Sankat Mochan temple and Kalbhairav temple, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

A trip to Varanasi is not complete without a visit to  the  famous temples of Sankat Mochan Hanuman and Kala Bhairava  which are considered to be very sacred by the Hindus.  I have already made a post on  Varanasi Kasi Viswanath temple and Ganga Aarti on My Pilgrimage

Sankat Mochan temple- the presiding deity in this temple  is Aanjaneya, the monkey God who loved  Lord Rama  with his heart and soul . He is considered to be a great devotee of Rama and each breath he dedicates to his Lord.

This temple is situated on  South side of Varanasi and Lord Hanuman here relieves his devotees from all their  problems.
This temple was constructed by Late Sri. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya who was recently awarded with India's top civilian award Bharat Ratna posthumously.

The deity here appears with Sindur smeared all over the body.
One can also worship Lord Ram along with Seeta and Lakshman in this temple , the shrine is exactly in front of Hanuman's idol  where the devout Hanuman can always feast his eyes on the His Lord.

Temple timings
5 am -10 pm.
cameras all electronic gadgets are not allowed inside the temple . Lockers are available outside the temple for safe keeping.
One can use rickshaws to visit this temple.More details here.

Kalabhairav temple- Vishvesher Ganj
 Lord Kalabhairav is  fierce form of  Shiva . His temple here is of great significance  as he is the one who guards the city of Varanasi, known as Kotwal of Varanasi.  One has to meander through the narrow by lanes of the city to reach this temple.
The Lord sits here with all his silver adornments and one can worship the deity from very close quarters.
The temple timings are
5 AM -1.30 Pm
4.30PM-9.30 pm
The other Bhairavar temples  I have visited are in Tirupathur and  Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu. Read here for details under Vairavar Kovil and Tirupathur Koil.

Varanasi- Kasi Viswanath temple, Uttar Pradesh

Varanasi /Benares/Kasi is an ancient Hindu city  blessed by the Holy river Ganga. Every Hindu likes to visit this Holy city at least once in his life time to worship the Lord of Varanasi, Kasi Viswanath and to bathe in the river Ganga which is believed to cleanse one's sins.

River Ganga, is the life line of Kasi and the river is lined  with around 90 Ghats,( landings) each identified with a name which is   linked to either history or Mythology on a stretch of 3-4 Kms . These ghats are  always a buzz of activity thronged by pilgrims performing various rituals.  One can see a number of boats plying up and down the river and every activity here is dedicated to Mother Ganga .  Worship is offered to  Mother  in the form of flowers and floating lamps.

The temple  Kasi Viswanathar is small  and is guarded heavily and approach to the temple is through extremely narrow lanes in which  pedestrians, two wheelers. and cows jostle to find their way forward.  It needs great skill to meander through and reach the temple.

 The temple  has a beautifully carved  Golden spire  and every devotee here can make their offerings to the deity directly . The Sivalinga is placed in a square pit about 2 feet deep  and is always immersed in a pool of milk and water offered by devotees.

Just outside the main shrine there are 2 sub shrines for Siva and other of  Goddess Annapoorna, Guru of Kasi Viswanath.

A few yards from this temple lies the temple of Kasi Vishalakshi the consort of Viswanath. This is a Sakthi Peetam.

There are also 2 burning ghats here where dead bodies are cremated , it is believed that  death in Kasi helps one to attain moksha - Liberation . One can see funeral processions reaching the Ganga Ghat continuously and in the days of yore many old people used to travel to Kasi leaving their families to attain liberation;  to unite with the Lord. The local authorities give  a decent farewell  to people who die in the Holy city.

Ganga Aarti is a grand ceremony performed at Dasashmedh ghat. This takes place in the evening after sunset and it is really an amazing spectacle which is not to be missed.  Tourists from all over the world  watch this ritual which goes on for about 45 minutes. One can watch this either from the ghats or from the boats parked in  front during this worship.

It was really a great experience watching the Ganga Aarti and floating lamps in the river.

 Check my captures of Ganga aarti to get a feel of the ritual.

My Pilgrimage, North India.

I set on a pilgrimage cum sight seeing tour of some of the North Indian temples and covered Amritsar the Golden temple,  Mathura and  Brindavan, the birth place of Lord Krishna and where he spent his childhood;  Sarnath, the place where Gautham Buddha gave his first sermon , Varanasi, one of the char dhaams where every Hindu devotee likes to visit at least once in his/her life time, Then  to Allahabad, we followed the  Ganges and Yamuna and  met them at the confluence of Triveni Sangam where river Saraswati flows as Gupt Saraswati. Shall be giving details when I post about these places separately. I Could visit colurful Rajasthan -Jaipur and Jodhpur. The Pink city- Jaipur and Jodhpur transported us to the era of great Rajput rulers . The visit to various forts was a great revelation of the life and culture in the days of yore. The workmanship in stone was awe inspiring and the love for precious artifacts still displayed in the great palaces threw some light on the kind of life lead by the then rulers. Among all this we also visited Jalian Walah bagh and  could participate in Wagah - Attari border closing ceremony-  the highly charged atmosphere made me realise how much I worship my motherland, really a great experience.

I shall be posting about the temples, I visited in various cities  and here are a few glimpses of what is in store. It was a well spent vacation and every minute spent was really worth, something to savour for the rest of my life.

There still more to see and that is proposed for yet another trip.

I feel so refreshed and rejuvenated.