Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple
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The Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple is a
Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...
in
Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
,
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
dedicated to the Hindu deity
Hanuman Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...
, in his form as s''ankat mochan'' (''saṅkaṭamocana''), meaning the "reliever from troubles". The temple was established by the Hindu preacher and poet-saint
Tulsidas Rambola Dubey (; 11 August 1511 – 30 July 1623pp. 23–34.), popularly known as Goswami Tulsidas (), was a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava (Ramanandi Sampradaya, Ramanandi) Hinduism, Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. H ...
in the early 16th century. It is situated on the banks of the Assi river.


History

It is believed that the temple built on the very spot where
Tulsidas Rambola Dubey (; 11 August 1511 – 30 July 1623pp. 23–34.), popularly known as Goswami Tulsidas (), was a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava (Ramanandi Sampradaya, Ramanandi) Hinduism, Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. H ...
had a vision of Hanuman. It was founded by Tulsidas who was the author of the '' Ramacharitamanasa.'' Tradition promises that regular visitors to the temple will gain the special favor of Hanuman. Every Tuesday and Saturday thousands of people queue up in front of the temple to offer prayers to 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. Some astrologers believe that worshiping Hanuman can neutralize the ill-effect of Mangala (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 ''Ramacharitamanasa'' in this temple.


Terrorist incident

On 7 March 2006, one of three explosions hit the temple while the
aarti ''Arti'' () or ''Aarati'' () is a Hindu ritual employed in worship, part of a ''Puja (Hinduism), puja'', in which light from a flame (fuelled by camphor, ghee, or oil) is ritually waved to venerate Hindu deities, deities. ''Arti'' also refers t ...
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.


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.


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 The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
. 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 IT(BHU)and was awarded
United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...
(
UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...
) established the " Global 500 Roll of Honour" in
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
, and later the ''
TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine's "Hero of the Planet" award in 1999. 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.


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 ''Odissi'' (''ଓଡ଼ିଶୀ'') also referred to as ''Orissi'' in old literature, oldest surviving classical dance of India, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temple, temples of Odisha – an eastern ...
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. In 2009, the six-day concert saw over 35 artists including, vocalist Jasraj and Kathak exponent Birju Maharaj. 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. In 2015 concert
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
i-ghazal singer Ghulam Ali performed at Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh.


See also

* Sankat Mochan Temple, Shimla * Hindu temples in Varanasi


References


External links


Web India - Places of interest in Varanasi

Sankat Mochan Foundation, Official website

BBC - High priest horrified by blast
''
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
'' ;Images
Image of the main gate of temple

interior view
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