Day 3 - Varanasi - 19/06/2012
Started from Radisson at 8:20 and reached near Kasi Maha punya khetram by 8:50 AM. Picked Shyama Sasry garu on our way. He took us to temple in a very small streets full of dung, spit, shops, people and dead bodies. I had high imagination of Kasi and this made me upset. On our way to temple we saw atleast 5 dead bodies. We started our Darshan with Visalakshi temple. This small temple is situated in one of the narrow lanes around the Vishwanath temple. This is one of the shakthi peetas of 18 and very famous one. Though the temple is quite small, the idol of the goddess is very beautiful. Behind the main stone idol of the goddess is another idol (Our preist Shyam sastry said it is the original idol), believed to be the idol prayed to in ancient times.He also told us that it was the swayambhu idol of the goddess. Whatever it is, it is certainly worth a look, so remember to look behind the idol when you visit this temple. Adi Shankaracharya, when he visited the temple, performed prayers to renew the powers of the temple and the goddess which had borne the brunt of several invasions. He also installed a Sri Yantram there, and it is to this Yantram that puja is done. Kumkumarchana to this Sri Yantram is considered very special, and can be performed by asking the pujari there.
I took pradakshina in the temple and was waiting for another darshan and one of the temple priest grabbed my hand and gave me red bangles, flowers, Kumkuma, ammas photo frame and Prasadam. I have no clue what made the priest to give those to me but I took them and started walking with Shyam garu to the main temple of Kasi Viswanath (Shiva).
Shyam Sastry took us straight to main temple gate passing us from huge crowd. Mns and Vedu went inside and police stopped me when I was about to step into the temple. The reason why they stopped me was because I was carrying harmful good i.e. Bangles (glass) in my hand which was given to me in the Visalakshi temple. Security is very strict here. No one is allowed to take even a pen inside the temple. Police made to wear the bangles to my right hand and then let me go inside the temple. What ever is the reason I felt it was a good sign. I never usually wear bangles but looks like visalakshi doesnt want me to go inside to see Viswanath with out her bangles :0). Priest took us straight to the main temple and showed us the main Shiva Lingam. People were pushing us from all sides. He told the temple priest that we are special so priest gave us prasadam and offered some flowers to us. we took a good look at the Shiva Lingam and walked out. We went inside the temple to visit Hanuman mandir, Dhoodi Ganapathi temple, Kubera temple (Lord of wealth) and from there Shyam took us to Kasi Annapurana devi temple (godess of food). He took us completely inside the temple and asked us to touch amma's feet. Then he asked me to take my sari’s pallu (cheera kongu) into hand and offered me rice with some vedas. He also gave me flower garland and told not to share it with any one. After all the prayers we came out from other side of the door and when we came out one woman from the crowd asked me to give a flower. I felt it must be a test in Annapurna devi temple for me because Priest told not to give the flower to any one but that women was asking me flowers.
I just made a big bow to amma and gave the flower to the lady. I came out with full satisfaction because i got a chance to donate something right in front of Annapurna devi. I felt very lucky for that.
We said thanks to Shyam and told him that we will see him tomorrow (if possible) and came out of the temple. I told Rambhayya to take to a place where we can have a nice hot cup of tea. We had tea and went straight to Benaras Hindu University. This is one of the biggest old universities in India. It is spread in 30 kms radios. Such a huge campus, we just went in car as we do not have time to get down and spend time there. From there we went to Kalabhairava temple.
Kala Bhairava temple
The Kaal Bhairav is said to be the Inspector of Kashi. It is believed if he gets angry on someone, the person who visit Varanasi will never get a chance to step into main temple of Viswanath for his entire life. The Veda's and Upanishad's says that even death is scared of Kaal Bhairav. People who go on pilgrim visit to Varanasi, do not forget to visit Kaal Bhairava Temple.
Kaal Bhairav, the "Black Terror," is widely known as the "police chief," of Kashi. Bhairav is considered a fearsome manifestation of Shiva. He wears a garland of skulls and carries a club of peacock feathers. Kaal Bhairav, whose name, Kaal means both Death and Fate, in addition to meaning Black. He is the black one who has also assumed the duties of the God of Death in Kashi. Even Death, it is said, is afraid of Kaal Bhairava.
