Kashi/ Banaras/ Varanasi

Varanasi, also known as Banaras or Kashi is a city on the banks of the river Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, 320 km south-east of Lucknow, and 121 km east of Allahabad.

In the Rigveda, an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns, the city is referred to as Kashi from the Sanskrit verbal root kas – “to shine”.
Buddha is believed to have founded Buddhism here around 528 BC when he gave his first sermon, “The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma”, at nearby Sarnath.

Varanasi is regarded as the holiest of seven holy cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism which can provide Moksha or liberation. These cities are: Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Kashi, Kanchi, Avanti, and Dwarka.


Evening aarti at the ghats

The city is known for its many temple and ghats, embankments made in steps of stone slabs along the river bank where pilgrims perform ritual ablutions. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where the dead are cremated.
Among the estimated 23,000 temples in Varanasi, the most popular are Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.

Excavations at Aktha and Ramnagar in 2014, two sites in the vicinity of the city, unearthed artefacts dating back to 1800 BC, supporting the view that the area was inhabited by this time.


Sunrise boat ride along the ghats on the Ganga