City of Varanasi is located next to the west bank of the Ganges in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Placed among the rivers Varuna and Ashi as they join the Ganges, Varanasi is also referred to as the City of Light. Called Benaras by the British, Varanasi is a significant pilgrimage centre for the Hindus. Varanasi is comfortable to reach as it is suitably linked with other chief travel locations of India by air, rail, and road.
The city of Varanasi has been mentioned in the great epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana. Varanasi was a prosperous business center when Buddha came to Sarnath, about 10 kilometers away, to lecture his first sermon in 500 BC. The famous American novelist Mark Twain one time wrote, “Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put jointly.”
From the ancient period, Varanasi is a symbol of Hindu resurgence and sealed the rituals and traditions of Hindu philosophy. Down the ages, pilgrims from far-off lands travel to Varanasi in exploration of divine blessings and “Nirvana”. Considered as one of the world’s oldest cities, there are about 1,600 temples, palaces and shrines in Varanasi. Some of these, still, date back further than the 17th century, since Muslim invasions smashed a lot of Hindu religious sites. The banks of the Ganges in the city are surrounded by ghats, or flights of steps, that devotees move down in order to bathe in the sacred river. It is believed that to die in Varanasi releases them from the cycle of rebirths and enables them to enter heaven also known as “MOKSH”. More than one million religious pilgrims visit the city annually.
Separately from its religious connotation, it is also the heart of numerous conventional industries and is world famed for its silks – in particular, its silk brocades. The town does a roaring trade with pilgrims and tourists alike. Being the cultural centre of India, it is home to many musicians and is the home town of Pundit Ravi Shankar, the world renowned sitar maestro.