GetWiki

{{short description|Hindu temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}

factoids

| native_name = संकट मोचन हनुमान मंदिर| country = India| state = Uttar Pradesh| district = | location = Varanasi| elevation_m = | deity = Hanuman, Rama| festivals= | architecture = Hindu architecture| temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | inscriptions = | year_completed = 16th century| creator = Tulsidas| website = }}Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple is a Hindu temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India and is dedicated to the Hindu God Hanuman. The temple was established by famous Hindu preacher and poet saint Sri Goswami Tulsidas in the early 16th century and is situated on the banks of the Assi river. The deity was named "Sankat Mochan" meaning the "reliever from troubles".BOOK, Chaturvedi, B. K., Tulsidas (Mystics Saints of India), 31 December 2002, Books For All, Allahabad, 8173862508, In the temple, offerings to Lord Hanuman (called Prasad) are sold like the special sweet "besan ke ladoo", which the devotees relish; the idol is also decked with a pleasant marigold flower garland as well. This temple has the unique distinction of having Lord Hanuman facing his Lord, Rama, whom he worshipped with steadfast and selfless devotion.

History

It is believed that the temple has been built on the very spot where Tulsidas had a vision of Hanuman.BOOK, Callewaert, Winand M., Banaras: vision of a living ancient tradition,weblink 2000, Hemkunt Press, 81-7010-302-9, 90, Sankat Mochan Temple was founded by Tulsidas who was the author of the Ramacharitamanasa, which is one of the most popular versions of the saga of Lord Rama written in Awadhi ("Most of the people have a confusion that Ramacharitamanasa is an Awadhi version of Valmiki Ramayana, but Ramacharitamanasa is different from Sanskrit Ramayana written by Rishi Valmiki as Tulsidas already told in Ramacharitamanasa that "Nana bhanti Ram avatara, Ramayan sat koti apara" means in each Kalp lord Ram takes Avatar & plays different lilas (Acts) so we have different stories of same Lord Rama").Tradition promises that regular visitors to the temple will gain the special favor of Lord Hanuman. Every Tuesday and Saturday thousands of people queue up in front of the temple to offer prayers to Lord Hanuman. According to Vedic Astrology, Hanuman saves human beings from the anger of the planet Shani (Saturn), and especially people who have an ill-placed Saturn in their horoscopes visit this temple for astrological remedies. This is supposed to be the most effective way for appeasing Shani. While it is suggested that Hanuman did not hesitate to engulfs in his mouth the sun, the lord of all planets, which humbled all the gods and angels, making them worship him for the Sun's release. Some astrologers believe that worshiping Hanuman can neutralize the ill-effect of Mangal (Mars) and practically any planet that has an ill effect on human life. It is believed that Tulsidas is believed to have written most of the verses of Ramacharitramanas in this temple.BOOK, The Top Ten Temple Towns of India, Mark Age Publication, S.C., Karkar, Kolkota, 978-81-87952-12-1, 2009, 11,

Terrorist incident

On 7 March 2006, one of three explosions hit the temple while the aarti was in progress in which numerous worshippers and wedding attendees were participating. The crowd helped each other in the rescue operation after the explosion. The next day a large number of devotees resumed their worship as usual.NEWS,weblink Blasts in Sankatmochan temple and railway station kill dozen, several injured, 8 March 2006, Indian Express,

Temple today

The temple still continues to be attended by thousands of Rama and Hanuman devotees who chant Hanuman Chalisa and Sundarkand (also provided in the form of a booklet in the temple for free). After the terrorist incident of 2006, a permanent police post was set up inside the temple.NEWS,weblink Varanasi temple gets permanent police post, 14 March 2006, Indian Express, Sankat Mochan temple is near the Banaras Hindu University.

Sankat Mochan Foundation

The Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF) was established in 1982 by Veer Bhadra Mishra, the Mahant (High priest) of the temple, and has been working for cleaning and protecting the Ganges river. Its projects are funded in part by aid from the U. S. and Swedish governments. Mishra was formerly former Head of the Civil Engineering Department at the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi [IIT(BHU)]Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi and was awarded United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established the "Global 500 Roll of Honour" in 1992,WEB,weblink Adult Award Winner in 1992: Veer Bhadra Mishra, Global 500 Roll of Honour website, and later the TIME magazine's "Hero of the Planet" award in 1999.NEWS,weblink Jai Ganga Maiyya..., May 26, 2009, The Times of India, MAGAZINE,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20000816092014weblink">weblink dead, 16 August 2000, Holy War for "My Mother", 16 August 1999, TIME, The foundation has been working with Australia-based environmental group, Oz Greene, under a programme called "Swatcha Ganga Abhiyan" for over 25 years. It celebrated its silver jubilee on 3–4 November 2007, with two-day event which concluded at the Tulsi Ghat, on the Ganges.NEWS,weblink Centre should take steps to clean Ganga river, 5 Nov 2007, Indian Express, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20121011030615weblink">weblink 11 October 2012, dmy-all,

Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh

Each year in the month of April, the temple organizes a classical music and dance concert festival titled "Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh", in which musicians and performers from all over India take part. The first festival was organized 88 years ago, and it has invited musicians and dancers including Odissi guru Kelucharan Mahapatra, who was associated since its early days. In fact he was instrumental in starting women's participation in the festival with Sanjukta Panigrahi, Swapna Sundari and Kankana Banerjee.NEWS,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080430131308weblink">weblink dead, 30 April 2008, Glimpses of eternity, Chennai, India, The Hindu, 7 April 2006, In 2009, the six-day concert saw over 35 artists including, vocalist Jasraj and Kathak exponent Birju Maharaj.NEWS,weblink Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh from April 13, 8 Apr 2009, The Times of India, NEWS,weblink Jasraj, Birju Maharaj enthral on first night, 14 Apr 2009, The Times of India, The 2010 concert was spread over five days, during which artists such as Jasraj, Sunanda Patnaik, Channulal Mishra, Rajan-Sajan Mishra and Amar Nath Mishra performed.NEWS,weblink Sankat Mochan music concert begins, 4 Apr 2010, The Times of India, In 2015 concert Pakistani-ghazal singer Ghulam Ali performed at Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh.WEB, Sports, Buzz in Varanasi as Ghulam Ali performs at Sankat Mochan, The Indian Express, 9 April 2015,weblink 20 October 2015, WEB, Modi to miss Ghulam Ali musical treat at Shankat Mochan temple, Firstpost, 8 April 2015,weblink 20 October 2015, WEB, Singh, Binay, Pakisntan's Ghulam Ali to enchant Kashi's Sankat Mochan Hanuman with ghazals, The Times of India, 2 April 2015,weblink 20 October 2015,

See also

• Sankat Mochan Temple, Shimla
• Hindu temples in Varanasi

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• Web India - Places of interest in Varanasi
• Sankat Mochan Foundation, Official website
• BBC - High priest horrified by blast BBC News

Images

• Image of the main gate of temple
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110717184839weblink">interior view

{{Temples in Varanasi}}{{Hindu temples in Uttar Pradesh}}