Home / Temples / Vimaleshwar (Neelkant Mahadeo) Mandir
Shiva TempleAt Naya Mahadeo, Prahlad Ghat — the same ghat associated with the Narasimha legend through Vidar Narsimha, covered elsewhere on this site — Vimaleshwar is worshipped locally under the popular name Neelkant Mahadeo, 'the blue-throated great god.'
'Vimala' means spotless or pure, while the local name 'Neelkant' recalls the Samudra Manthan legend in which Shiva swallows the poison Halahala to save creation, his throat turning blue from holding it there rather than letting it spread — one of the most widely told Shiva stories across India.
Sharing its ghat with Vidar Narsimha ties this stretch of riverfront to two quite different mythological threads at once — Vishnu's fierce protection of the devotee Prahlad, and Shiva's self-sacrificing protection of the entire cosmos — within a short walk of each other.
'Naya Mahadeo' ('new Mahadev') as a locality name, despite referring to an old and established shrine, likely reflects a historical rebuilding or re-consecration at some point in the temple's history, a pattern not unusual among Kashi's many Mahadev-named sites.
Naya Mahadeo, Prahlad Ghat
Neelkant Mahadeo ('the blue-throated great god')
Vidar Narsimha, on the same ghat
It recalls the Samudra Manthan legend, in which Shiva swallows the poison Halahala to protect creation, holding it in his throat, which turns blue — 'Neelkant' means 'blue-throated.'
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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