Kashi (Varanasi)

Shiva's city on the Ganga, where Vishwanath is held to be king over every other deity and where death is believed to bring liberation with Shiva whispering the crossing mantra. Holds the Vishwanath jyotirlinga, the Manikarnika cremation ghat and the tirtha where Bhairava was freed of Brahma's skull. The temple was destroyed in 1194 and 1669 and rebuilt by Ahilyabai Holkar in 1780. The Skanda Purana's Kashi Khanda anchors its legends.