Varanasi

Varanasi or Kashi, is a city on the <a href="/facts/Ganges/q0IGurvB">Ganges river</a> in <a href="/facts/North_India/tIUqMm15">northern India</a> that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the <a href="/facts/Hinduism/oxV9YvQh">Hindu world</a>. The city has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the <a href="/facts/Gangetic_plain/kWHsYSNK">middle-Ganges valley</a> in the southeastern part of the state of <a href="/facts/Uttar_Pradesh/vXDwM9Df">Uttar Pradesh</a>, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres (430 mi) to the southeast of India's capital <a href="/facts/New_Delhi/9UMpnDN8">New Delhi</a> and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, <a href="/facts/Lucknow/HuGSvAMs">Lucknow</a>. It lies 121 kilometres (75 mi) downstream of <a href="/facts/Prayagraj/XA7MYXWb">Prayagraj</a>, where the <a href="/facts/Triveni_Sangam/3j5xLwjb">confluence with the Yamuna river</a> is another major <a href="/facts/Hindu_pilgrimage_sites_in_India/TIRlGq7g">Hindu pilgrimage site</a>.
Varanasi is one of the <a href="/facts/List_of_oldest_continuously_inhabited_cities/74JX06Jp">world's oldest continually inhabited cities</a>. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a <a href="/facts/K%25C4%2581%25C5%259B%25C4%25AB_(kingdom)/qPVk5W51">kingdom of the same name</a> of 2,500 years ago. The <a href="/facts/Lion_capital_of_Ashoka/bh48uIIe">Lion capital of Ashoka</a> at nearby <a href="/facts/Sarnath/aHPS2yGp">Sarnath</a> has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first <a href="/facts/Dhammacakkappavattana_Sutta/qVoBSxjR">sermon</a> there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, <a href="/facts/Adi_Shankara/QU5pCWV6">Adi Shankara</a> established the <a href="/facts/Shaivism/aVXXNj6v">worship of Shiva</a> as an official sect of Varanasi. <a href="/facts/Tulsidas/R5rECtH8">Tulsidas</a> wrote his <a href="/facts/Awadhi_language/YSe4jac5">Awadhi language</a> epic, the <a href="/facts/Ramcharitmanas/s6dLp0I3">Ramcharitmanas</a>, a <a href="/facts/Bhakti_movement/yASKGhTd">Bhakti movement</a> reworking of the Sanskrit <a href="/facts/Ramayana/z2DykxzF">Ramayana</a>, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including <a href="/facts/Kabir/W72tAjjn">Kabir</a> and <a href="/facts/Ravidas/SzBInEN6">Ravidas</a>. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the <a href="/facts/Mughal_Empire/yRg2kAy5">Mughal emperor</a> <a href="/facts/Akbar/e92T534P">Akbar</a>, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city in an empire-wide architectural style. In 1740, <a href="/facts/Benares_State/UuTU2dyH">Benares Estate</a>, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the <a href="/facts/Mughal_Empire/yRg2kAy5">Mughal Empire</a>'s semi-autonomous province of Awadh. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the <a href="/facts/East_India_Company/jpfw533d">East India Company</a> acquired Benares city in 1775. The city became a part of the Benares Division of <a href="/facts/British_India/qdbjMfvI">British India</a>'s <a href="/facts/Ceded_and_Conquered_Provinces/SbmLNRCp">Ceded and Conquered Provinces</a> in 1805, the <a href="/facts/North-Western_Provinces/C9gou7HD">North-Western Provinces</a> in 1836, <a href="/facts/United_Provinces_of_Agra_and_Oudh/zVcHb9Xv">United Provinces</a> in 1902, and of the <a href="/facts/Republic_of_India/QW4TV4sy">Republic of India</a>'s state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
<a href="/facts/Silk_weaving_in_Varanasi/csRBaoFB">Silk weaving</a>, carpets, crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the <a href="/facts/Banaras_Locomotive_Works/eh9utDf1">Banaras Locomotive Works</a> and <a href="/facts/Bharat_Heavy_Electricals/DRWFNbMa">Bharat Heavy Electricals</a>. The city is known worldwide for its many <a href="/facts/Ghats_in_Varanasi/RWuqh5Hv">ghats</a>—steps leading down the steep river bank to the water—where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the <a href="/facts/Dashashwamedh_Ghat/zEJHvWI6">Dashashwamedh Ghat</a>, the Panchganga Ghat, the <a href="/facts/Manikarnika_Ghat/oWjRwKQQ">Manikarnika Ghat</a>, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The <a href="/facts/Hindu_genealogy_registers_at_Varanasi/wgWL6HrU">Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi</a> are kept here. Among the notable <a href="/facts/List_of_Hindu_temples_in_Varanasi/Up1czQze">temples in Varanasi</a> are the <a href="/facts/Kashi_Vishwanath_Temple/QjPfae56">Kashi Vishwanath Temple</a> of <a href="/facts/Shiva/SaHL5XBS">Shiva</a>, the <a href="/facts/Sankat_Mochan_Hanuman_Temple/DTxUjS3h">Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Durga_Mandir%2c_Varanasi/nPJMzsqG">Durga Temple</a>.
The city has long been an <a href="/facts/List_of_educational_institutions_in_Varanasi/YqFsuTD2">educational and musical centre</a>: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the <a href="/facts/Benares_gharana/PY0gMDXz">Benares gharana</a> form of <a href="/facts/Hindustani_classical_music/b9lPQMGd">Hindustani classical music</a> was developed. In the 20th-century, the <a href="/facts/Hindi-Urdu/rPnbEyYP">Hindi-Urdu</a> writer <a href="/facts/Premchand/Ks04LB04">Premchand</a> and the <a href="/facts/Shehnai/nVs7r4X9">shehnai</a> player <a href="/facts/Bismillah_Khan/5S3rw9El">Bismillah Khan</a> were associated with the city. India's oldest <a href="/facts/Sanskrit/ychfjhlx">Sanskrit</a> college, the <a href="/facts/Sampurnanand_Sanskrit_Vishwavidyalaya/VH2zYPN0">Benares Sanskrit College</a>, was founded by <a href="/facts/Jonathan_Duncan_(Governor_of_Bombay)/qNSgcjIG">Jonathan Duncan</a>, the resident of the <a href="/facts/East_India_Company/jpfw533d">East India Company</a> in 1791. Later, education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of <a href="/facts/Indian_independence_movement/0n35LRk8">Indian nationalism</a> in the late 19th-century. <a href="/facts/Annie_Besant/RNQJPpSU">Annie Besant</a> founded the <a href="/facts/Central_Hindu_College/LxUe67WC">Central Hindu College</a> in 1898. In 1916, she and <a href="/facts/Madan_Mohan_Malviya/YyRn62Rk">Madan Mohan Malviya</a> founded the <a href="/facts/Banaras_Hindu_University/MUoeWEmg">Banaras Hindu University</a>, India's first modern residential university. <a href="/facts/Kashi_Vidyapith/lMzgJ6YG">Kashi Vidyapith</a> was established in 1921, a response to <a href="/facts/Mahatma_Gandhi/epTj0j19">Mahatma Gandhi</a>'s <a href="/facts/Non-cooperation_movement_(1919%25E2%2580%259322)/CJtjaPff">non-cooperation movement</a>.

Varanasi open-in-new

Varanasi