Varanasi

Varanasi (also known as Benares or Kashi) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and among the holiest cities in Hinduism. It is also significant in Buddhism and Jainism. [1][2]

References to Varanasi appear in ancient texts dating back to the 8th century BCE or earlier. The nearby deer park at Sarnath is where the Buddha is traditionally said to have delivered his first sermon. The city has been a center of learning, philosophy, and devotion for millennia. [1][2]

Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi and being cremated on the banks of the Ganges can lead to moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirth). The city's ghats (stepped riverbanks) host daily rituals, cremation ceremonies, and the famous Ganga Aarti. [1][2]

Varanasi receives millions of pilgrims and tourists annually. The ghats along the Ganges are the primary sites of religious activity. [1][2]

Pilgrims come to Varanasi to bathe in the Ganges at its ghats, to perform rites for the dead, and to die or be cremated here, in the belief that doing so aids liberation (moksha). The evening Ganga Aarti lamp ceremony on the riverfront draws crowds nightly. [1][2]

A long sweep of stone ghats lines the western bank of the Ganges, among them the cremation ground of Manikarnika and the ceremonial Dashashwamedh ghat. The dense old city behind the river is filled with temples and shrines, above all those dedicated to Shiva. [1][2]

One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and a center of learning and devotion for millennia, Varanasi is among the holiest cities of Hinduism and is associated especially with Shiva. Nearby Sarnath, where the Buddha is said to have first taught, adds Buddhist significance to the region. [1][2]