Kaal Bhairav Temple

Tucked into the dense lanes of Vishweshwarganj, a short walk north-west of Kashi Vishwanath, the Kaal Bhairav Temple is one of Varanasi's most atmospheric and least touristed shrines.

• Its deity is Kaal Bhairav, the terrifying, dog-riding form of Shiva who wears a garland of skulls and carries a trident, and whom the city calls its Kotwal — the guardian magistrate of Kashi.
• Tradition holds that no soul truly enters or departs the eternal city without his leave, and that he alone can forgive the sins a pilgrim commits within its bounds.
• Because of this, many devout Hindus visit Kaal Bhairav first, seeking his sanction before they climb the steps of the Vishwanath sanctum.
• The word 'Kaal' means both death and time, and worshippers come here to be freed of the fear of both.
• The present temple dates to the mid-17th century, with its structure significantly renewed under Maratha Peshwa patronage in the early 18th century.
• It is a modest, red-and-white complex rather than a soaring gopuram: you pass through a silver-plated doorway into a small courtyard, and glimpse only the silver-faced idol, the rest of the image kept veiled in cloth for most of the year.
• The air is thick with incense, marigolds and the murmur of the Bhairav Chalisa.
• Priests gird visitors with a mala of twisted black thread, blessed as an amulet against illness and misfortune, and prasad of khichdi or fruit is later offered to the black dogs that are Bhairav's companions.
• The most electric time to come is Bhairav Ashtami (Kaal Bhairav Jayanti, around late November or December), when the full image is unveiled and adorned with silver skulls.
• For the vegetarian traveller, this pocket of the old city is a delight and poses no dietary worry: the surrounding Vishweshwarganj, Thatheri Bazaar and Godowlia quarter is overwhelmingly satvik and pure-vegetarian, in keeping with Kashi's temple culture.
• Within a ten-to-fifteen-minute walk you can eat the city's finest tamatar chaat and palak-patta chaat at the legendary Kashi Chat Bhandar, breakfast on ghee-fried kachori-sabzi and jalebi at Ram Bhandar (a no-onion, no-garlic institution serving since 1887), or graze on chaat at Deena Chaat Bhandar.
• All are strictly meat-free and alcohol-free.
• Do note that the lanes are narrow and the market busy, so cocooning your visit around temple hours and eating before or after darshan works best.
• A visit here is brief but memorable — perhaps twenty to thirty minutes of quiet darshan — and it rewards travellers who want to feel the older, folk-devotional pulse of Kashi rather than its riverside grandeur.
• Come at dawn for stillness, or after 7 pm for the charged evening aarti.