What an inspiring story is that of the Maratha queen Ahalyabhai Holkar. She is the one credited with rebuilding and restoring of Kasi Viswanath, Mathura, Somnath, Ayodhya among others that were razed to dust by the Islamic barbarians. Aurangzeb the mad dog, razed the original Vishwanath Mandir of Varnasi (aka Kashi/Benaras) in the 17th century CE. Some 40,000 sadhus then sacrificed their lives defending the temple against this ravaging despot. This is how much Hindu blood the muslims drank for centuries. The islamic invaders of India were so infuriated by the sight of faith and aura that resided in our holiest temples that dated back by millennia. They could not believe that nobody cared about their middle eastern cult. They could convert Hindus only by rape or by the point of sword. Babur the first of the Moghuls desecrated Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Generations later the rabid dog Aurangzeb did not spare a single standing Hindu temple. He went after the most important shrines such as Kashi, Mathura, etc. The effect of muslim Karma you see even today: how the Afghans are living a miserable life. What about Pakistan. Rani Ahalya was phenomenal and far ahead for her times. Educated, her reign lasted for over three decades. Rani Ahalya established dharamshalas for pilgrims throughout India and also rebuilt many of the temples desecrated by the islamic terrorists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahilyabai_Holkar
The boatman in Kashi narrated to me the legend of the Maharani that led to the resurrection of the Kashi Vishwanath. A pious lady, Ahalya found herself scooping three Shiva Lingas when she was having a ritual bath in the river Narmada. She dropped them back into the river. Then she had a dream prophecy after which she once more found the three Shiva Lingas in the Narmada river. This time, the instruction was clear. She was ‘told’ in her dream to go to Varnasi and reclaim the lost/razed Vishwanath temple. Queen Ahalya went to Kashi. She put the three Lingas in the banks of river Ganga. One did not move but stayed. Rest two she gave away to Ma Ganga. The one we see today is the same Shiva Linga Maharani Ahalya brought from river Narmada, hundreds of kilometers away from the Ganges. The Shiva Linga yielded by Narmada is Swayambu and came direct from Shiva. This is the Kashi Vishwanath we worship ever since. Ahalya made a mandir where the Shiva Linga settled on its own. It was too close to the mosque that Aurangzeb raised over the desecrated original Kashi Vishwanath. Ganga probably swelled upto here during monsoons, especially centuries back. Like all rivers, Ganga too has retreated now to narrow ribbon state giving rise to muddy banks. Ahalyabhai raised once again the Kashi Vishwanath temple following the prophecy. She modeled the temple on one raised by a Maratha king closer.
Another popular version about the whereabouts of Vishwanatha Lingam:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/703379548423840
The original Garbagriha (sanctum sanctorum) was desecrated by Aurangazeb who built the hideous mosque where exactly the original Shiva Linga stood for over 3000 years in the same spot. Given the mammoth size of the Nandhi, you can imagine, how huge the original Kashi Vishwanath must have been. Even today you can see the Nandhi (bull) facing the mosque which is a dead giveaway. In Hindu temples, the Nandhi faces Shiva. Presently the Kashi Viswanath Nandhi overlooks the masjid. Now a court case is on reclaiming the disputed land, with irrefutable evidence provided by the Nandhi. Even monsters like Aurangzeb leave some loopholes in history, as we reckon. What made him not take out the Nandhi is ponderable. Perhaps he wanted Nandhi for his mosque, with the Nandhi paying obeisance to his desert god, gazing at the mosque. Today that single error of his is giving us Hindus wide scope to recover our lost temple. We are the passive, complacent Hindus. We go the legal way. Muslims live pathetic lives in many countries where they are majority. As a goodwill measure, why can’t the Indian muslims handover the original historic holy shrines of Hindus back to us. This is Hindu India where Dharma is our culture.
Rani Ahalya rebuilt many more temples including Ayodhya and Mathura, the birth places of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna that were also ransacked by the muslim marauders. The islamic way of life is plunder, thievery and bloody murder. They had no ethics, no culture. Even the arab countries that are seeing oil wealth today were historically pirates only who waylaid maritime vessels in the high seas and looted merchants. Every mosque in India thus stands on desecrated Hindu temples only. Somnath was raided for over 14 times as it was the richest temple of India then. India was the richest country in the world with most advanced civilization, culture and heritage. With the conquest, the islamic marauders razed everything to dust and decamped with diamonds and gold jewelry just the way they burnt down ancient India’s Nalanda university to ashes destroying tens of thousands of priceless manuscripts that put Bharat back by centuries.
The congress deshdrohis inflicted unspeakable damage on Hindus even as late as Narasimha Rao’s time:
Let us hope that Vishwanath reclaims the Gyanvapi mosque which is originally His. The people of Kashi are pained and have been living with the trauma for generations. No Hindu family in Kashi is able to digest the mosque in the Hindu holy shrine. They have been told the bloody story by their great grandparents and grandparents. As you do ‘pradakshina’ (circumambulation) in Kashi Viswanath, as the mosque looms larger in the background, your blood boils.
As it turned out, Aurangzeb realized his folly much later in life. Probably he had a premonition that Karma would be catching up with the muslim invaders soon. After him the Moghul dynasty started nosediving as the Marathas were gaining upperhand. Had the British not arrived, the Marathas would have reclaimed entire India and reconverted many muslim converts. Belatedly like a penance, Aurangzeb raised a dozen Hindu temples in compensation for the heinous and blasphemous crimes he committed. But his repentance came too late. By then the irreversible damage was done. Rest is history as we bear witness to how the west pounds the islamic nations rendering them to dust.
Compared to muslims, the British feared touching Hindu temples. Many British actually worshipped at Hindu temples and became ardent devotees. The legend of ‘Eri Katha Ramar’ temple is well documented for instance.
There is a ghat that goes by Ahalya’s name until today in Kashi. Of the 84 ghats that dot the Ganga, there are those named after Raja Ranjit Singh etc. Many Hindu kings were patrons of our temples who contributed richly to building of our temples. Our dharamshalas were dorms that were free guesthouses for pilgrims visiting from all across India.
Some snippets from Ahalya’s life:
- Widowed at 29, she was stopped from committing ‘sati’ – the Hindu custom of throwing oneself into the funeral pyre of the husband when widowed, by her father-in-law. Hindus live like the albatrosses. Whereas even in 50s, the muslim and christian men and women are looking for dating. Ahalya never remarried, being so young and rich and born a princess. In Islam, such a princess must have remarried a dozen times to different men begetting sons and daughters from different men.
- Home schooled. Traveled across the length and breadth of India when there were no roads or efficient modes of transport.
- Able administrator and warrior princess who led the battalion from forefront that won respect from the British.
Imagine how sick Kareena and Saif must be to name their son Timur.
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