Varanasi
/ Kasi / Benaras is one of the oldest living
cities in the world, where the past and present,
eternity and continuity co-exist. Kashi was
first mentioned three thousand years ago to
describe the kingdom and the city outside which Buddha
preached his first sermon. The city was founded
ten decades before the birth of
Christ and historians have likened it to
Jerusalem and Mecca.
Mark Twain, the English author once wrote:
"Banaras is older than history, older than
tradition, older even than legend
and looks twice
as old as all of them put together."
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Varanasi / Kasi / Benaras
Climate
Varanasi / Kasi / Benares
enjoys an extreme climate with
extremely hot summers (average temperatures 30-43
deg. celsius) and cold, dry winters (average
temperatures 3-25 deg. celsius). The best
time to visit is from Oct-Mar.
Language
The main languages are
Hindi, Urdu and
English.
Connectivity
 Nearest
Airport(s): Babatpur Domestic - approximately 22
kms Nearest
Railway Station(s):
Varanasi
Nearest Bus
Stop: Varanasi
For the devout
Hindu, it is considered auspicious to die
here, Kashi washing away the sins and ensuring an instant
route to heaven -
'nirvana'. (the word Kashi
means the shining one referring to the pillar
of light exemplyfying wisdom which destroyed
the darkness of
ignorance). River
Ganges (also known as the River of
Life) flows through the city and Hindus consider it
to bring purity to the
living and salvation to the
dead.
Life and activities centre
around this holy river.
Along the water's edge, there are a
hundred burning ghats. The great
river banks at Varanasi, built high with eighteenth and
nineteenth-century pavilions and
palaces, temples and
terraces, are lined with an endless
chain of stone steps -
the ghats - progressing along the
whole of the waterfront, where mortal remains
are cremated. Some ghats have crumbled over the
years; others continue to thrive, with early-morning bathers,
brahmin priests offering puja
, and people practicing meditation and
yoga; skeptical outsiders tend to focus on the extreme lack of
hygiene, as emissions from open drains and leftovers from
religious rites float by.
Places of interest
include the River Front Ghats
(Asi Ghat to Kedara Ghat, Harishchandra Ghat,
Chauki Ghat to Chaumsathi Ghat, Dashashwamedha Ghat,
Manikarnika Ghat, Scindia Ghat, Panchganga Ghat to
Adi Keshva Ghat), Vishwanatha
Khanda or Old City, The Kashi
Vishwanath Temple, Jantar Mantar observatory,
the Benaras Hindu University (built in the early
1900s, it stands testimony to the city always associated with
philosophy and wisdom) and Bharat Kala Bhavan
Museum (a little known
farman, or royal decree here claims
that Aurangzeb, the last Mughal ruler,
ordered his administrators to abstain from destroying any
more temples and in succeeding years, as
Varanasi continued to grow, the temples that were destroyed,
were rebuilt or relocated
).
The inflow of
pilgrims developed Varanasi as a
trade and crafts centre.
Today the city is renowned for its silk
weavers (one can see entire families involved in this
cottage industry), who prepare the finest
types of woven silk fabrics. A
Benaras silk sari or
shawl is traditionally a single colored
textile with motifs and patterns
woven in gold or silver
threads. Fine silks,
brocaded fabrics, exquisite
saris, brassware, jewellery,
woodcraft, carpets, wall hangings, lamp shades and
masks of Hindu and
Buddhist deities
are some of Varanasi's shopping attractions.
Varanasi has its own
'Gharanas' (style of music) in
classical Indian music. Varanasi has produced
some of the most well-known musicians, philosophers,
poets, writers in Indian history. To name a few,
Kabir, Munshi Premchand, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Bismillah
Khan were/are from Varanasi. It even has its own
dialect, which is quite
different from other dialects of the region.
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