Varanasi Triple Temple Tour

Yesterday (Saturday), Narayan and I ventured out in a tuktuk to see three important temples here in Varanasi. First, we visited the Shri Vishwanath Mandir.

It is one of the most famous Hindu temples and is located on the Banaras Hindu University campus. I do love a Shiva temple, especially when there's a Shiva Lingam there. It is a powerful and beautiful place.

This collection of temple bells greeted me on my way into the temple grounds. One of the priests at Nityananda's temple told me that you ring a bell to let God you are coming.

This Shiva Lingam was outside the temple grounds. Photography was not permitted inside. This was also the only temple where I was allowed to carry my cell phone in with me, so the only temple where I got pictures.

The second temple we visited was the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple. Boy, was it crowded! Saturday is Hanuman's day, so lots of Hanuman devotees were there to worship. It was a quick visit, but not so quick that I couldn't feel the power on the temple grounds. I was grateful to have darshan of the Hanuman statue, and the Ram statue he faces.

The final temple was Durga Mandir. I loved this temple the most. There were priests stationed around the grounds, offering blessings to those that came to them. One of them tied a black string around my neck and told me it was good luck. Another gave me a garland of tulsi (they call them malas) that had been hanging around the Kali statue's neck. Every priest added a bindi to my third eye. It was quite a blissful visit!