Date:16/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/16/stories/2008041660701100.htm

National

Wall removed, ‘Jyotirlingam’ at Kashi Vishwanath temple gets first glimpse of sun

Varanasi: The ‘jyotirlingam’ of the famed 18th century Kashi Vishwanath temple received the first glimpse of the sun on Monday.

The natural illumination of the ‘jyotirlingam’ came after a 15-foot-high wall blocking sunlight to the temple was removed.

The old golden temple was brightly lit with the sunrays reaching its nook and corner.

The ‘jyotirlingam’ was exposed to the sunrays probably for the first time in the history of the temple, which was built by queen Ahilya Bai in 1780 after the erstwhile temple was demolished by Aurangzeb in 1669.

With the removal of the wall, the original 2,500-sq.ft. campus of the historic temple was merged with the 6,000-sq.ft. grand new campus, constructed in the last seven months.

With the addition of the new campus, the problem of congestion in the temple has eased to a great extent. — PTI