Why do pilgrims visit Annapurna after Kashi Vishwanath?
In tradition, Annapurna — Parvati as the giver of food — fed Shiva when he came to her as a mendicant, and she is held to ensure no one in Kashi goes hungry. Her temple is steps from Kashi Vishwanath, so pilgrims naturally take her darshan straight after Vishwanath's.
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The story
Visiting both
The Annapurna temple is in the lanes beside Kashi Vishwanath. After darshan, walk a few minutes; the same care with phones and bags applies. The temple is especially busy around Dhanteras and Annakut.
A homecoming
In 2021 an 18th-century Annapurna statue taken from Varanasi a century earlier was returned from Canada and installed in the Kashi Vishwanath complex.
Read the Annapurna Devi guide.
Sources and further reading
We link to primary and authoritative sources. External links open in a new tab.
- Banaras: City of Light — Diana L. Eck (Knopf, 1982; Columbia University Press reprint) (opens in a new tab)
Columbia University Press — Scholarly source, checked September 2026
- Kashi Vishwanath Temple (encyclopaedia entry with cited references) (opens in a new tab)
Wikipedia — Reference work, checked September 2026
Written and maintained by the KashiVishwanathTemple.net Editorial Team. Last updated . Found an error? Tell us — see our editorial policy.
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