The whole of Varanasi will be celebrating Dev Diwali once again. The reason: the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor will be inaugurated on December 13 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose dream project it is. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple has been renovated and the devotees are busy in preparations to make its formal dedication a grand occasion.
With the inauguration of the dham, the three-day-long Shiv Deepotsav will begin from December 12 to December 14. The temples, city streets, squares, electric poles, government offices, housing societies complexes, even boats on the ghats will be illuminated with lights and there will be grand display of fireworks and laser shows.
Indian Masterminds spoke to ADM City, Varanasi, IAS Gulab Chand, to get more details about this deepotsav.
Divya Kashi, Bhavya Kashi
Dev Deepawali is celebrated every year on the 15th lunar day of Kartik month of the Hindu calendar, i.e. Kartik Purnima. As per the Gregorian calendar, it falls in the month of November – December. The festival is observed 15 days after Diwali. But this time, the occasion is special.
Kashi temple has been already decked up before the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor, which will provide a direct link between the temple and the Ganga river. The inauguration ‘Divya Kashi, Bhavya Kashi’ will be broadcast live to over 51,000 places nationwide.
Talking to Indian Masterminds, ADM City, Varanasi, IAS Gulab Chand said, “The preparations are going on in full swing. Everyone will decorate their homes. All government buildings, ghats, roads, squares are being decorated. The whole environment is of a festival being celebrated. Prasad (offerings) will be distributed in the whole city, and to all homes. This program will run for one month as Kashi Utsav is from 13 December to 13 January.”
About 16 lakh laddus (a kind of sweet) are being made, which will be distributed through hundreds of groups in 7 lakh houses after the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor by PM Modi. Along with this, people will also get a book as a gift. The responsibility of distribution of sweets has been entrusted to the Food and Logistics Department.
SIGNIFICANCE
Kashi Vishwanath is one of the most famous temples of Hindus dedicated to Lord Shiva. It has one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and is situated at the western bank of river Ganga. The Kashi Vishwanath corridor was envisioned by PM Modi to make it easier for the devotees coming from across the world to pray at the Kashi Temple. The primary aim was to lay out a corridor directly linking the temple to the Ganga Ghats, so that after taking a dip in the holy river, devotees do not have to walk through the serpentine narrow lanes to pray at the temple.
THE DIVINE CORRIDOR
The foundation stone of the corridor was laid by PM Modi himself in March 2019. The first phase was completed within two years. The corridor, which is spread over 24000 sq meters, is 50 meter wide and 450 meter long, extending till the Lalita and Manikarnika Ghats. Redevelopment of Ganga bank is currently on and will be completed by next year.
Around three hundred houses in the area were acquired by the government for the corridor. Interestingly, during the acquisition, some 40 ancient hidden temples were also discovered which are now being preserved.
REWARD FOR DECORATION
Varanasi Commissioner Deepak Aggarwal said that all should join hands to work together to create such an ambience that a good image of Kashi is shown to the people who come here as well as to the world. He also announced that good decorations would be given incentive money as rewards. Rs 51 thousand will be given to the first place holder, Rs 21 thousand to the second and Rs 11 thousand to the third. The rewards cover best decoration in commercial complexes, hotels, government buildings etc.
District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said that the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Corridor is the inauguration of the way for economic progress. Various programs are being lined up to celebrate the special Diwali and Dev Deepawali festivals on 12th, 13th and 14th December. The government offices, electric poles, squares, housing societies complexes, boats on the ghats will all be illuminated with lights.The officer has appealed to all citizens to decorate their homes and light diyas (lamps).
HISTORY
The temple of Visheshwar was demolished by the Mughal army in 1669 on the order of Aurangzeb. To avoid any damage to the Jyotirlinga, the Mahant of the temple jumped into the GyanvapiKund with the Shivling. During the attack, the Mughal army had tried to break the huge Nandi statue installed outside the temple, but even after all their efforts, they could not break it. Since then, the Gyanvapi well and the huge Nandi have remained away from the Vishwanath temple complex.But they were brought back to their original place of residence after the construction of the Vishwanath Dham. This Gyanvapi couple, who was separated 352 years ago, will now once again reside within the Vishwanath Dham complex.
