Home / Temples / Vasukeeshwar Mandir
Shiva TempleAt Scindia Ghat, near Brihaspateshwar, Vasukeeshwar connects Shiva to Vasuki, the serpent king traditionally shown coiled around Shiva's neck, and famously used as the churning rope in the Samudra Manthan (churning of the cosmic ocean).
Vasuki's role in the Samudra Manthan — wound around Mount Mandara and pulled back and forth by gods and demons to churn the ocean of milk — makes him one of Hindu mythology's most visually iconic serpent figures, and his close association with Shiva (who wears him as an ornament) is reflected directly in this linga's name.
Scindia Ghat, already noted elsewhere on this site for its partly submerged, tilted Shiva temple, is one of Varanasi's more architecturally distinctive and frequently photographed stretches of riverfront, giving Vasukeeshwar a reliably visited setting even as a secondary stop.
Its proximity to Brihaspateshwar — a linga named for Brihaspati, the guru of the gods and the planet Jupiter in Vedic astrology — adds yet another planetary and mythological layer to this short stretch of the ghats.
Scindia Ghat, near Brihaspateshwar
Vasuki, the serpent king from the Samudra Manthan legend
Scindia Ghat's tilted, partly submerged Shiva temple
The serpent king of Hindu mythology, shown coiled around Shiva's neck and famously used as the churning rope by gods and demons in the Samudra Manthan, the churning of the cosmic ocean.
Banaras Hindu University campus
Shiva TempleNear Madanpura, close to the weavers' lanes
Shiva TempleDaranagar, on the route to Kaal Bhairav
Shiva TempleTrilochan Ghat
Tell us your dates on WhatsApp — we'll build a route around the temples and ghats that matter most to you.