History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t2.144

v5.c74.t2.144

It is time now to turn to the individual sacred spots in Banaras. It is stated in some of the Purāṇas¹⁴⁴⁵ that at every step in the Kāśīkṣetra there is a holy place and that there is not even as much space as a sesamum seed in Kāśī which has not a *liṅga* (emblem of Śiva). As a matter of fact the Kāśīkhaṇḍa names 64 liṅgas in chap. 10 alone. But one must look to the tīrthas that are specifically named. Hiouen Thsang says that there were one hundred temples at Banaras in his day and he speaks of a temple where the copper image of Deva Maheśvara was a little less than 100 feet high (vide Beal’s B R. W. W. vol. II. pp. 44-45). Unfortunately, the fanatical zeal and ruthlessness of Moslem rulers demolished almost all Hindu temples at different times from 1194 to about 1670 A. D. Mosques and mausoleums were erected on their sites, and the materials of the temples thus razed were used in constructing mosques and for serving as breakwaters &c. Kutubdin Aibak destroyed about 1000 temples in 1194 A. D (vide Elliot and Dowson's ‘History of India’, vol. II p. 222) Alauddin Khilzi boasted that he had destroyed one thousand temples in Banaras alone (vide Sherring p. 31, Havell p. 76). About 1585 A. D. Nārāyaṇa-bhaṭṭa re-established the temple of Viśvanātha with the help of Rājā Todarmal¹⁴⁴⁶. Even this temple was desecrated. The following passage from the Ma-A'sir-i-A'lamgiri quoted by Elliot and Dowson ('History of India,' vol. VII. p 184) is instructive: "It reached the ears of his Majesty, the protector of the faith, that in the provinces of Thatta, Multan and Benares, but especially in the latter foolish brāhmaṇas were in the habit of expounding frivolous books in their schools and that students and learners, Musalmans as well as Hindus, went there even from long distances, led by a desire to become acquainted with the wicked sciences they taught. 'The Director of the Faith' consequently issued orders to all the governors of provinces to destroy with a willing hand the schools and temples of the infidels, and they were strictly enjoined to put an entire stop to the teaching and practising of idolatrous forms of worship On the 15th Rabiu-lākhir (i. e. December 1669) it was reported to his religious Majesty, leader of the Unitarians, that in obedience to order, the Government officers had destroyed the temple of Bishnath at Benares."