Bharat Mata : Mother India

The Bharat Mata Temple in Benaras is one of the most unique temples in the world. Instead of a traditional statue of an Indian deity, it contains an enormous three-dimensional relief map of Greater India from Afghanistan in the west to Burma in the east, from the Tibetan plateau in the north to Sri Lanka in the south. The topographically correct map, made of colored marble tiles, gives a vivid sense of the vast expanse of Hindu culture and the dramatic contrast in altitude between the high Himalayas and the plains of the Deccan.

A colorful poster in the temple shows Bharat Mata, " Mother India", in the term of a mature goddesses presiding over a satellite image of the Indian subcontinent. The temple is new by Indian standards. It was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi.

Hindus, like native people's everywhere, have a profound connection with the land they live on. The planet itself is Bhu Devi, Mother Earth. Bharat Mata is more than the land itself, however. She is the very consciousness of the culture, the magic, sanctity, despair, and self-renewal of the ageless Hindu civilization. At this remarkable temple the people of India honor their own enduring spirit.