The Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, India, was rebuilt in 1780 by the Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar. The temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva, occupies one of the holiest sites in Hinduism and is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines. The current structure was built on the ruins of earlier temples that had been destroyed by Islamic invaders, most recently by Aurangzeb in 1699.

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple is central to the devotional poetry of the Bhakti movement, appearing in the hymns of Tulsidas and other saint-poets who celebrated Varanasi as a sacred city. In modern Indian poetry, the temple has been invoked as a symbol of Hindu resilience and cultural continuity, and its repeated destruction and rebuilding have inspired poets reflecting on the cycles of history, faith, and the enduring power of sacred places in the Indian subcontinent.