Dhundiraj Vinayak (Bade Ganesh) Temple

Tucked into the narrow, shop-lined lane of Vishwanath Gali, just outside the Annapurna math and a few steps from the golden spire of Kashi Vishwanath, the Dhundiraj Vinayak temple is one of Varanasi's most consequential small shrines.

• Blink and you may miss it: the sanctum is barely larger than a doorway, its idol worn smooth by centuries of vermilion, ghee and touching hands.
• Yet the crowds that shuffle past speak to its stature.
• In Kashi lore, Dhundiraj is the most prominent of the fifty-six Vinayakas (the Chappan Vinayak) named in the Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana, and he is the gatekeeper Ganesha whom pilgrims are urged to greet before they set eyes on Shiva.
• Devotees who are short of time are traditionally told that a single bow here can stand in for the whole obstacle-clearing circuit.
• The name carries the temple's meaning.
• In the old story, Ganesha helped Lord Vishnu draw King Divodasa out of Kashi so that Shiva could return to his beloved city; for discovering (dhundhna, to seek and find) the way, Shiva blessed him as Dhundhiraj, the seeker who finds and grants.
• The murti is regarded as swayambhu, self-manifested, and is unusually depicted with three eyes and flanked by his consorts and sons, a form seen at few other Ganesha shrines.
• Because Ganesha is the remover of obstacles, worshippers come to seek clarity before beginnings, new ventures, weddings, journeys and, above all, the pilgrimage to Vishwanath itself.
• A visit here is inseparable from the wider Vishwanath precinct.
• The lane thrums with flower sellers stringing marigold garlands, brass-shop bells and the smell of incense; after darshan most pilgrims flow on to Annapurna Devi, then to Kashi Vishwanath, and down to the ghats for the Ganga.
• It is best experienced at dawn during the Mangala aarti, or on Wednesdays and during Ganesh Chaturthi when the shrine is dressed and thronged.
• For vegetarian travellers, this corner of the old city is a joy and requires no compromise.
• The gali itself is a corridor of pure-vegetarian Banarasi eating: buttery kachori-sabzi, tamatar chaat, palak chaat and thick, cardamom-scented lassi are all within a few minutes' walk.
• Kashi Chat Bhandar in Godowlia, Rajbandhu in Kachori Gali and Deena Chaat Bhandar near Bansphatak are trusted, long-standing pure-veg names.
• One local caution worth knowing: some lassi and thandai stalls near the ghats sell bhang (cannabis) thandai, so always ask specifically for a plain lassi or plain thandai if you want none.