Varanasi at sunrise. © Diponkar Banerjee 2010.
Varanasi is also known as Kashi, which means “City of Light”.
Varanasi : One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on the world
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on the world, Varanasi has been destroyed by Islamic invaders many times but rebuilt each time. Varanasi remains, to this day, the most important center of Hinduism, and nearby, the origins of Buddhism began with the first sermon delivered by Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha) in Sarnath. Pilgrims from all over India converge onto Varanasi to seek moksha (release from the endless cycle of reincarnation; in Buddhism. the term nirvana is used instead). To die in Varanasi is equated with a guaranteed achievement of moksha.
Shiva’s choice – Varanasi
Myth has it that Shiva, while seeking an abode for himself and his wife Parvati by scanning the globe from his lofty vantage point on a mountaintop in the Himalayas, Mt. Kailash, spotted Varanasi. As described by John McKim Malville, Shiva “chose Varanasi as the most beautiful place on earth, a place of streams, springs, dense forests on the edge of the Ganga, bejeweled with palaces, gardens, and temples. The mountain god, descended to Kashi (Varanasi), became both a family man and a city man in the Forest of Bliss. It is now difficult to imagine the former great beauty of such a crowded city, but not very many centuries ago the land was full of pools and lakes through which pure water flowed. Temples and ashrams sat on the edges of lakes and streams in the forest in quiet seclusion”.
That the city has been inhabited continuously since 700 BC was documented by Robert Eidt in his paper Detection and Examination of Anthrosols by Phosphate Analysis (Science, New Series, Vol. 197, No. 4311 (Sep. 30, 1977), pp. 1327-1333), based on soil analysis in Varanasi.
Varanasi has been written about in numerous books over the years. In the English publications, including that of Mark Twain, travelers or residents from the West had a somewhat superficial understanding of Varanasi as a centre of Hinduism which they saw as a strange religion that worships idols. Scholars such as Diana Eck have, on the other hand, studied Varanasi and provided a much deeper analysis of the difference between Varanasi seen through Western eyes and Varanasi seen through Indian eyes. Her book “Banaras: City of Light” is the most authoritative one that I have come across (Eck, D. L. 1982. Banaras: City of Light. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press) regarding Varanasi.
