Film on Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple
The inaugural film for Kashi Vishwanath Dham — the rebuilding of an ancient site, cut against original sequences inspired by the cosmic dance of Shiva.
The Film
A film made for the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham in Varanasi, produced under Moonlight. We documented the temple's transformation first-hand: an ancient site previously hemmed in by congested lanes and encroachments, rebuilt under a major heritage revival project that involved land acquisition, resident rehabilitation, and new infrastructure including a ghat, promenades and corridors.
The Subject
The Kashi Vishwanath temple had, for centuries, been approached through a
warren of narrow lanes so built up that the shikhara was barely visible from
more than a few metres away — houses, shops and encroachments had closed in on
it over generations, some structures standing within touching distance of the
sanctum's outer wall.
The Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor project, approved in 2019, cleared roughly
five acres around the temple, connecting it directly to the Ganga at Lalita
Ghat for the first time in living memory. Around three hundred properties were
acquired and demolished, and in the process the excavation surfaced more than
forty smaller shrines that had been built over or absorbed into the surrounding
structures and were assumed lost. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the
completed corridor on 13 December 2021.
The scale of displacement made it one of the more contested urban redevelopment
projects in the country, even as it fulfilled a devotional expectation — an open
line of sight and a direct walk from the river to the sanctum — that pilgrims
had not had in generations.
How We Made It
The site is both an infrastructure project and a living place of worship, and the film had to hold both. Archival footage covering construction, demolition, rituals and pilgrim experience was sourced and cut against original sequences inspired by the cosmic dance of Shiva.
Where It Landed
The film was screened at the temple's inauguration, with significant attendance from India's senior political leadership and spiritual figures. It continues to screen for pilgrims at the site.
