Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple that leans more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa

The temple city, Varanasi shelters many religious sites under its wings, none as mysteriously fascinating as the Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple. Probably one of the most photographed landmarks of this holy city, the temple leans considerably northwest because of an eccentricity in its architecture. Incidentally, its well-preserved sanctum sanctorum, or the garbhagriha, lies submerged in water for more or less the year and emerges only during the summer months. According to accounts, in the 19th century, priests used to dive into the waters to perform rituals during the time when the entrance to the temple was submerged underwater.

Locals and visitors from all over the world regard Varanasi, also known as Banaras or Kashi, as one of the most characteristic cities in the world. This ancient city of Uttar Pradesh contains a number of temples, yet among them, the Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple holds a special significance.
It rises beautifully to a height of 12 meters and represents classical architecture with a nagara shikhara and phamsana mandapa. Its considerable lean has made the Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple a source of curiosity and many legends.

One of the beliefs held about the temple is that the 'ghat' had collapsed and thus leaned backward after being unable to bear its weight. The temple was said to stand straight before the 1860s. One popular fable ascribes the tilt of the temple to a servant of Raja Man Singh, who built the temple for his mother, Ratna Bai. Upon its completion, he boastfully claimed that he had returned the debt to his mother, the temple started leaning backward, indicating thereby that the debt of a son to his mother could never be returned.

According to another story, it was built by a female servant of Ahilya Bai of Indore, named Ratna Bai. Ahilya Bai cursed it to lean because her servant had named it after herself.


Reportedly, Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple is more tilted than Italy's famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, or the Torre Pendente di Pisa that was built in 1173. As goes the story behind this Italian monument being tilted towards the ground to one side had started due to sinking under the weight of the stones after its construction.

Incidentally, the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa is tilted at an angle of 4 degrees, lesser as compared to this, the tilt of Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple is 9 degrees. Yet this leaning Temple of Varanasi has remained anonymous in India;
Is this the time to go on an exploration drive of this secret in our backyard?