Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple (The Leaning Temple)

Highlights

Overview

The Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple, famously known as the "Leaning Temple of Varanasi," is an 18th-century architectural curiosity located at the edge of the Ganges. It is renowned for its significant 9-degree lean to the northwest—an incline even greater than that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Locally called "Matri-rin Mahadev" (Mother's Debt Temple), legend says it was built by a servant of Raja Man Singh to repay his debt to his mother; however, the temple tilted to show that a mother's debt can never be fully repaid. For much of the year, including the monsoon season, the temple's lower sanctum remains submerged in river water, leaving only the upper spire visible to visitors.