Home / Temples / Vibhandeshwar Mandir
Shiva TempleAt Pandey Haveli in the Til Bhandeshwar locality — home to the well-known, slightly leaning Tilbhandeshwar Mahadev temple covered elsewhere on this site — Vibhandeshwar carries a name recalling Vibhandaka, a sage from the Mahabharata and Ramayana traditions, father of the sage Rishyashringa.
Vibhandaka appears in Puranic and epic literature primarily as the father of Rishyashringa, a sage whose own story — raised in isolation from women, later central to a rain-making ritual in some versions of the Ramayana tradition — is one of classical Sanskrit literature's more unusual and memorable narratives.
Sharing its immediate neighbourhood with the much larger and better-known Tilbhandeshwar Mahadev temple means Vibhandeshwar benefits from being in an area pilgrims already specifically seek out, even if the larger temple draws the bulk of attention.
Pandey Haveli, the specific residential block named in this shrine's address, reflects the common Varanasi pattern of old havelis (grand historic houses) lending their names to the surrounding lanes and the smaller shrines embedded within them.
Pandey Haveli, Til Bhandeshwar locality
The sage Vibhandaka, father of Rishyashringa
The well-known Tilbhandeshwar Mahadev temple
A sage from Mahabharata and Ramayana tradition, father of the sage Rishyashringa, whose own story involves an unusual isolated upbringing and a rain-making ritual — this linga's name recalls him.
Banaras Hindu University campus
Shiva TempleNear Madanpura, close to the weavers' lanes
Shiva TempleDaranagar, on the route to Kaal Bhairav
Shiva TempleTrilochan Ghat
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