The Vegabond: The Mini Khajuraho of Varanasi.

Just a few meters walk from Dr. Rajendra Prasad ghat is situated the Lalita ghat. Along the stretch of the Lalita ghat just a few steps above is located a very old and beautiful temple of Lord Shiva also know as Kanthwala Temple or mini Khajuraho. The temple was built in 1800 to 1804 by the then king of Nepal Rana Bahadur Shah. It is a very beautiful piece of construction which resembles the Nepali style of architecture. Because of the similar pagoda construction style, it is known as a replica of the Pashupati Shiva temple in Nepal. And yes the temple is looked after by Nepali sadhus so you will mostly find Nepali sadhus here, as all the religious people residing in the temple premises are Nepalis. I was also told about the dharamshala inside the temple premises which still belongs to the Nepal Government.

The main temple premise

The temple situated a few meters above the ghat's edge gives some of the most breathtaking views of the ghats and holy river Ganges. I did not find any heavy crowd of people or noise around except bird's chirping, so the environment inside the temple premise is very calm and peaceful. One can easily spend hours observing the beauty and silence around the magnificent temple.

A young boy on the temple door

A baba busy reading inside the temple premises

A Sadhu reading holy book

The most beautiful part of the temple is the exquisite wooden work that it exhibits on the walls and the pillars.

A bird carved on the wooden pillar

The upper portion of the door.

Beautiful wodden work on the temple door.

But why is it called The Mini Khajuraho ?

As I said earlier, this temple is also known as mini Khajuraho because the sculptures carved here are similar to the Khajuraho group of Monuments. Here you can have a glimpse of a few interesting sculptures in the pictures below.