Siva related - Why Garud do not fly and Lizard do not make noise in Kasi (Varanasi)

The Garud - golden eagle (the vehicle of Lord Vishnu) do not fly over Kasi (Varanasi - Banaras) around a radius of about 50 km. Similarly the house lizards do not make their noises in Kasi. There is a reference abut the reason for this peculiarity in the scriptures. 

The story is like this: After killing Ravan, Sri Ram wanted to offer special pooja to Lord Siva to get rid of the 'Brahma Hatya sin' (the sin of killing Brahmin). He suggested to Hanuman to go to Kasi and bring a 'swayamboo Ling' (a Siva Ling of self originated) from there. When he went there the place was full of Siv Lings. He could not identify a Swayamboo Ling. Garud, the vehicle of Lord Vishnu shown a swayamboo one by flying in a  circle over. At that time the lizard made its sound to confirm the selection of Garud. Hanuman removed the Ling and started flying out of Kasi towards Rameswaram. 

Kasi is believed to be guarded by Lord Bhairav. When Hanuman reached the border of Kasi, Bhairav stopped Hanuman and asked him as to how dare he (Hanuman) is to take Siv Ling without his (Bhairav's) permission. Hanuman replied that he need no permission from any body as it is as per by the request of his lord Sri Ram. A fierce battle went on between Bhairav and Hanuman with neither of them getting defeated or winning. All the gods numbering around 33 crores were watching this with sorrow. After some time some of them took initiative to stop the fight. They requested Bhairav to allow Hanuman to take the Ling so that Lord Sri Ram can offer the worship. Bhairav agreed to this request. Since Garud and Lizard helped Hanuman to identify the Swayamboo Ling, Bhairav  made a condition that Garud should not fly within 45 miles of Kasi and Lizards should be silent in Kasi. 

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