One of Varanasi’s most well-known temples, the Vishalakshi Temple or Vishalakshi Gauri Temple, is devoted to the goddess Vishalakshi, whose name in Sanskrit means “big eyes.” Near the Kashi Vishwanath temple, at Miraghat (Manikarnika Ghat), on the banks of the Ganges, is where you’ll find the Vishalakshi Temple. Kashi was Varanasi’s previous name.
Legend
Devi Purana refers to Kashi’s Vishalakshi Temple. The Kajal Teej festival, which takes place at the Visalakshi Temple on the third day of the third fortnight (two weeks) in the Hindu month of Bhadrapad (August), is well-known.
One of Mother’s 51 Shaktipeeth temples is this one. In this temple, Shakti is revered as Goddess Visalakshi, and Bhairav is revered as the Patron or Kaal Bhairav. Wherever the pieces of the sati, the garments, or the jewellery carried have fallen, Shaktipeeth has emerged, according to the Puranas. They are referred to as the most sacred shrines.
According to folklore, Daksha planned a significant yajna but omitted Sati and Shiva from the invitation list. Uninvited, Sati arrived at the yajna location where Daksha disregarded her and denigrated Lord Shiva. Devi Sati committed suicide by plunging into the fire of the Havan her father had planned because she was unable to endure this insult.
With Sati’s corpse in tow, the untamed, bereaved Shiva wandered the cosmos until Lord Vishnu used his Sudarshan chakra to divide it into 51 pieces. The right earring of Sati dropped to this location among those 51 components. As a result, this location is also known as “Manikarnika Ghat.”
Numerous Puranas and works of literature refer to Vishalakshi as Shaktipeetha, including the Tantric work Rudrayamala, the Kubjika Tantra, the Ashadashapitha, the Kularnava Tantra, and the Devi Bhagavata Purana. Chandimangal, Mukundaram, and Lakshmidhara work in Bengali the Tantrachudaman and Kshastradishas’ Pithanirnaya or Mahapithanirupana portion.
