Sri Paramahamsa Sachchidananda Yogeeswarar
As told by the yogi:-
(The secret behind Kasi Temple)
" You all are aware that Kasi Punya Kshethram ( the holy Varanasi, Benaras) is the most famous place for religious worship in our country, India. I will tell you a few facts about the Kasi temple.
When I visited the Kasi temple, on one fine day I went inside the sanctum-sanctorum (Moolasthaanam) of the temple. I stood by a side and observed the temple and its proceedings. The temple was extremely crowded and devotees pushed each other to reach the Shiva Lingam. The crowd was very thick and there was absolutely no space in between the devotees. People who reached the Shiva Lingam sat around the Lingam and poured some water (from their personal individual vessels which they carried with them into the temple) over the Lingam and scrubbed the Lingam with their hands. They poured the remaining water into the pot ("dhaaraapaathra"- pot with a hole in the bottom, facilitating the water to flow out of the bottom of the vessel) tied right on top of the Shiva Lingam. After emptying the water on the Lingam first and then into the holed-pot tied above the Lingam, the devotees placed a few flowers on the Shiva Lingam. In no time and just within seconds of placing the flowers on the Lingam, another devotee would push aside the flowers to pour some water out of his vessel and the rest of the water into the pot tied on top of the Lingam. This process continued for what seemed like eternity while even the "Archakudu" (priest) would push away the flowers the sooner they were placed on top of the Lingam. I found another priest who would gather all the discarded flowers and poured them in a heap in a far corner. He would hurry back to wash and clean within and outside the sanctum-sanctorum.
Devotees who had completed the ritual of wahing the Lingam, pouring the remaining water into the pot tied above the Lingam and placing flowers on the Lingam would take the water floating in the pit of the Lingam to drink the same. I watched all these proceedings with interest for awhile.
After sometime I looked at the front of the Lingam. I discovered that the Nandi was not placed right in front of the Shiva Lingam. The Nandi was placed slightly away from the Lingam. Apart from this, the Balipeetham, Dhwajasthambam, Gopuram (Temple Tower) etc., were not constructed in Kasi temple as per the requirements of temple construction. Nobody who goes on a pilgrimage to the Kasi temple notices all these things. Didn't I tell you that as we enter the temple, the first thing should be the Gopuram, in front of the Gopuram there has to be a Dhwajasthambam, in front of the Dwhwajasthambam a Balipeetham, in front of the Balipeetham a Nandi and in front of the Nandi, finally the Shiva Lingam has to be be placed?I was surprised to see all that missing in the Kasi temple. I was determined to find out the reason behind the misplacement of vital temple requisites. I walked all around the temple and observed. The temple tower (Gopuram), Balipeetham, Dhwajasthambam were nowhere in sight inside the temple. After making sure I did not miss or mistake anything, I walked through an entrance into the temple and looked around the place. There I found a huge ("goppa" in telugu means "great" but in this case the blogger assumes that it could mean "huge") Nandi slightly away from Kasi Visweswara Lingam. But this Nandi faced the same direction as Kasi Visweswara Lingam while presenting its rear side to the Visweswara Lingam. Further to my amazement I discovered that the Nandi sat facing a mosque....."
(To be continued......)
