https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Manikarnika_GhatManikarnika Ghat - Revision history2026-07-31T06:08:13ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Manikarnika_Ghat&diff=153068&oldid=previmported>WikiCleanerBot at 15:00, 31 August 20212021-08-31T15:00:35Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Hindu shrine and open crematorium}}<br />
{{other uses|Manikarnika (disambiguation)}}<br />
{{Infobox Hindu temple<br />
| name = Manikarnika Ghat<br />
| coordinates = {{coord|25|18|39.134|N|83|0|50.708|E|type:landmark_region:IN|display=inline,title}}<br />
| locale = [[Varanasi]]<br />
| district = [[Varanasi district|Varanasi]]<br />
| state = [[Uttar Pradesh]]<br />
| country = [[India]]<br />
}}<br />
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}<br />
[[File:Manikarnika Cremation Ghat, Varanasi.jpg|thumb|Manikarnika Ghat in 2007. Baba Mashan Nath temple at the top.]]<br />
'''Manikarnika Ghat''' ([[Hindi]]: मणिकर्णिका घाट) is one of the holiest{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} cremation grounds among the sacred riverfronts ([[ghat]]s), alongside the river [[Ganga]], in the city of [[Varanasi]] in the [[States and union territories of India|Indian state]] of [[Uttar Pradesh]]. In [[Hinduism]], death is considered as a gateway to another life marked by the results of one's [[karma]]. It is believed that a dead human's soul attains [[moksha]], and hence breaks the cycle of rebirth when cremated here.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-06-18|title=In queue even after death, wait for 'moksha' gets longer at Kashi ghats|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/lucknow/in-queue-even-after-death-wait-for-moksha-gets-longer-at-kashi-ghats/story-xGonJMx3cNFuJes3nQF7fN.html|access-date=2020-06-11|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref> Thus, scores of the elderly across the whole country seek to walk up to its edges, and spend their last days absorbing the charisma of the ghat making death painless and insignificant to be pondered upon.<br />
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The ghat is named after [[ Vishnu (Hindu god)|vishnu]]'s jewel which fell here.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manikarnika Ghat Varanasi|url=https://www.varanasiguru.com/manikarnika-ghat/|access-date=2020-09-05|website=Varanasi Guru|language=en}}</ref> The [[Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi]] are kept here.<br />
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==Location==<br />
The Manikarnika Ghat is flanked by the [[Dashashwamedh Ghat]] and the [[Scindia Ghat]]. It is situated in [[Varanasi]], [[India]].<br />
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==Mythological Origin==<br />
[[File:Benares (Varanasi, India) - 1922.jpg|thumb|Manikarnika Ghat in 1922. Temples are L to R: Baba Mashan Nath, Lower level: Tarkeshwara and [[Ratneshwar Mahadev temple|Ratneshwara]], upper level: [[Tripura Sundari]] and [[Ganesha]] temples]]<br />
It is one of the oldest ghats in Varanasi. The Manikarnika Ghat is mentioned in a Gupta inscription of 5th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/The_Varanasi_Heritage_Dossier/Manikarnika_Ghat|title=The Varanasi Heritage Dossier/Manikarnika Ghat Wikiversity|website=en.wikiversity.org}}</ref> It is revered in Hindu religion. When [[Sati (Hindu goddess)|Sati]] ([[Adi Parashakti]]) sacrificed her life & set her body ablaze after [[Daksha]] Prajapati (one of the sons of Lord [[Brahma]]) tried to humiliate Lord Shiva in a Yagya practiced by [[Daksha]].<br />
Lord [[Shiva]] took her burning body to the [[Himalayas]] and started the [[Tandava]]. On seeing the unending sorrow of Lord Shiva, [[Vishnu]] sends the [[Sudarshana 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 parts had fallen. At Manikarnika ghat, Sati's earring had fallen.<br />
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==The Manikarnika shrine as a Shakti Peeth==<br />
{{main|Daksha Yaga|Shakti Peethas}}<br />
[[File:Dakshayani.jpg|thumb|Shiva carrying the corpse of [[Sati (goddess)|Sati]] Devi]]<br />
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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kottiyoor Devaswam Temple Administration Portal|url=http://kottiyoordevaswom.com/|work=kottiyoordevaswom.com|publisher=Kottiyoor Devaswam|access-date=20 July 2013}}</ref><br />
