Varanasi's corridor of change seamlessly merges past with future

The revamping of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor has opened the door for a new Kashi.

The Ganga is closer to the historic Kashi Vishwanath Dham and obstacles to mythological legends have been removed.

Earlier, devotees had to meander through tiny lanes and bylanes to reach the sanctum sanctorum of the Kashi Vishwanath temple and then move to another route to take a holy dip in the Ganga river.

The Kashi Vishwanath Corridor has ensured direct accessibility to the Ganga river from the temple.

"According to mythology, Lord Shiva had kept Maa Ganga in his hair bun in order to lessen her force and prevent damage to the people on earth. The relationship between the Lord and Mother Ganga has remained pious since then. The new corridor brings Lord Shiva and Maa Ganga together again," said Pandit Vipin Acharya, a local priest.

A 20-25 feet wide corridor now connects the Lalita Ghat in Ganga to the Mandir Chowk in the temple.

Under the project, the area around the temple has been expanded from 3,000 to 5 lakh square feet.

Around 40 temples have been restored to their original glory around here and 23 buildings have been added to the structure providing various facilities.

With the completion of the project, pilgrims no more have to walk through the congested lanes to visit the temple, as it would be directly visible and easily accessible from the Ganga.

Constructed at a cost of Rs 339 crores, the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor also connects the various ghats to near the iconic and one of the most ancient ghats -- Dashashwamedh Ghat.

The project's architect, Bimal Patel, said, "Prime Minister Modi wanted the corridor to enable devotees to walk directly to the temple after collecting water from the Ganga. The corridor should be a link between the Ganga and the temple. We worked to restore the grandeur of the temple premises as per the vision of Prime Minister Modi."

"What is more important is that the original structure of the Kashi Vishwanath temple has not been tampered with -- it has been allowed to remain as it is. The corridor has increased the facilities for the tourists and beautified the temple premises," he said.

During the construction, workers often found bits and pieces of faith entwined in homes and commercial establishments -- small temples or idols installed by unknown people over the decades. Many of these temples were preserved and will be shown in the main gallery of the complex, said officials.

"The corridor will give glimpses of the sculptural art and architectural history of temples over 300 years because the 41 temples, which were found among the buildings purchased and demolished, have been preserved," said Atul Tripathi of Banaras Hindu University.

The project has been completed in a record span of three years, despite the pandemic.

With the completion of the project ,Varanasi has also seen a major transformation.

While the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor was a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who represents Varanasi in the Lok Sabha, development has not been restricted to the temple alone.

The Rudraksh Convention Centre has been built to facilitate business conferences and tourism in the city.

The building has seating of 1,200 people and is designed like a "Shivalinga". It has 108 Rudrakshas on its facade.

With modern facilities like art galleries, multi-purpose pre-function areas, divisible meeting rooms the Centre has become a major tourist attraction of the city.

The Deen Dayal Hastkala Sankul, a trade facilitation centre for weavers, craftsmen, and artisans of Varanasi that was opened in 2017, acts as a public place and a marketing platform for local artisans.

The mega facelift project across 550,000 square feet comprises 24 buildings that include an emporium, a museum, a sacred kitchen, a Vedic library, a centre to store ancient scriptures, a city gallery and a food court.

Varanasi has also got two very important road and connectivity projects, namely, the Varanasi Ring Road and the Babatpur-Varanasi road. The projects that have been undertaken at a total cost of Rs 1,572 crore, have the 16.55-km long Ring Road Phase - I being built for Rs 759 crore.

The four-lane 17.25 km Babatpur-Varanasi Road is being constructed at a cost of Rs 812 crore. The Ring Road will provide easy access to Sarnath, an important point of Buddhist pilgrimage.

The six-lane Varanasi to Prayagraj section of the NH-19, is designed to significantly reduce the traffic congestion in the area for vehicles plying towards Varanasi.

The Manduadih railway station in Varanasi has been also been revamped with more upgraded facilities, cafeterias, booking rooms, lounge and so on. The railway station that looks more like a modern airport now has more tourists than passengers.

The BHU Trauma centre for emergency services has been upgraded and two cancer hospitals -- Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Cancer Hospital and Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital -- have been constructed to provide treatment to people of the city and adjacent areas.

The well-known heritage places of the city have been given smart 'signages' with a Quick Response (QR) code. On a scan, the code will provide a tourist with all the necessary information and history of any place. It will also provide further information on the 84 ancient ghats of Varanasi and the culture that has developed around the sites.

Elsewhere in the city, LED screens display information for tourists, including on the history, architecture, and art of Kashi. The famous Ganga Aarti and the aarti at the Kashi Vishwanath temple is also shown on the screens throughout the city.

Suryakant Nagar, a local resident, said, "Initially we were sceptical about the changes but the Prime Minister has done the impossible. We could never imagine that Kashi Vishwanath Dham would ever look like this."