Chakra Pushkarini Kund (Manikarnika Kund)

Tucked just behind the ceaseless activity of Manikarnika Ghat, the Chakra Pushkarini Kund is one of the quietest yet most venerated spots in all of Kashi.

• This small, stone-lined stepped tank is a distinct water body from the riverside ghat that shares the Manikarnika name, and tradition holds it to be the very oldest tirtha of the sacred city.
• According to the Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana, Bhagavan Vishnu performed vast austerities on this spot and dug a lotus pond with his discus (chakra), filling it with the sweat of his devotion — from which the tank takes its formal name, Chakra Pushkarini, the lotus pool of the discus.
• When Shiva and Parvati came to witness Vishnu's devotion, Shiva trembled with delight and his jewelled earring (mani-karnika) slipped and fell into the pool, giving the site its more familiar name.
• Devotees believe the kund predates even the descent of the Ganga to earth.
• Today the kund is a modest rectangular reservoir reached by flights of worn stone steps, ringed by small shrines and often garlanded with marigolds and floating diyas.
• Nearby sits the Charana Paduka, a circular marble slab bearing footprints revered as those of Vishnu, one of the most sacred markers on the entire riverfront.
• Pilgrims descend to touch the water, offer prayers to their ancestors, and take a symbolic dip, for a promise attributed to Shiva holds that whoever bathes here with true devotion is freed from the cycle of birth and rebirth.
• The stonework of the surrounding ghat was laid in the early 14th century, with major rebuilding by Bajirao Peshwa around 1730 and a comprehensive restoration under Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore in 1791.
• The kund adjoins the Manikarnika cremation ground, Kashi's most important site for last rites, and visitors should carry themselves with quiet dignity and restraint.
• This is a place of mourning as much as of pilgrimage; observe respectfully, keep your voice low, and never photograph the pyres, the mourners, or the cremation area — doing so is deeply offensive and, in practice, forbidden.
• The kund itself and the surrounding lanes can be visited calmly and thoughtfully as part of a wider ghat walk.
• For the vegetarian traveller, this pocket of the old city is wonderfully welcoming.
• The tangle of lanes behind Manikarnika opens toward Godowlia and Chowk, where some of Varanasi's finest pure-vegetarian kitchens have fed pilgrims for generations.
• Kashi Chat Bhandar near Godowlia is famous for its tamatar chaat and palak patta chaat, Ram Bhandar in Thatheri Bazar (est.
• 1887) turns out flaky kachoris with aloo sabzi and jalebi, and Ksheer Sagar at Sonarpura is a reliable, spotless choice for a full thali and Banarasi sweets.
• One honest caution: this is the land of bhang thandai, and several riverside lassi and thandai stalls quietly add cannabis — always ask explicitly for plain lassi or plain thandai, and when in doubt stick to the established pure-veg sweet shops named above.