Kashi/Varanasi, the City of Light, was the embodiment of Indian civilization for millennia. It was first attacked in 1013 CE, by the Ghaznavid forces, under Ahmed Nialtagin. The cumulative effect of the subsequent centuries of assault was the complete obliteration of Banaras of the Puranic mahatmyas. The Krittivasa, Omkara, Mahadeva, Madhyameshvara, Visveshvara, Bindu Madhava, Kaal Bhairava, and countless other temples were all razed. In many cases, mosques were built with “calculated insolence” in their place, and the sites were forever closed to Hindus. But despite the difficult centuries, the construction of temples in Kashi did not cease, no matter how modest the structure might be. The great Vishvanath temple was destroyed no less than three times during those centuries. It was said that in 1194 CE, when first attacked by Aibak, and on each subsequent occasion, Brahmins hid the jyotirlinga in the Jnanavapi, the well of knowledge. Queen Razia, during her short turbulent reign, appropriated the site of the temple and had a mosque constructed there. The temple was subsequently rebuilt at another location, where too it was ravaged. Despite the repeated onslaughts, Banaras retained its standing as a centre of Hindu religious and intellectual activity. Meenakshi Jain is a historian interested in cultural and religious developments in Indian history. In 2020, she was awarded Padma Sri by the Government of India for her contributions to the field of literature and education. Her recent publications include The Hindus of Hindustan (2023); Vasudeva Krishna and Mathura (2021); Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples (2019); The Battle for Rama: Case of the Temple at Ayodhya (2017); Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist Missionaries and the Changing Colonial Discourse (2016); and Rama and Ayodhya (2013).

• Kashi as the centre of Hindu religious and intellectual activity.
• Hindu resistance to the repeated onslaughts on the great Vishwanath temple.

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