# @vikramsampath on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C1wG6F5L1Xb
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/61799907-vikramsampath-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/7ffc50f3f7.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-01-06T08:13:16.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Vikram Sampath (@vikramsampath) — https://gondola.cc/vikramsampath

## Caption

The greatest privilege of being a writer/historian is the wide & far reaching travel that I get to do & meet an amazing cross-section of people. As my new book "Waiting for Shiva: Unearthing the Truth of Kashi's Gyan Vapi" inches towards its final stages, it was a blessing to visit ground zero of my muse for the last several months --- the iconic & historic Kashi Vishwanath Mandir in Varanasi. It felt like chapters from my book were coming alive in front of me as i walked though Gate 4, crossing the mosque of Aurangzeb that sits across the new temple built by Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar in 1780. 
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.Remember going through utter squalor there in the past, but the expansive and beautiful corridor has made the pilgrim experience so much better now. Was equally astonishing to see the amazingly cleaner Ganga Ghats that used to be maintained so terribly before. 
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Over two hectic days, battling the heavy fog, mist & sporadic rains, went around the nook and cranny of this sacred town, capturing glimpses of its many shrines, sights and sounds in my mind's eyes. Jiske kankar kankar mein Shankar as the popular adage goes here, walking through the narrow lanes of Kashi is like taking a walk through the darkest alleys of India's history -- it's glorious and traumatic chapters in equal measure...they all remain encapsulated here, frozen in time as mute witnesses, in this eternal city of light ! 
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Banaras/Kashi/Varanasi is an emotion; an energy that engulfs you in its loving embrace once you spend a little time there. Left with my heart overfilled with Baba Vishwanath's blessings; soul nourished & stomach full of all the Banarsi delicacies, especially the lip smackingly yummy winter dessert - Malaiyyo 😘
Har har Mahadev 🙏 hope to come back once the book is out by end of February and seek His blessings again.

#kashivishwanath #kashi #banaras #varanasi #ganga #shiva #blessings #blessed

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kashi, blessed, banaras, ganga, shiva, kashivishwanath, blessings, varanasi

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