Dating back to the 11th century B.C., it is the spiritual capital of India
Come to Listen, not to Preach – Come to Witness, not to Judge – Allow your visit to make a change in you, rather than dictating what changes might be made for the good of India’s populous. They have after-all a dear love of their Motherland as you have for your own.
Come to Listen, not to Preach – Come to Witness, not to Judge – Allow your visit to make a change in you, rather than dictating what changes might be made for the good of India’s populous. They have after-all a dear love of their Motherland as you have for your own.
Varanasi a city positioned in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh dates back to the 11th century B.C. and has long been regarded as the spiritual capital of India. Hindu worshippers from the world over are drawn to the city to bathe in the sacred River Ganges, many in their last days to perform the rites of passage. Some 2,000 temples line the narrow lanes of the inners city with worshippers visiting their chosen sites from dawn til dusk, the evening hours bringing a crescendo of sound from the ringing of temple bells and the torch lit fires that burn into the night.
The city has for decades been known as an educational and musical center with scores of philosophers, poets, writers and musicians calling it their home. The Ganges River itself has two main tributaries that border the town, the Varuna and Assi, which in these times is more of a stream than a river.
Pilgrims arrive at Varanasi from the world over to bathe in the river and arrive before sunrise to say their ritual prayers, bathe below the ghats in the river and give birth to the new day. Cremations are prevalent at sites along the river and it is here that Hindus wish to arrive to take their final passage.
It truly is a wondrous city, and both the exploration on river at sunrise and thereafter walking the narrow lanes above the ghats (stairways) past shops and temples is one of the greater experiences to be enjoyed when visiting the city.
Author Mark Twain wrote in 1897 about his experiences in Varanasi or Benares as he named the city – Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them altogether.