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[[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 (goddess)|Sati]] Devi, when Lord [[Shiva]] carried it and wandered. There are 51 Shakti Peeth linking to the 51 letters or akshar in Sanskrit. Each temple have shrines for [[Shakti]]. The Shakti of Manikarnika is addressed as Vishalakshi & Manikarni.<br />
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==Significance==<br />
[[File:Mourners carry a bier with their deceased family members%2C in Varanasi.jpg|thumb|Mourners carrying a body]]<br />
Hindu mythology teaches that the ghat is especially sacred and that people cremated there receive [[moksha]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}<br />
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.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}<br />
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Lord Shiva along with Parvati came to Kashi before Vishnu to grant him his wish.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} Vishnu dug a kund (well) on the bank of Ganga for the bath of the couple.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} 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).{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.varanasiguru.com/manikarnika-ghat/|title=Manikarnika Ghat – The Burning Ghat Of Varanasi|last=Varanasi Guru|date=5 September 2020|via=Varanasi Guru}}</ref><br />
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==Manikarnika Kund==<br />
[[File:Submerged_and_tilted_Matri-rin_Temple,_Varanasi_01.jpg|thumb|[[Ratneshwar Mahadev temple]], [[Varanasi]], India]]<br />
The well at the ghat is called Manikarnika Kund and was built by [[Lord Vishnu]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.varanasicity.com/manikarnika-ghat.html |title=Manikarnika Ghat |author= |date= |website= |access-date=20 December 2010}}</ref><br />
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==Proposal==<br />
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<ref>{{cite web|url=https://landarch.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/Ghats%20of%20Varanasi%20report%20.pdf|title =Ghats of Varanasi on the Ganga in India The Cultural Landscape Reclaimed, Department of Landscape Architecture University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA, 2014}}</ref> A proposal for renovating and redevelopment the Manikarnika ghat is in progress by Eastern Infrastructure Fund of Varanasi, India.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8hz3YQbv0k|title=Redevelopment of Manikarnika Ghat: Proposal Walkthrough |publisher= Planner India |date=29 May 2017|via=YouTube}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Ratneshwar Mahadev temple]]<br />
* [[Ghats in Varanasi]]<br />
* [[Chandala|Dom]], an ancient community that handles cremation<ref>{{cite web|url=https://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/in-varanasi-a-lifetime-spent-in-a-world-of-death/|title=In Varanasi, a Lifetime Spent in a World of Death|first=Shantanu Guha|last=Ray|date=16 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/nation/story/19860415-varanasis-shamshaan-ghat-the-kingdom-of-dom-raja-the-wealthy-owner-of-the-ghat-800780-1986-04-15|title=Varanasi's Shamshaan Ghat: The kingdom of Dom Raja, the wealthy owner of the ghat|author=Inderjit Badhwar|date=April 15, 1986 |website=India Today}}</ref><br />
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==Manikarnika Ghat in art==<br />
<gallery widths="190" perrow="4"><br />
File:Weeks Edwin Lord The Last Voyage.jpg|[[Edwin Lord Weeks]] (1849–1903), The Last Voyage, 1884<br />
File:Edward Lear - Benares - Google Art Project.jpg|[[Edward Lear]] (1812–1888) Cityscape, 1873<br />
File:Image from page 446 of "The history of the world; a survey of a man's record" (1902) (14767857492).jpg|The history of the world; a survey of a man's record" (1902) Illustration<br />
File:Eve Of The Eclipse Of The Moon 25th November 1825 by James Prinsep.jpg|Eve Of The Eclipse Of The Moon 25 November 1825, Litograph by James Prinsep<br />
File:Bathing Ghat Banaras India 1890.jpg|Picturesque India. A handbook for European travellers, J. Pedder (1850–1929), 1890<br />
File:Burning Ghat dli A136 cor.jpg|Samuel Bourne, "[https://library.nga.gov/permalink/01NGA_INST/1cl1g8d/alma991734193504896 Burning Ghat, Benares, 1169]," 1863-1869, photograph mounted on cardboard sheet, [https://www.nga.gov/research/library/imagecollections.html Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC]<br />
</gallery><br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
{{Varanasi}}<br />
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[[Category:Ghats in Varanasi]]</div>imported>WikiCleanerBot