The original temple was destroyed in 1194, and a temple later rebuilt on the site was demolished under Sikandar Lodi. The article dates that to 1490 in the text and to 1505 to 1515 in the infobox. In 1669 Aurangzeb ordered demolition, and the Gyanvapi Mosque was built on the site, which the article dates to 1669 and 1678. Historians give different motives, and the site is disputed.

The Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor, inaugurated on December 13, 2021, links the temple to the Ganges. The article reports about 45,000 pilgrims a day in 2023 and gives no entry rules.

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