Vishalakshi Temple
— — a southern shrine on a northern river.
Not only on a wall.
“A small dark stone temple a few steps above the river in old Varanasi, dedicated to Vishalakshi, the wide-eyed goddess. It carries a southern, Dravidian feeling among the spires of the north — counted among the Shakti Peethas, the places where the body of Sati is said to have fallen. Mornings here open with bells from the lane below. — from the studio
Vishalakshi Temple, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Vishalakshi Temple stands in the old centre of Varanasi, a few steps above Meer Ghat on the west bank of the Ganges. The shrine is dedicated to Vishalakshi, the wide-eyed form of the goddess, consort of Vishvanath. It is counted among the fifty-one Shakti Peethas of the subcontinent, the sites where, in the Devi Bhagavata tradition, parts of Sati's body are said to have fallen. The current structure dates to a 1908 rebuild funded by donors from south India, and the architecture and ritual carry a distinctly Dravidian character within a north-Indian city.
The temple's form is unusual in Varanasi: a square sanctum with a stepped gopuram-style superstructure rather than the curved shikhara that dominates the city's skyline. The Dravidian profile records the patronage of south-Indian Tamil and Telugu communities settled along the Ganges since the seventeenth century. The deity is a black stone figure with the wide eyes that give the temple its name. The 1908 renovation rebuilt the sanctum, the surrounding mandapa, and the small stepped tower above the entrance, and replaced earlier masonry that had weakened over generations beside the river.
The temple sits on a narrow lane between Meer Ghat and Dashashwamedh Ghat, about a kilometre south of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor. Most visitors reach it on foot through the old gallis from the ghats. Aarti is offered each morning and evening. The temple draws large numbers during the Navaratri festivals in spring and autumn and on Tuesdays and Fridays. Photography inside the sanctum is restricted; modest dress and removal of shoes at the entrance are expected, as at any active Hindu shrine.