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Kashi is considered the most sacred place for a person to die and be cremated. This is said to guarantee moksha or liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The city of Kashi itself was once built in a series of seven layers, and one who sought to attain moksha traveled through these seven layers, to the center which is the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
The river Ganga also attains a special significance at Kashi. For many, bathing in the Ganga at Kashi offers special blessings from Shiva. Kashi has been a special center of Shaiva worship and has been inhabited for many millennia. However, most buildings present in Kashi today are no older than 400-500 years on account of the destruction wrought by the Muslim invaders since the twelfth century. In the 1600s, Aurangazeb ordered the destruction of the Kashi Vishwanath temple and had a mosque built on the site of the rubble.
The current temple was built in 1776, across the site from the original temple, by Rani Ahalya Bai, the queen of Indore. Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore donated about 750 kilograms of gold to gold plate the towers of the temple.
The temple is protected by seven circles of eight Vinayaka shrines. Within the temple today, heavy security arrangements are in place to prevent terrorist attacks. All leather items are to be removed before entering, and only those with a pass issued on an ID card are allowed in. The main sanctum is filled with the linga, only about a foot high and decorated with garlands. Many aratis and abhishekams take place throughout the day, and the most important are the arati that awakens the lord at 3 AM in the morning, the Saptarishi arati at 7PM, said to have been taught to the Saptarishis by Shiva himself, and the arati at 11 PM when Vishwanatha is put to "sleep". The priests chant beautiful incantations and perform the ceremony. The Saptarishi pooja is considered an especially powerful pooja with incantations taken from the Sama Veda.
Adjacent to the temple, and between the temple and the mosque is the gnana vapi, or Well of Wisdom. The well was within the precincts of the original temple and was an important ritual center in Kashi. The well is supposed to have been dug by Shiva himself, and the waters are the liquid of wisdom and insight - gnana. According to legends, the gnana vapi is said to contain the original Shiva linga from the temple, before Aurangazeb destroyed it. The linga is said to have been removed from the original temple and hidden in the well to protect it from the Mughal.
Non-Hindus are not allowed into the temple but can view it from upstairs in a house across the street. Near the temple, which is interesting to visit in the evening, are narrow alleys filled with an incredible number of shops.
Kashi has five main pilgrimage circuits, of which three - the Antaragriha, the Nagar Pradakshina and the Avimukta - revolve around the Vishwanath temple. The Nagar Pradakshina is an abstract form of the sacred territory above, has been vividly described in the mythology. It denotes the outer boundary of the city of Varanasi. The route covers a distance of 25 km (15.5 miles) and passes 72 sacred shrines and sites. The cosmogonic homology of the number 72 may also be interpreted in several ways: a product of 12 months, 2 hemispheric routes of the sun (northern and southern), and 3 mythical realms (the heaven, the earth and the atmosphere/sky); 12 zodiacs and 6 seasons; the 9 planets and 8 directions, etc. It is said that the sacred journey to this territory provides relief from all types of sins -and allows them to be purified with a view to receiving divine bliss. This journey is completed in two days.
The Avimukta or "Never Forsaken territory" is named for the myth that says Lord Shiva does not leave this territory even in times of dissolution. The mythology mentions that this sacred area preserves the infinite mystical power of the Lord Shiva, initiated with his three forms of qualities, i.e. the truth (sat), the pleasant (cit) and the blissful (ananda). 72 sacred shrines and sites are also spread along this route. The route moves four times in a spiral form.
The Antargriha or “Inner sanctum” territory is the sacred route that moves seven times around the Vishwanath temple. It includes 72 sacred shrines and sites, among which 56 are Shiva’s form. This symbolizes cosmic integrity, i.e. 7 chakras (spinal energy zones, or plexuses) and 8 cardinal directions. This is how Shiva protects his territory in the same way as Kashi protects his own body. The seven-round spiral symbolises the understanding of reality, both physically and transcendentally, and reminds the pilgrim that the centre of the patron deity Shiva is everywhere but the circumference nowhere. In terms of hermeneutic philosophy, this may be seen as the essence of the archetypal “the circle never closes”. It is also a symbol of the mystical struggle, “which ascends eternally, every widening, enfolding and unfolding the triune
struggle ... of earth, man and gods.”
After taking a holy dip in the Ganga river at Manikarnika.Ghat, the pilgrims first pay visit to the central spot, Vishveshvara, then proceed further from there to the inner sanctum, following the spiral route. This way they receive the highest religious merit, resulting to peace and relief from transmigration. In the context of alchemy, these seven spiral chakras (routes) “make us a vital part of the energy vortex behind all life here, and they are the conduits to make this world whatever we need it to be for ourselves.”