Temple today is one of the most interesting in Varanasi. Entering from the street , through a door guarded by Bhairava's mount, the dog, one finds a fine courtyard, in the centre of which is the main shrine of Bhairava. Only the silver face of kaala bhairava, garlanded with flowers, is visible through the doorway of inner sanctum. The rest of Bhairava's image-said to be pot-bellied, seated upon a dog, holding a trident-is hidden behind a cloth drapery. This is the temple where Kasi thread [Black] is available. I went to a shop and took few Kala Bhairava hanging pieces and threads for relatives and friends.
mahankali temple
Our next visit was to Mahankali temple. We came here on the day we landed in Varanasi but it was closed between 1:30 - 3:00 PM. We made to this temple just in time. We went inside the temple when Aarathi was going on. We offered our prayers to Kali maa and offered coconut and flowers. This goddess looked very powerful. Her eyes are bright (silver eyes) and with red sari on her. We stayed there for 5 min and came our straight away as we have many more places to cover.
Sankat Mochan (deliverer from troubles) - Hanuman temple
This temple is situated on the banks of 'Assi' river. According to the Hindu beliefs, Lord Hanuman is provider of courage, intellect and knowledge. Lord Hanuman is also believed to the eradicator of all worries and tensions. As per Ram Bhayya Sankat Mochan Temple was the place where Thulsidas started writing RamCharit Manasa. It is regarded that regular 'puja' (worship) of Lord Hanuman at this temple, brings good luck to the devotee.
This temple is full of monkeys and the special Prasad in this temple is 'Besan laddu'. People who suffers from Satin (Sani) usually visit this temple on Saturdays and offer their prayers as Hanuman is the only god who can get tensions away from Shani.
There was a big line in the temple but I was so lucky that I went straight inside and stood there when priest was performing Aarathi as it was almost closing time of the temple. I just stood there to see the shrine for almost 10 min. It took a long time for Mns and Vedu to came inside the temple. I took a pradakshina and came back again to see Hanuman ji. Visiting Hanuman on Tuesday is considered to be lucky as Tuesday is his favourite day and lucky we were in temple on this day. Just before closing priest gave another big Aarathi which we were able to see. We went around other small temples around and sat there for few min and came out.
We went to Museum but did not feel like wasting our time inside a museum. We took few photos from outside and went back to car.
Sarnath
By the time we reached Sarnath it was 1:30 PM. We were very hungry so went straight to a restaurant and ordered full plate meals. After the meals we took a guided tour to Sarnath Buddha pillor.
As per the guide, Sarnath is the place where Buddha chose to deliver his first sermon. The celebrated Mantra, 'Buddham Sharanam Gachhami', owes its origin to Sarnath.
The pillar at Sarnath is one Ashoka’s pillars. It is especially important because on top of the pillar there used to be a statue of four lions holding up a wheel. Today, the national flag of India has a picture of that wheel on it. The wheel stands for dharma . It’s really difficult to explain to someone what the word dharma means. It means something like truth or maybe religion. The statue of the four lions is now in a museum.
Construction of Buddha statue in place of pillar was completed in 2004. We saw a big Jack fruit tree which has 100's of Jack fruits hanging to it. From the Pillar we went to silk weaving place where we can see how handmade silk saris can be weaved.
Banaras is famous for handmade silk sari's (pattu). We went inside the stores and bought a top for myself and kurtha for Mns. From there we went to the town where production of all Banaras sari's take place. I took 4 sari’s for myself and my gorgeous sisters.
Kedhareswar temple & Narayana sastry’s home
We were much tiered but Narayana sastry garu asked us to come to Kedhareswar temple in one of the ghats so we went straight to temple. This temple is also one of the swambhu temples. We reached there just in time for main Aarathi. We came out and sat on the steps enjoying the view of Ganges, sunset, people and burning of dead bodies from other end. Padmaja garu and kids came to temple to spend time with us. We spent almost an hour in front of temple and ganga. Narayana sastri garu asked us to come to there home for a coffee so we went there. Vedu showed them few magic tricks and both Pavani and Lokesh enjoyed his tricks and would like to spend more time with him. Padmaja garu offered me a new sari for visiting them.
