Located on the left bank of the River Ganga, Varanasi is one of India’s most sacred pilgrimage sites. Along its water frontage and miles of ghats, it houses the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, built in 1780. The city receives more than a million pilgrims and tourists each year, visiting the Mandir and its precinct. Engulfed by dense urban development, the precinct is interwoven amid narrow, winding streets, and an array of shrines and temples.

Overtime, this part of the city has been continuously built over by dense, ad-hoc, low-rise development, encroaching public spaces and severely constraining the access to the Mandir. Lack of infrastructure and amenities hamper movement and daily life of locals and tourists in equal measure. In 2018, Shri Kashi Vishwanath Special Area Development Board was constituted to implement its redevelopment. The Mandir, and its precinct extending up to the three ghats, Lalita, Jalasen and Manikarnika, are together envisioned to be a part of the comprehensive redevelopment project called the Vishwanath Dham, undertaken by HCP.

The redeveloped precinct provides a befitting setting to the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, with a picturesque path connecting the Mandir with the Ghats. Retaining its significance in the complex, the temple is enclosed by an ornate colonnade, creating the spacious and sacred Mandir Parisar. The Mandir Chowk, a large open space in front of the Mandir Parisar, will descend on to the main path leading to the Ghats. This path will be lined by important civic and cultural institutions such as the City Museum, the Varanasi Gallery and the Multipurpose Hall.

The Vishwanath Dham redevelopment is designed to demonstrate what meaningful and transformative urban redevelopment can do to improve India’s cities. The proposed design acts as a vital urban insert in a dense city, heeding the safety and security locals and tourists alike.