Namaste Harsh
Take it how you will: END OF TIMES -Christianity
Kali Yuga-Hinduism
It is funny you mention the end times, viz could be in a way sort of like saying "the end of the world". I understand, you speak of Kali Yug which has a lot of truth, more darkness is coming.
But "the end of the world" is not foreign to Hinduism... I wrote something a couple of years ago on an old city in Afghanistan related in prophecy to "the end of the world", it's history, it's relation to Zoroastrianism and Hinduism and Bhairo or Bhairava. But in it, I also mentioned a Pillar in Kashi called Lat Bhario - and it's relation to "the end of the world".
It is said, when the head of this copper encased column, which is sinking, goes below the surface of the ground, that will mark the end of (your modern) world.
It might interest you, 2012, here are some outtakes below:
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In Kashi there was a large column which was held sacred. It was called Lat Bhairo. Actually it still is there. It is encased in copper. It is understood that Lord Bhairava cut off the 5th head of Brahma. Bhairava is an aspect of Shiva. This is, of course, Brahmanicide, and Bhairo is associated with it. Some say the neck that held this Head of Brahma was worshipped in Kashi as a Column, and was a form of worship of Bhairo. Some say this Lat Bhairo is that murthi....
... This column was called the World. Because of the association with Brahmancide, some associate this Column as the End of Caste system. But also something called the End of the World.
But this is not the same as the dissolution of the universe. More the End of (our) World. Or the End of Hinduism as we know it...
... Today it stands only a few feet high, covered with copper sheeting. Under the copper is the fragment of stone pillar that was once a large stone column that stood over 40 feet high. Covering it, many ancient carvings and inscriptions.
It once stood in the courtyard of a Temple. This temple was destroyed by Aurungzeb, the same before mentioned who as a boy lived in Balkh. On the site of the Temple was built a mosque. This is what they do, often throughout the history of Islam. Today the grounds of the column are about six to eight feet higher than back then.
In 1809 AD, during the attempt by Islamic fanatics to attack Lat Bhairo, located off the Grand Trunk Road and near Raj Ghat in Kashi, this column was broken by the Muslims. But they didn't get it all. It was recovered by Hindus. Some say it was at that time that it was encased in copper. But others point out, that Xuan Zang a Seventh Century Chinese traveler to Varanasi described a Linga 30 metres high and encased in copper. Which is strange. Perhaps it was encased in copper more than once.
Previous to the attack on Lat Bhairo, the Islamists attempted to sack the holy Temple of Vishwanatha. The riots at that time over Lat Bhairo were quite horrific, with much blood in the little alleys of the narrow avenues of Varanasi. Reoccurring outbreaks continued until 1811 AD.
Some say this column was originally an Ashokan column, who ruled the Maurya Dynasty from 269 BC to 232 BC. His Kingdom stretched from Afghanistan to Bengal to almost the South of India. He converted to Buddhism after the Kalinga War.
We do not know the true story of Lat Bhairo. It is still there today. Some claim those Hindus who fled Ghazni to Kashi in the early 1000s AD had begun the worship of Lat Bhairo. We simply don't know.
But we know one thing. Before the 1809 AD riots, there was already a very long and outstanding tradition. The tradition was, and I guess still is,
declares that the Lat Bhairo is sinking. On the day that the head of the Lat Bhairo is level to the ground, that will be the End of the World. That is the End of Caste. That is the End of Hinduism. Or the End of Something.
Whatever the End is, this column doesn't have much futher to go before it reaches level with the ground.
