Kashi Vishwanath Temple

This jyotirling is situated in the holy city of Kashi (Varanasi). Even though this jyotirling is ninth on the Dwadasha Jyotlirling Strotram, it is arguably, the most important jyotirling. All the important saints such as Goswami Tulsidas, Adi Shanakaracharya, Guru Nanak, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekanand, Sant Kabir etc. have visited this temple. The temple has been raided many times by invaders but has been reconstructed time and again. The present Kashi Vishwanath Temple was renovated by Ahilyabai Holkar, the queen of Maheshwar. Raja Ranjit Singh covered the two domes of the temple with gold in the eighteenth century. The temple receives close to five thousand visitors per day and on some auspicious days like Mahashivratri, the count goes right up to two lakh. Security provisions are strict and one has to deposit mobile phones and cameras outside the temple. A walk to this temple would take you through the famous narrow lanes of Kashi, don’t miss the variety of food items and other knick knacks that can be picked up as well.