Sri Vishalakshi Mata Temple is located at Meer Ghat (House No. D/3-85) near the banks of the holy river Ganges, some distance from the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Where there is a famous temple of Vishalakshi Gauri and also the Shivalinga of Vishalakshieshwar Mahadev. Lord Kashi Vishwanath rests here. Two goddess idols are placed together in the sanctum sanctorum: a small black stone idol called Adi Vishalakshi, which is at the back and a tall black stone idol which was installed later. Sri Vishalakshi Mata Temple, also known as Sri Vishalakshi Gauri Temple and Vishalakshi Amman Kovil. The temple is open from 4:30 am to 11:30 pm.
Mythological story: Prajapati Daksha organized a huge yagya in his capital Kankhal. He did not invite his son-in-law Shiva and daughter Sati to attend the yagya. Even after Shiva's persuasion, Sati went to her father's yagya without being invited. Daksha Prajapati disrespected Sati and Shiva at the yagya site. Unable to bear the insult, Sati immediately burned herself to ashes with the fire of yoga at the yagya site. On receiving the news of Sati's death, Lord Shiva created Veerbhadra and got the yagya destroyed by him. Veerbhadra also beheaded Daksha Prajapati while giving appropriate punishment to the gods and sages who had earlier opposed and mocked Lord Shiva. Later, on Brahma's prayers, Lord Shiva gave Daksha Prajapati the head of a goat in exchange for his head and got his yagya completed. Then Lord Shiva found Sati's dead body safe and shining in the yagya site itself. Then Lord Shiva wanders like a mad person with that corpse and Lord Vishnu gradually cuts the corpse into pieces with the Sudarshan Chakra. In this way, 51 Shakti Peethas are formed due to the various parts of the corpse falling at different places. Karna's earring fell here in the form of a part of Mother Sati. Due to which this place was named Manikarnika.
According to the story of 'Skanda Purana', when no one was offering food to Rishi Vyas in Kashi, Vishalakshi appeared in the role of a housewife and gave food to Rishi Vyas. Vishalakshi's role was exactly like Annapurna.
Significance: The Shakti Peethas here are 'Vishalakshi Mata' and Bhairava 'Kaal Bhairav'. At every Shakti Peeth, Shiva is worshipped as Bhairava, the male guardian of the presiding goddess of the Peeth. Devotees have come here since the beginning to worship Maa Parvati as Vishalakshi and Lord Shiva as Kala Bhairav. Worshipping Goddess Vishalakshi gives beauty and wealth and removes diseases, sorrows etc. One gets salvation by doing charity, chanting and performing yagya here. It is believed that if 'kumkum' prasad is offered here on 41 Tuesdays, then the Goddess becomes pleased and fulfills all the wishes of the devotee. The Goddess is especially worshipped by unmarried girls for a groom, childless couples for getting a child and unfortunate women for rising fortune.
The annual temple festival of Vishalakshi Temple is celebrated on Kajali Teej (Kali Tritiya), the third lunar day (Teej) of the waning fortnight in Bhadrapad, the last month of the Indian rainy season. Around this time women sing "lovely" rainy season songs called Kajali (Kali). This holy day is observed especially by women for the welfare of brother.
Chaitra Navaratri and Ashwin Navaratri are the important festivals of the temple, on the fifth day of Navaratri devotees throng the temple in the evening. On Dussehra, Goddess Shakti rides on a wooden horse and tours the city.
Vishalakshi, the "big-eyed" goddess, is often associated with two other goddesses: the "love-eyed" goddess Kamakshi of Kanchipuram and the "fish-eyed" Meenakshi of Madurai, primarily because of their similar names. All three are considered the most important goddess temples by the Tamil people. While Vishalakshi resides in North India, the other goddess temples are in Tamil Nadu, South India. Tamil people have worshiped Vishalakshi for centuries and have deep ties with the temple.
Kashi Vishalakshi Temple is described in Devi Purana. There is a description of 51 Shaktipeeths in 'Devi Purana'. The name of Vishalakshi is first mentioned in the 108 Shaktipeeths of Devi Bhagwat. According to Skanda Purana, Vishalakshi is the fifth of the nine Gauris, this Shaktipeeth is under the Ashtadasha Mahashaktipeeth Stotra written by Adi Shankaracharya, in which Vishalakshi of Varanasi is included in the form of the fifth bench. 26 in Kalika Purana, 51 in Shivcharitra, 52 in Durga Shaptasati and Tantrachudamani 52 in Tantrachudamani. In Varanasi, Manikarnika, in which Vishalakshi is the main goddess, comes at 23rd position. Rudrayamala, composed before 1052 AD, mentions 10 major Shakti Peethas, including the fifth Shakti Peeth Varanasi. 18 Peethas are mentioned in the Kularnava Tantra and the sixth Peeth is told to Varanasi. In Kubjika Tantra, Varanasi ranks third among 42 names. There are two lists of Peeths in Gyananarav, one has 8 names and the other has fifty names. Varanasi is not mentioned in the list of 8 names, but in the second list, Varanasi's name is second.
History: The present structure of the temple was built in 1893 in the Dravidian style by Nattukottai Nagarathar, a trading community from Tamil Nadu. The black coloured idol of the goddess is captivating. The temple is a testimony to the unique architecture of the South Indian style.
Distance From
Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport: 25km
Varanasi Junction: 4.2km
Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple: 250m
Nearest Ghat: Meer Ghat 230m
Dashashvamedh Ghat: 500m
Sri Vishalakshi Mata
