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Places to Visit >> Temples >> Laat Bhairava Temple
Laat Bhairava
Temple - Varanasi
Laat Bhairava,
known to the Puranas as Kapali Bhairava, is of particular
intrest. This image of Bhairava is a pillar, encased in copper
and s,eared with vermilion. Thus it has the name Laat, the staff
of Bhairav.
This pillar once
stood in a Hindu temple complex, but in the time of Aurangzeb
the temple was destroyed and the site became a muslim tomb site.
The pillar, however, was wisely left intact. Muslims continued
to permit some access to the pillar and received part of the
offerings in return.
The pillar was
once much taller than today. A French traveller tavernier saw
the Laat Bhairava in 1665, during the reign of Aurangzeb, and
described it as being thirty two to thirty five feet high.
In 1809, it was
toppled during a spate of Hindu-Muslim rioting. The Laat was
pulled down and its broken pieces hauled away. Only a stub
remained, and it is that remainder, now capped in metal and
covered on special accasions with a cloth sleeve, that is
honoured today. One hundred and ninty years after this violent
communal disturbance, the Laat Bhairava area is still vulnerable
to communal conflict, and a police guard is permanently
stationed there to patrol the area of Bhairava's Laat.
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Places to Visit >> Temples >> Kaata
Bhairava Temple
Kaala Bhairava
Temple - Varanasi
Kaal Bhairava, the "Black Terror," is widely known as the
Kotwal, the "police chief," of Kashi, and the section of the
city in which his temple stands is known as Kotwalpuri.
Bhairav is considered a fearsome manifestation of Shiva. He
wears a garland of skulls and carries a club of peacock
feathers.
Kaala Bhairava, whose name, Kaala 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 Kaala Bhairava.
Kaala Bhairava's temple today is one of the most intresting
in all Banaras. Entering from the street , through a door
guarded by Bhairava's mount, the dog, one finds a fine
courtyard, in the center 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.
For many centuries, this temple was a spiritual center in
Kashi for the most severe of Shiva ascetics, the "Kapalicas" or
"Skull-Bearers," and their later descendants, the Gorakhnathis.
Today, however, the temple is no longer the exclusive domain of
such extremist yogis and is, rather patronized by ordinary
householders for his protective blessings.
Although this temple is popular and beloved among those who
live under its influence in the surrounding Kotwalpuri section
of the city, it is not a mandatory stop for pilgrims today.
Generally people have darshana of Vishvanaatha and Annapoorna,
and then they leave.
Temple - Varanasi
The Vishwanath Temple
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Tulsi
Manas Temple |
Durga Temple
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Bharat Mata Temple
Nepali Temple
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Sankat Mochan Temple
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Sankata Devi Temple
The
Kedareshwar Temple |
Annapoorna Bhavani Temple
Laat
Bhairava Temple |
Kaata
Bhairava Temple |
