A visit to "Bharat Mata Temple".

Varanasi is said to have around 22000 temples, each and every temple is beautiful and has its own religious values. But of these large numbers, the most interesting temple I find was The Bharat Mata Temple which is one of its kind and the only temple dedicated to Bharat Mata in the country as per the people around there.

The sign booard on the entrance of the temple.

The Bharat Mata Temple is located inside the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith campus in Varanasi.
The whole temple is made of stone. It was built by Babu Shiv Prasad Gupt and was inaugrated in the year 1936 by Mahatma Gandhi.

The main building of the temple.

I woke up a little early in the morning to visit the temple, as I thought there would be a long queue of devotees outside the temple premise as I met a day before while paying a visit to another famous temple. But to my surprise, I was the only person at that time inside or around the temple premises except a few security guards who were busy chatting among themselves.
The temple is very beautifully built around a large garden area and has some patriotic songs written on both the sides of the entrance door of the main hall.

Song written on the entrance door.

Songs written on both the sides of the door.

But the most interesting thing about the temple is the large marble structure which is a huge map of mother India carved in marble. Yes the map is of undivided India as the temple was constructed before partition. It very beautifully represents the plains,oceans and all the Himalayan ranges surrounding India .
A must see for everyone visiting Varanasi.

The monolith structure of undivided India.

The structure of  Mother India.

A potrait of Mother India inside the temple.

How to reach the temple ?

If you are travelling from BHU, the temple is 7 kms from there and you will easily find an auto for some 15 or 20 rupees. From Godowlia Chowk it is 3 kms and you can take auto or rickshaw from there. From Varanasi Cant Railway station its just 2 kms, you can either walk or take a rickshaw from there.