Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple is one of the sacred temples of the Hindu god Hanuman in the city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is situated by the Assi river on near to the Durga and the New Vishwanath temple within the Banaras Hindu University campus.
Sankat Mochan in Hindi means reliever from troubles. The current temple structure was built in early 1900s by the educationist and freedom fighter, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the founder of Banaras Hindu University. Hanuman Jayanti, the birthday of Hanuman, is celebrated in fanfare, during which a special shobha yatra, a procession starting from Durgakund adjacent to the historic Durga Temple to Sankat Mochan, is carried out.
Legends:
It is believed that the temple has been built on the very spot where Tulsidas had a vision of Hanuman. Sankat Mochan Temple was founded by Tulsidas who was the author of the Ramacharitamanasa, which is the Awadhi version of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana was originally written by Valmiki.
Tradition promises that regular visitors to the temple will gain the special favor of Lord Hanuman. Every Tuesday and Saturday thousands of people queue up in front of the temple to offer prayers to Lord Hanuman.
According to Vedic Astrology, Hanuman saves human beings from the anger of the planet Shani (Saturn), and especially people who have an ill-placed Saturn in their horoscopes visit this temple for astrological remedies. This is supposed to be the most effective way for appeasing Shani.
While it is suggested that Hanuman did not hesitate to engulfe in his mouth the sun, the lord of all planets, which humbled all the gods and angels, making them worship him for the Sun’s release. Some astrologers believe that worshiping Hanuman can neutralize the ill-effect of Mangal (Mars) and practically any planet that has an ill effect on human life.
About the Deity:
Hanuman Ji was also one of the four people who heard Shrimad Bhagvad Gita from Shri Krishna, rest three being Arjuna, Sanjaya and Barbarika. Not only the time of Ramayana, the time of Mahabharata also was blessed by the presence of Hanuman Ji.
Bhima was considered to be the brother of Lord Hanuman Ji as well, as they both were having same father, Vayu. To vanquish Bhima’s arrogance Hanuman Ji appeared as a weak and old monkey in front of him during Pandava’s exile. Roaming in forest Bhima reached a place where Hauman Ji was lying with his tail blocking the way. Unaware of his identity Bhima asked the monkey to remove his tail but Hanuman Ji refused.
Enraged Bhima tried himself to move out the tail but despite of his immense strength he was unable even to shift it a bit. Soon he realized that it was no ordinary monkey but Lord Hanuman himself. He immediately apologized and requested him to demonstrate the figure he assumed when he was crossing the sea to reach Lanka. Hanuman Ji agreed and also promised to protect the Pandavas during Mahabharata.