Manikarnika Ghat
Manikarnika Ghat | |
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Name | |
Proper name | Manikarnika Ghat |
Geography | |
Coordinates | 25°18′39.134″N 83°0′50.708″E / 25.31087056°N 83.01408556°ECoordinates: 25°18′39.134″N 83°0′50.708″E / 25.31087056°N 83.01408556°E |
Country | India |
Manikarnika Ghat (Hindi: मणिकर्णिका घाट) is one of the sacred ghats in Varanasi with many temples and sacred spots, and is a popular place of Hindu cremation. In India, death is considered to be a part of normal part of life, shedding of a worn body and a renewal.[1][2] The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here.
Location
Manikarnika Ghat on the banks of Ganga in Varanasi, located between Dashashwamedh Ghat and Scindia Ghat.
History
It is one of the oldest ghats in Varanasi. The Manikarnika Ghat is mentioned in a Gupta inscription of 5th century. [3]It is revered in Hindu religion. When Mata Sati (Aadi shakti mata) sacrificed her life & set her body ablaze after Raja Daksh Prajapati (one of the sons of Lord Brahma) tried to humiliate Lord shiva in a Yagya practiced by Daksh. Lord Shiva took her burning body to the Himalaya. On seeing the unending sorrow of Lord shiva, Vishnu sends the Divine chakra to cut the body into 51 parts which fall on earth. They are called "Ekannya Shaktipeeth". Lord Shiva established Shakti Peeth wherever Sati's body had fallen. At Manikarnika ghat, Mata Sati's Ear's ornament had fallen.
The Manikarnika shrine as a Shakti Peeth
The Manikarnika shrine is an important place of worship for Shaktism sect of Hinduism, It is near to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. The mythology of Daksha yaga and Sati's self immolation is the mythology behind the origin of Shakti Peethas. The etymology of the place is due to this mythology. It is believed that Sati Devi's Ear Rings has fallen here. Manikarna in Sanskrit means Ear Rings.[4][5][6]
Shakti Peethas are shrines that are believed to be enshrined with the presence of Shakti due to the falling of body parts of the corpse of Sati Devi, when Lord Shiva carried it and wandered. There are 51 Shakti Peeth linking to the 51 alphabets in Sanskrit. Each temple have shrines for Shakti. The Shakti of Manikarnika is addressed as Vishalakshi & Manikarni.
Significance
Hindu mythology teaches that the ghat is especially sacred and that people cremated there receive moksha. As the myth goes, Vishnu, after several thousand years of tapasya, trying to please Shiva, to convince him to not destroy the holy city of Kashi when he destroys the world, managed to do so.
Lord Shiva along with Parvati came to Kashi before Vishnu to grant him his wish. Vishnu dug a kund (well) on the bank of Ganga for the bath of the couple. When Lord Shiva was bathing a Mani (Jewel) from his earring fell into the kund, hence the name Manikarnika (Mani:Beads Karnam:Ear Angad: Ornament). There is another myth about the ghat : the ear jewel from lord Shiva fell down while he was dancing angrily, which fell on the earth and thus Manikarnika Ghat formed.
Manikarnika Kund
The well at the ghat is called Manikarnika Kund and was built by Lord Vishnu.[7]
Proposal
A proposal for renovating the Manikarnika ghat has been proposed by Departments of Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC), USA, and Bhanubhen Nanavati College of Architecture for Women (BNCA), Pune, India. [8]
Also see
Manikarnika Ghat in art
- Edwin Lord Weeks (1849 – 1903), The Last Voyage, 1884
- Edward Lear (1812–1888) Cityscape, 1873
- The history of the world; a survey of a man's record" (1902) Illustration
- Eve Of The Eclipse Of The Moon 25th November 1825, Litograph by James Prinsep
- Picturesque India. A handbook for European travellers, J. Pedder (1850-1929), 1890
References
- ↑ [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07481187.2010.518420?src=recsys& Death Beliefs and Practices from an Asian Indian American Hindu Perspective Rashmi Gupta, Journal Death Studies Volume 35, 2011 - Issue 3, Pages 244-266, 04 Mar 2011]
- ↑ Who Are The Death Photographers Of Varanasi?, Varun M Nayar, Discovery Digital Networks, Mar 10, 2015
- ↑ The Varanasi Heritage Dossier/Manikarnika Ghat
- ↑ (Translator), F. Max Muller (1 June 2004). The Upanishads, Vol I. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 1419186418.
- ↑ (Translator), F. Max Muller (26 July 2004). The Upanishads Part II: The Sacred Books of the East Part Fifteen. Kessinger Publishing, LLC. ISBN 1417930160.
- ↑ "Kottiyoor Devaswam Temple Administration Portal". kottiyoordevaswom.com. Kottiyoor Devaswam. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ↑ "Manikarnika Ghat". Retrieved 20 December 2010.
- ↑ [https://landarch.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/Ghats%20of%20Varanasi%20report%20.pdf Ghats of Varanasi on the Ganga in India The Cultural Landscape Reclaimed, Department of Landscape Architecture University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA, 2014]
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