BANARAS - VISWANATH MANDIR  

The scene of action is laid on the banks of holy Ganges, and precisely in the sanctum of Lord Visweswar, the holiest of holy Daivams and a by-word for compassion, who relieves His children from the unending misery of births and deaths. He is the protagonist of the play, though invisible. His role and action opened the eyes of one inveterate bigot Sikandar Lodi, who relied on his Royal scepter but did not wield, either for his existence, or for the welfare of the kingdom he ruled over. 

Among the other characters, Narayana Bhatt, an austure learned brahmin of exemplary spirituality and inimitable humanism deserved to be termed as the good Samaritan acts magnanimously to avert the danger of annihilation caused by this ruthless religious fanatic and the villain of the piece. The time of action was during the reign of Sikandar Lodi, who desired to convert this thirtha kshetra - Kasi into a mini-Mecca peopling with Muslim population only. In the reign of terror he inaugurated, all the places of worship consecrated by the god-men and abided by the highest divinities went without worship. Virtually their doors were shut and in some cases steeples were brought to ground level. Pious devotees and innocent civilians wept with tight lips, lest crying sounds would bring further insecurity and end in vulnerability. Insurrection and defiance were openly fried alive. Of the saddest things was the closure of the yugas-old Viswanatha Mandir and banning the performance of daily and occasional worship. Spineless people moaned. but not Lord Siva.

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