Vishalakshi Temple

The Vishalakshi Temple stands near Mir Ghat in Varanasi, close to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and is dedicated to Parvati as Vishalakshi, the wide-eyed goddess. Hindu tradition counts it among the fifty-one Shakti Peethas: when Vishnu dismembered Sati, the gem of her right earring is said to have fallen here, so the goddess is also called Manikarni Devi. Kaal Bhairav is venerated as its guardian.

The Tantric Rudrayamala, composed before 1052, names Varanasi among the ten principal Shakti Peethas. The Skanda Purana tells how Vishalakshi appeared as a housewife to feed the sage Vyasa when the city refused him alms.

Together with the Vishwanath temple, the Ganges and the Kala Bhairava temple, the Vishalakshi Temple forms one of the six sites of Varanasi's Shastanga yoga pilgrimage. It was rebuilt in the nineteenth century by Nattukottai Nagarathar merchants from Tamil Nadu.