Shree Kashi Karvat Mandir
The Shri Kashi Karvat Mandir (or Kashi Karont) is one of the Dwadesh Jyotirlingas temple. It is a few meters away from Kashi Vishwanath Temple. It is an ancient Shiva temple. It is an important temple and visited by many Hindu devotess who visit Kashi Vishwanant Temple.
In ancient times the temple used to have a saw (Karont or Karvat). Before British period, people used to come there and throw themselves down the hole and blade, thus killing themselves.[1] They are believed to go straight to heaven. There have also been many stories that claim that later the priests started scaring the pilgrims and throwing them with blades,[2] robbing them of their valuables. And the dead bodies were thrown into the Ganges through a secret canal in the basement. The crypt is now confined to the priests and their families, who have been caring for it for the last 25 generations, and Karvat was taken to UK by the British people.
History
[edit]The religious teachers of the Hindu religion tell the sadhana seekers society that scripture is not certified. Due to this, the sadhaks did not get any benefit from God, which was expected from devotion.
The religious leaders of Kashi made a reprehensible and criminal plan that Lord Shiva ordered that the door of heaven would open for the one who sacrificed his life in Kashi city. He will go to heaven without any hindrance.
One who dies in Maghar Nagar (near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh presently in District- Sant Kabir Nagar (Uttar Pradesh), will go to hell or get the body of a donkey.
Due to the misconception that one who dies in Maghar will go straight to the birth of a pig, that is, hell, and those who die in Kashi will go straight to heaven. That's why everyone used to spend their last days in Kashi only.[3]
The people of the surrounding villages used to hand over their parents to the selfish Pandit in Kashi in their old age. They used to keep them on a rental basis. Then gradually, the number of older people increased, so the selfish Pandits and priests started worrying that if one could not be served, how would they serve them all? Then to kill them forcefully, they made a huge brick cave on the banks of the river Ganga[4] and then got a saw-like object installed in the middle of that cave, which the people of that time used to call Karont. Then those older people were told that whoever wanted to go to heaven soon should get his head cut off by Karont in this cave; he would go straight to heaven. This is Guruji's order;[5] after saying this, all the elders were already troubled by sorrow and pain, so they all said yes to getting rid of this sorrowful life. And everyone was beheaded one by one.[6] Whenever that saw got stuck, the older adult would be told that God's order had not yet been given to him. Then that older adult would go back, crying, and after some time, again provide fees to the priests to get the head cut off from Karont. One of the Holy scripture of Hinduism, Bhagavad Gita, explains in Chapter 17 Verse 23 that one can only attain salvation only after taking the actual mantras of the Almighty God given by a complete saint. In this way, the number of those older adults served by religious leaders was reduced cruelly.[7]
Prior to all this, the monument was household of an Ahir Sardar.[8][9]
Architecture
[edit]A plaque at the small gate in bright maroon and yellow colours says "Only followers of Sanatana Dharma are allowed to enter".[10] The interior has been redone with Tylo. There is a small hole inside the temple from where you can see the Shiv ling in the basement. In the basement, where you can see the Shivalinga, it is said that in ancient times there was placed a saw (Karvat or Ara), which was suspended from the ceiling of the temple and was believed to spontaneously fall on those chosen by the Lord Shiva, for his blessings. Since suicide is not allowed in Hinduism, the act was arranged with the help of a priest. Gradually this practice was banned, and saws were removed from the room.
See also
[edit]- Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi")
- Kashi Vishwanath Temple
- Shri Vishwanath Mandir
References
[edit]- ^ Hamilton, Alexander (1744). "A New Account of the East Indies, giving an exact and copius description of the Situation, Product, Manufactures, Laws, Customs, Religion, Trade, andc. of all the Countries and Islands which lie between the Cape of Good Hope and the Island of Japon, interspersed with an entertaining relation not only of the principal Events. which happened during the Author's Thirty Years Residence in those Parts; but also of the most remarkable Occurrences and Revolution in those vast Dominions for this Century past; comprehending also many curious and interesting Particulars relating to our Commerce with those Countries and the Affairs of the East India Company, in Two Volumes, Vol. II". C. Hitch (London). Retrieved 4 June 2021.[dead link]
- ^ Parry, Jonathan (1980). "Ghosts, Greed and Sin: The Occupational Identity of the Benares Funeral Priests". Man. 15 (1): 88–111. doi:10.2307/2802004. JSTOR 2802004. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Justice, Christopher (1997). Dying the Good Death: The Pilgrimage to Die in India's Holy City. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1-4384-0811-8.
- ^ Greaves, Edwin (1909). "Kashi the city illustrious, or Benares". California Digital Library. Allahabad : Indian Press. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Parry, Jonathan P.; PhD, Professor of Anthropology Jonathan P. Parry (7 July 1994). Death in Banaras. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-46625-7. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Heber, Reginald (1829). "Narrative of a journey through the upper provinces of India, from Calcutta to Bombay, 1824-1825". Philadelphia, Carey, Lea & Carey. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ "NOMADIC LAD: The Suicide Temple of Varanasi". Nomadic Lad. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Vyāsa, Kedāranātha (1986). Kāśīkhaṇḍokta Pañcakrośātmaka Jyotirliṅga Kāśīmāhātmya evaṃ Kāśī kā prācīna itihāsa (in Hindi). Kedāranātha Vyāsa.
- ^ Arya, Banarasi Lal (1975). Mahārāja Balavanta Siṃha aura Kāśī kā atīta (in Hindi). Āryā.
- ^ "Mysterious Suicide Temple of Varanasi". Varanasi Guru. 28 October 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2021.