who built kashi vishwanath temple varanasi in 16 century
Raja Todar Mal
title: Kashi Vishwanath Temple text: Man Singh built the temple during Mughal emperor Akbar's rule, but orthodox Hindus boycotted it as he had let the Mughals marry within his family. Raja Todar Mal further re-built the temple with Akbar's funding at its original site in 1585. In 1669 CE, Emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the temple and built the Gyanvapi Mosque in its place. The remains of the erstwhile temple can be seen in the foundation, the columns and at the rear part of the mosque. In 1742, the Maratha ruler Malhar Rao Holkar made a plan to demolish the mosque and reconstruct Vishweshwar temple at the title: Kashi Vishwanath Temple text: of the priest who jumped into Gyanvapi well with the Shivling when it was invaded by conquerors. The temple has been referred to in Hindu scriptures for a very long time as a central part of worship in the Shaiva philosophy. It has been destroyed and re-constructed a number of times in history. The last structure was demolished by Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal emperor who constructed the Gyanvapi Mosque on its site. The current structure was built on an adjacent site by the Maratha ruler, Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore in 1780. Since 1983, the temple has been managed by title: Kashi Vishwanath Temple text: the government of Uttar Pradesh. During the religious occasion of Shivratri, Kashi Naresh (King of Kashi) is the chief officiating priest. The temple has been mentioned in the Puranas including the Kashi Khanda (section) of Skanda Purana. The original Vishwanath temple was destroyed by the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak in 1194 CE, when he defeated the Raja of Kannauj as a commander of Mohammad Ghori. The temple was rebuilt by a Gujarati merchant during the reign of Delhi's Sultan Iltutmish (1211-1266 CE). It was demolished again during the rule of either Hussain Shah Sharqi (1447-1458) or Sikandar Lodhi (1489-1517). Raja title: Kashi Vishwanath Temple text: precinct. During 1833-1840 CE, the boundary of Gyanvapi Well, the ghats and other nearby temples were constructed.A 7-feet high stone statue of Nandi bull, gifted by the Raja of Nepal lies to the east of the colonnade. Many noble families from various ancestral kingdoms of Indian subcontinent and their prior establishments make generous contributions for the operations of the temple. In 1841, the Bhosales of Nagpur donated silver to the temple. In 1835, Maharaja Ranjit Singh donated 1 tonne of gold for plating the temple's dome. The temple was managed by a hereditary group of pandas or mahants. After the title: Varahanatha Temple text: to be built during the 15–16th century under the Suryavamshi Gajapati rule. The chronicle "Madala Panji" attributes the building of the temple to Prataparudra Deva (reign: 1497–1540). Another legend attributes to the king's head priest, Kasi Mishra. The Hindu saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534), who was instrumental in establishing the Chaitnaya Math and propagated Vaishnavism (worship of Vishnu and related deities) visited this temple, on his way from Puri in 1510. The temple was refurbished by Raghoji I Bhonsle (reign: 1739–1755), the Maratha ruler of Nagpur kingdom. It is a protected monument maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India. The icon