Varanasi – the center of Hinduism

Quotes from books describing Varanasi

“Benares [ Varanasi ] was famous before Rome was known, and for many centuries has claimed and gained the homage of every devout Hindu. It is the Oxford and Mecca of Hinduism. Its river, its temples, its banks, are known and revered throughout India. Its very air and soil are counted holy. Residence in the city ensures salvation, death there makes salvation doubly sure.” Thus wrote the Reverend Charles Phillips Cape in his book “Benares, the stronghold of Hinduism” published in January 1909.

SAMUEL L. CLEMENS (Mark Twain) wrote about Varanasi in his book FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR: A JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD (1897).

Here is a paragraph that describes Varanasi and its mythological origin in Mark Twain’s inimitable prose: “Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together. From a Hindoo statement quoted in Rev. Mr. Parker’s compact and lucid Guide to Benares, I find that the site of the town was the beginning-place of the Creation. It was merely an upright “lingam,” at first, no larger than a stove-pipe, and stood in the midst of a shoreless ocean. This was the work of the God Vishnu. Later he spread the lingam out till its surface was ten miles across. Still it was not large enough for the business; therefore he presently built the globe around it. Benares is thus the center of the earth. This is considered an advantage.”

The origin of the name “Varanasi”

The name Varanasi (also known as Kashi, Banaras or Benares) is thought to be derived from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, which with the river Ganga, border the city, but this has been doubted by scholars.