The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.
काशी विश्वनाथ मन्दिर
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh · 25.3108°, 83.0106°
The Jyotirlinga of Kashi — the luminous crossing-place where death itself grants liberation, Shiva whispering the taraka mantra to the dying. Destroyed and rebuilt across centuries of conquest, the present shrine was raised by Ahilyabai Holkar in 1780; the 2021 Vishwanath Dham corridor opened the temple to the Ganga ghats for the first time in centuries.
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
Kashi stands on Shiva's trident, untouched by the floods of dissolution; here the original jyoti-column of light pierced the three worlds. To die in Kashi, the saying goes, is to be done with dying.
Godowlia/ghats, old city Varanasi; Lal Bahadur Shastri airport ~25 km.
☏ 7080292930 (from the official site, verified 2026-08-26)
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Maratha (Holkar)
Answers only from cited records
Opening the line…