Kasi Viswanath Temple, Guptkashi – Legends

Kasi Viswanath Temple, Guptkashi – Legends

Guptkashi:

As per legend, Sage Vyasa advised the Pandavas that since they were culpable of slaying their own relatives (Kauravas, their cousins) during the Mahabharata war or Kurukshetra war, their act could be pardoned only by Lord Shiva. Consequently, the Pandavas went in search of Lord Shiva who was avoiding them since he was convinced of the guilt of Pandavas. In order to keep away from them, Lord Shiva took the form of a bull and went into hiding in an underground safe haven at Guptkashi, where Pandavas chased him. But Pandavas pursued him to Guptkashi and recognized him in the disguised form of Nandi.

When Bhima, the second Pandava brother tried to hold the bull by its tail and hind legs, Nandi vanished from Guptkashi, into the ground (into a cave for hiding), but reappeared later as Lord Shiva in five different forms namely, hump at Kedarnath, face at Rudranath, arms at Tungnath, navel and stomach at Madhyamaheshwar and the locks at Kalpeshwar. The vanishing act of Shiva gave the name Guptkashi (hidden Kashi) to this place on the bank of the Mandakini River. In the upper reaches of the Bhagirathi River, there is another Kashi, called the Uttarkashi (North Kashi).

Lord Shiva proposed Mother Parvathy here:

Mythology also states that Shiva proposed to Parvati at Guptkashi before they got married in the small Triyuginarayan village at the confluence of Mandakini and Sone-Ganga rivers.

Equivalent to Kashi:

According to Puranic literature, Kashi and Kanchi (Kanchipuram) are considered as two eyes of Lord Shiva. Keeping this connotation in view, six more Kashi’s have been prescribed to be as sacred and spiritual as the main Kashi - Varanasi. Pilgrims, who cannot undertake the long journey to the main Kashi, can travel to the closest Kashi. The six other Kashi’s cover all the regions of the country.

These are: Uttarkashi and Guptkashi in Uttarakhand in Northern Himalayas, Dakshinkashi in southern India, the Guptkashi in eastern India is at Bhubaneswar, the Kashi at Nashik (also Paithan) in western India and a Kashi in Mandi in Himachal Pradesh in Western Himalayas. The Puranas state that all the Kashi’s have the same degree of sanctity and reverence as the main Kashi - Varanasi.

Shifting of Kasi Viswanath Linga:

As per legend, when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb demolished the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in 1669, and constructed Gyanvapi Mosque (he had even renamed Varanasi as Mohammadabad), the Shiva Linga was shifted to Guptkashi for safe keeping. But the original Linga of Kashi Vishwanath is stated to have remained here from the time it was shifted.