I have no clue who these people are just 3 days ago but they treated us like their relatives. We said good byes and decided to go back to hotel. Sastry garu took us to Kariveeni Brahmana satram to introduce us and organise dinner for us. He then showed us way to go to our car.
We were back to hotel by 9:00 PM had the dinner we got from Kariveeni satram and went to bed.
Started from Radisson at 8:20 and reached near Kasi Maha punya khetram by 8:50 AM. Picked Shyama Sasry garu on our way. He took us to temple in a very small streets full of dung, spit, shops, people and dead bodies. I had high imagination of Kasi and this made me upset. On our way to temple we saw atleast 5 dead bodies. We started our Darshan with Visalakshi temple. This small temple is situated in one of the narrow lanes around the Vishwanath temple. This is one of the shakthi peetas of 18 and very famous one. Though the temple is quite small, the idol of the goddess is very beautiful. Behind the main stone idol of the goddess is another idol (Our preist Shyam sastry said it is the original idol), believed to be the idol prayed to in ancient times.He also told us that it was the swayambhu idol of the goddess. Whatever it is, it is certainly worth a look, so remember to look behind the idol when you visit this temple. Adi Shankaracharya, when he visited the temple, performed prayers to renew the powers of the temple and the goddess which had borne the brunt of several invasions. He also installed a Sri Yantram there, and it is to this Yantram that puja is done. Kumkumarchana to this Sri Yantram is considered very special, and can be performed by asking the pujari there.
I took pradakshina in the temple and was waiting for another darshan and one of the temple priest grabbed my hand and gave me red bangles, flowers, Kumkuma, ammas photo frame and Prasadam. I have no clue what made the priest to give those to me but I took them and started walking with Shyam garu to the main temple of Kasi Viswanath (Shiva).
Shyam Sastry took us straight to main temple gate passing us from huge crowd. Mns and Vedu went inside and police stopped me when I was about to step into the temple. The reason why they stopped me was because I was carrying harmful good i.e. Bangles (glass) in my hand which was given to me in the Visalakshi temple. Security is very strict here. No one is allowed to take even a pen inside the temple. Police made to wear the bangles to my right hand and then let me go inside the temple. What ever is the reason I felt it was a good sign. I never usually wear bangles but looks like visalakshi doesnt want me to go inside to see Viswanath with out her bangles :0). Priest took us straight to the main temple and showed us the main Shiva Lingam. People were pushing us from all sides. He told the temple priest that we are special so priest gave us prasadam and offered some flowers to us. we took a good look at the Shiva Lingam and walked out. We went inside the temple to visit Hanuman mandir, Dhoodi Ganapathi temple, Kubera temple (Lord of wealth) and from there Shyam took us to Kasi Annapurana devi temple (godess of food). He took us completely inside the temple and asked us to touch amma's feet. Then he asked me to take my sari’s pallu (cheera kongu) into hand and offered me rice with some vedas. He also gave me flower garland and told not to share it with any one. After all the prayers we came out from other side of the door and when we came out one woman from the crowd asked me to give a flower. I felt it must be a test in Annapurna devi temple for me because Priest told not to give the flower to any one but that women was asking me flowers. I just made a big bow to amma and gave the flower to the lady. I came out with full satisfaction because i got a chance to donate something right in front of Annapurna devi. I felt very lucky for that.
We said thanks to Shyam and told him that we will see him tomorrow (if possible) and came out of the temple. I told Rambhayya to take to a place where we can have a nice hot cup of tea. We had tea and went straight to Benaras Hindu University. This is one of the biggest old universities in India. It is spread in 30 kms radios. Such a huge campus, we just went in car as we do not have time to get down and spend time there. From there we went to Kalabhairava temple.
Kala Bhairava temple
The Kaal Bhairav is said to be the Inspector of Kashi. It is believed if he gets angry on someone, the person who visit Varanasi will never get a chance to step into main temple of Viswanath for his entire life. The Veda's and Upanishad's says that even death is scared of Kaal Bhairav. People who go on pilgrim visit to Varanasi, do not forget to visit Kaal Bhairava Temple.
