learning about varanasi....

varanasi was once known as benares, banaras and kashi, it is a very historical city in northern india. the city is sacred to hindus and is also one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

varanasi is the place where many pilgrims do their devotions in the river ganges at sunrise set against the back drop of the centuries old temples.  this is probably one of the most impressive sights in the world.

varanasi was likely named for the two rivers that it sits by, the varuna and the assi.  the varuna enter the ganga from the north and the assi enters the ganga in the south.  thus making the name varuna-assi because of the two rivers.

varanasi has nearly 100 ghats.  many of the ghats were built when the city was under maratha control,  marathaas, shindes, holkars, bhonsles and peshwes stand out as patrons of present-day varanasi.

dashashwamedh ghat is located close to 'vishwanath temple', and is probably the most spectacular ghat.  two hindu mythologies are associated with it:  according to one, lord brahma created it to welcome lord shiva.  according to another, lord brahma sacrificed two horses in a yajna here.  a group of priests daily perform in the evening at this ghat 'agni pooja' (worship to fire) where a dedication is made to lord shiva, river ganga, the sun, agni (fire) and the whole universe.

two legends are associated with the manikarnika ghat:  according to one, it is believed to be the place where lord vishnu dug a pit with his chakra and filed it with his perspiration while performing various penances.  while lord shiva was watching vishnu at that time, the latter's earring (manikarnika) fell into the pit.  according to the second legend, in order to keep lord shiva from moving around with his devotees, his consort parvati hid her earrings, and asked him to find them, saying that they had been lost on the banks of the ganga.  goddess parvati's idea behind the lie was that lord shiva would then stay around, searching forever for the lost earrings.  in this legend, when a body  gets cremated at the manikarnik ghat, lord shiva asks the soul whether it has seen the earrings.

hindus believe that bathing in the ganga remits sins and that dying in kashi ensures release of a person's soul from the cycles of its transmigrations.  hindus regard kashi as one of the shakti peethas and that vishalakshi stands on the spot where goddess satis earrings fell.  hindus of the shakti sect make a pilgrimage to the city because they regard river ganga itselfas goddess shakti.  adi shankara wrote his commentaries on hinduism here, leading to the great hindu rivalry.  vaishnavism and shaivism have always co-existed in varanasi in harmony.

varanasi is one of the holiest places in buddhism to, being one of the four pilgrimage sites said to have been designated by gautama buddha himself, (the others being kushinagar, bodh gaya, and lumbini).  in a residential are of varanasi lies sarnath, the site of the deer park where gautama buddha is said to have given his first sermon on the basic principles of buddhism.  the dhamek stupa is one of the few pre-ashokan stupas still standing, though only its foundation still remains.   also remaining is the chaukhandi stupa commemorating the spot where buddha met his first disciples (pre 5th century b.c.).  an octagonal tower was later built there.