रत्नेश्वर महादेव मंदिर - काशी करवट

Step carefully, and you’ll find yourself beside the Ganga, before a leaning Shiva temple— tilted by nearly nine degrees, more than Italy’s famed tower at Pisa. Locally called Kashi  karvat or leaning of Kashi’, this temple carries a story steeped in devotion—and perhaps, a curse.  

Legend says a devoted servant built the temple for his mother Ratna Bai. Proud of repaying  her debt, he named it after her—only for Ratna Bai to curse it, saying maternal debt is  eternal. Soon, the temple began to tilt. While earlier 19th-century drawings show the temple upright, by the 20th century the lean became visible.  

Built in classic Nagara style by Aman Dev near Scindia Ghat, its sanctum often remains submerged, rising and dipping with the river’s moods. Priests would dive into the water to  perform rituals when the entrance was underwater. Structural experts believe the tilt arises from a weak, silted foundation, combined with years of Ganga erosion and river currents. A lightning strike in 2016 even damaged parts of the shikhara.  

Despite its precarious angle, the temple’s carvings and elegant form endure. It's a photographic marvel, drawing pilgrims and visitors who see in its slant a symbol—perhaps  of resilience, perhaps of humility. Here at Manikarnika Ghat, with the river lapping its base, Ratneshwar Mahadev reminds us that faith may lean, but true devotion remains upright in the heart.