Leaning Temple of Benares
The Ratneshwar Mahadev temple, situated between Manikarnika and Scindia ghats, is a marvel of Varanasi, also known as Kashi or Benares, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The temple remains partially submerged in the river for much of the year, earning it nicknames such as the sunken temple, floating temple, and submerged temple.
According to Wikipedia, the 12 meters tall temple leans over 9 degrees, which is 5 degrees more than the famous monument in Italy, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Most probably, the temple had fallen into the river as a result of the sheer weight of the Scindia Ghat's construction in the mid-nineteenth century.
This temple is also often referred to as Matri Rin, meaning Mother's Debt. The story goes that a wealthy man once built a temple in honor of his mother. When the temple was completed, he brought his mother to see it. He proudly declared, "This repays everything I owe you!" However, as soon as he said these words, a foundation stone sank deeper into the soil and the temple began to lean.
According to Robert Montgomery Martin, the foundation of the temple has worn away and several of the towers have fallen into the water. The foundation has been gradually undermined, causing the structure to sink into the river. The pointed mitre-like domes that sit atop the towers indicate the temple's antiquity.
Bholanauth Chunder records that the leaning temple threatens to give way every moment, but it has remained in that posture for several years. The foundation ground has partly slipped down, and the river annually washes away its base, still it is spared as a standing miracle.
In 'Ganga: A journey Down the Ganges River', it is mentioned that the Shiva temple known as Ratneshwar actually fell down in 1810 due to an earthquake that disrupted its supports.
The real mystery is that the first drawing shows only one leaning tower, while the second one shows two.
Hobart Caunter writes in his 1834 book "The Oriental Annual, Or, Scenes in India" that one of the most extraordinary sights in Benares is a pagoda standing in the river with no connection to the shore. The whole foundation is submerged, and two of the towers have declined so much out of the perpendicular as to form an acute angle with the liquid plain beneath them. This pagoda is a pure specimen of ancient Hindoo architecture; it is of very great antiquity, and from its position now entirely deserted, for its floors are occupied by the waters of the Ganges.
No one appears to know when it was built, to whom it was dedicated, or why its foundations were laid upon the waters of the sacred river, unless it was on account of their sanctity. It is surprising how it has resisted the force of the current for so great a number of years, and that the dislocated towers should still stand, pointing, as it were, to their own approaching destruction, amid the constant percussion of the stream, which is uncommonly violent during the monsoons, and maintaining their apparently insecure position in spite of those periodical visitations, to the violence of which every part of the peninsula is more or less exposed.
It is believed that this temple was originally built on the riverbank, which provided a stable and secure foundation. However, due to the continuous pressure of the stream, the bank had given way all round the building, which, on account of the depth and solidity of the foundation, stood firm while the waters surrounded it, though the towers had been partially dislodged by the shock. Or it may be that even the foundation sank in some degree with the bank, thus projecting the two towers out of the direct perpendicular, and giving them the very extraordinary position which they now retain.
"Not more than fifty paces from the pond on the shore of the Ganges stands an uncommonly beautiful temple consisting of three towers, but the ground has given away under them; one is leaning to the right, the other to the left, and the third has almost sunk in the Ganges." This description is from Ida Pfeiffer's Voyage Round the World (1851).
According to Wikipedia, the 12 meters tall temple leans over 9 degrees, which is 5 degrees more than the famous monument in Italy, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Most probably, the temple had fallen into the river as a result of the sheer weight of the Scindia Ghat's construction in the mid-nineteenth century.
This temple is also often referred to as Matri Rin, meaning Mother's Debt. The story goes that a wealthy man once built a temple in honor of his mother. When the temple was completed, he brought his mother to see it. He proudly declared, "This repays everything I owe you!" However, as soon as he said these words, a foundation stone sank deeper into the soil and the temple began to lean.
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| "City of Benares," Engraved by Thomas Sutherland, from Lieutenant-Colonel Forrest's 'A Picturesque Tour along the River Ganges and Jumna in India' (1824) |
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| "Hindoo Temple - Benares," from Vol. 3 of 'The Indian empire' by Robert Montgomery Martin (1857) |
According to Robert Montgomery Martin, the foundation of the temple has worn away and several of the towers have fallen into the water. The foundation has been gradually undermined, causing the structure to sink into the river. The pointed mitre-like domes that sit atop the towers indicate the temple's antiquity.
Bholanauth Chunder records that the leaning temple threatens to give way every moment, but it has remained in that posture for several years. The foundation ground has partly slipped down, and the river annually washes away its base, still it is spared as a standing miracle.
In 'Ganga: A journey Down the Ganges River', it is mentioned that the Shiva temple known as Ratneshwar actually fell down in 1810 due to an earthquake that disrupted its supports.
The real mystery is that the first drawing shows only one leaning tower, while the second one shows two.
Hobart Caunter writes in his 1834 book "The Oriental Annual, Or, Scenes in India" that one of the most extraordinary sights in Benares is a pagoda standing in the river with no connection to the shore. The whole foundation is submerged, and two of the towers have declined so much out of the perpendicular as to form an acute angle with the liquid plain beneath them. This pagoda is a pure specimen of ancient Hindoo architecture; it is of very great antiquity, and from its position now entirely deserted, for its floors are occupied by the waters of the Ganges.
No one appears to know when it was built, to whom it was dedicated, or why its foundations were laid upon the waters of the sacred river, unless it was on account of their sanctity. It is surprising how it has resisted the force of the current for so great a number of years, and that the dislocated towers should still stand, pointing, as it were, to their own approaching destruction, amid the constant percussion of the stream, which is uncommonly violent during the monsoons, and maintaining their apparently insecure position in spite of those periodical visitations, to the violence of which every part of the peninsula is more or less exposed.
It is believed that this temple was originally built on the riverbank, which provided a stable and secure foundation. However, due to the continuous pressure of the stream, the bank had given way all round the building, which, on account of the depth and solidity of the foundation, stood firm while the waters surrounded it, though the towers had been partially dislodged by the shock. Or it may be that even the foundation sank in some degree with the bank, thus projecting the two towers out of the direct perpendicular, and giving them the very extraordinary position which they now retain.
"Not more than fifty paces from the pond on the shore of the Ganges stands an uncommonly beautiful temple consisting of three towers, but the ground has given away under them; one is leaning to the right, the other to the left, and the third has almost sunk in the Ganges." This description is from Ida Pfeiffer's Voyage Round the World (1851).
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