The name of the temple and area, “Durgakund” is because there is a kund (pond) beside it. It was earlier connected to the river Ganga.
Locals believe that the idol of the deity is natural and not man-made. The temple is painted in red colour representing female energy and power (Shakti). It was built by a sage, Narayana Dikshit in 1772.
Durgakund Temple
Durga Temple / Durga Kund Temple is a temple located in the Durgakund area of Varanasi. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Durga (a form of Goddess Shakti). It was established by Rani Bhabani of Bengal in the 18th century.
Varanasi
Varanasi is famous for its temples and streets, Ghats and Kashi Vishwanath. Durgakund temple is one of these popular temples in Varanasi.
Varanasi is now offering many facilities for tourists and pilgrims especially the elderly people. So even if you are planning to visit with your elders, here are the facilities you should be expecting in Varanasi.
Location:
Durgakund is not more than 4kms from the Varanasi Cantt and only 1 km from Lanka, BHU. Durgakund is also famous for its street foods primarily pani puri, Sev puri, Bhel puri, different Rolls and much more.
Temple Timings:-
Monday to Sunday: 05:00 a.m to 10:00 p.m
Tuesday: 04:00 a.m to 10:00 p.m
Durgakund
The Durgakund temple is not the only one in this area. However, it is the prime temple indeed due to which this whole area is known as Durgakund.
Otherwise there are many other major temples nearby like Tulsi Manas Temple, Tridev Temple, Prachin Bal Hanuman Mandir.
Read more about Durgakund Temple
The temple is also called “Monkey Temple” as the area around the temple is full of monkeys. Apart from Goddess Durga there are other deities also present inside the vicinity of the temple.
Such as Goddess Kali (an incarnation of Goddess Shakti), Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth), Goddess Saraswati (the Goddess of knowledge) and Lord Kaal Bhairava (an incarnation of Lord Shiva).
The Durga Temple is a very revered and sacred temple of Varanasi. There is a popular belief among the locals that the Goddess protected the Kashi Naresh (the King of Varanasi) when he was attacked by a group of kings. His son-in-law, Sudarshan was an Adivasi (tribal) prince and this infuriated the other kings and princes present during the Swayamvar (marriage) of the daughter of the king.
Sudarshan was a staunch devotee of Goddess Durga and he prayed to the Goddess for help and thus she helped her devotee and fought the war against the group of kings. Since then the faith of the devotees increased and it is believed that Goddess Durga is the protector of Varanasi.
The temple has been renovated recently by the government and lots of modifications have been made. The temple is decorated with night lights which adds to the night beauty of the temple.
The kund has also been renovated with new staircases and lights and also seats and benches have been added for the people to sit and relax.