!!!!......History & Importance of Kashi Vishwanath Temple.........!!!!!

!!!!......History & Importance of Kashi Vishwanath Temple.........!!!!!
...............................Description................
Kashi Vishwanath Temple is most famous Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Shiva and is located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, the holiest existing place of Hindus, where at least once in life a Hindu is expected to do pilgrimage, and if possible, also pour the remains of cremated ancestors on the River Ganges. The temple stands on the western bank of the holy river Ganges, and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the holiest of Shiva temples. The main deity is known by the name Vishwanatha or Vishweshwara meaning Ruler of the universe. The temple town, which claims to be the oldest living city in the world, with 3500 years of documented history, is also called Kashi and hence the temple is popularly called Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
.............................Importance of the temple......................
The temple is widely recognized as one of the most important places of worship in Hindu religion and most of the leading Hindu saints, including Adi Sankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Goswami Tulsidas, Swami Dayananda Saraswati and Gurunanak have visited the site
..............................History...........................................
A Shiva temple has been mentioned in the Puranas including the Kashi Khanda (section) of Skanda Purana. In 490 AD, the Kashi Vishwanath Temple was built. In 11th century AD, Hari Chandra constructed a temple. Muhammad Ghori destroyed it along with other temples of Varanasi during his raid in 1194.Reconstruction of the temple started soon after. This was demolished by Qutb-ud-din Aibak. After Aibak's death the temple was again rebuilt by many Hindu emperors. In 1351 it was destroyed again by Firuz Shah Tughlaq. The temple was rebuilt in 1585 by Todar Mal, the revenue minister of Akbar's court.Aurangzeb ordered its demolition in 1669 and constructed Gyanvapi Mosque, which still exists alongside the temple.Traces of the old temple can be seen behind the mosque. It is said that the chief priest of the temple jumped into the well with the Shiva Linga and the original Shiv-linga now resides there. The current temple was built by Ahilya Bai Holkar, the queen of Malwa kingdom. Maharaja Ranjit Singh donated Gold for the Temple. Later on during 1833-1840 AD The Rajmata of GWALIOR KINGDOM Shrimant Bazabai Shinde constructed the Boundary of Gyanvapi Well and the other structures like Ghats, Temples etc., were also reconstructed. Many noble families from various ancestral kingdoms of India and their prior establishments make generous contributions for the operations of the temple.