Kaal Bhairav, the "Black Terror," is widely known as the "police chief," of Kashi. Bhairav is considered a fearsome manifestation of Shiva. He wears a garland of skulls and carries a club of peacock feathers. Kaal Bhairav, whose name, Kaal means both Death and Fate, in addition to meaning Black. He is the black one who has also assumed the duties of the God of Death in Kashi. Even Death, it is said, is afraid of Kaal Bhairava.
Temple today is one of the most interesting in Varanasi. Entering from the street , through a door guarded by Bhairava's mount, the dog, one finds a fine courtyard, in the centre of which is the main shrine of Bhairava. Only the silver face of kaala bhairava, garlanded with flowers, is visible through the doorway of inner sanctum. The rest of Bhairava's image-said to be pot-bellied, seated upon a dog, holding a trident-is hidden behind a cloth drapery. This is the temple where Kasi thread [Black] is available. I went to a shop and took few Kala Bhairava hanging pieces and threads for relatives and friends. mahankali temple
Our next visit was to Mahankali temple. We came here on the day we landed in Varanasi but it was closed between 1:30 - 3:00 PM. We made to this temple just in time. We went inside the temple when Aarathi was going on. We offered our prayers to Kali maa and offered coconut and flowers. This goddess looked very powerful. Her eyes are bright (silver eyes) and with red sari on her. We stayed there for 5 min and came our straight away as we have many more places to cover.
Sankat Mochan (deliverer from troubles) - Hanuman temple
This temple is situated on the banks of 'Assi' river. According to the Hindu beliefs, Lord Hanuman is provider of courage, intellect and knowledge. Lord Hanuman is also believed to the eradicator of all worries and tensions. As per Ram Bhayya Sankat Mochan Temple was the place where Thulsidas started writing RamCharit Manasa. It is regarded that regular 'puja' (worship) of Lord Hanuman at this temple, brings good luck to the devotee.
There was a big line in the temple but I was so lucky that I went straight inside and stood there when priest was performing Aarathi as it was almost closing time of the temple. I just stood there to see the shrine for almost 10 min. It took a long time for Mns and Vedu to came inside the temple. I took a pradakshina and came back again to see Hanuman ji. Visiting Hanuman on Tuesday is considered to be lucky as Tuesday is his favourite day and lucky we were in temple on this day. Just before closing priest gave another big Aarathi which we were able to see. We went around other small temples around and sat there for few min and came out.
We went to Museum but did not feel like wasting our time inside a museum. We took few photos from outside and went back to car.
Sarnath
By the time we reached Sarnath it was 1:30 PM. We were very hungry so went straight to a restaurant and ordered full plate meals. After the meals we took a guided tour to Sarnath Buddha pillor.
As per the guide, Sarnath is the place where Buddha chose to deliver his first sermon. The celebrated Mantra, 'Buddham Sharanam Gachhami', owes its origin to Sarnath.
The pillar at Sarnath is one Ashoka’s pillars. It is especially important because on top of the pillar there used to be a statue of four lions holding up a wheel. Today, the national flag of India has a picture of that wheel on it. The wheel stands for dharma . It’s really difficult to explain to someone what the word dharma means. It means something like truth or maybe religion. The statue of the four lions is now in a museum. 
Construction of Buddha statue in place of pillar was completed in 2004. We saw a big Jack fruit tree which has 100's of Jack fruits hanging to it. From the Pillar we went to silk weaving place where we can see how handmade silk saris can be weaved. Banaras is famous for handmade silk sari's (pattu). We went inside the stores and bought a top for myself and kurtha for Mns. From there we went to the town where production of all Banaras sari's take place. I took 4 sari’s for myself and my gorgeous sisters.
Kedhareswar temple & Narayana sastry’s home
I have no clue who these people are just 3 days ago but they treated us like their relatives. We said good byes and decided to go back to hotel. Sastry garu took us to Kariveeni Brahmana satram to introduce us and organise dinner for us. He then showed us way to go to our car.
We were back to hotel by 9:00 PM had the dinner we got from Kariveeni satram and went to bed.
1 comment:
Good post
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