“Older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”
-Mark Twain, giving his (not entirely inaccurate) description of Varanasi

Bathers in the Ganga (Ganges) River in Varanasi, India

The city name, “Varanasi” (also known as Benares), is derived from the two tributaries of the Ganga — Varuna and Asi — between which it is situated; the city is also known as Benares, a corruption of the name “Varanasi”.  However, historically, the city has been known to the Hindus as “Kasha”, which means “brightness”, which gives the city its title as the “city of light”.

Some random points and observations:

• The cycle of life. Hindus strongly believe in the circle of life; in Varanasi in particular, this cycle is is very tangible, omnipresent: birth and death dominate the rituals of daily life.  The belief is reinforced by the city’s physical layout: Varanasi is entirely positioned on the west side of the Ganges (symbolic of the city’s association with “death” as the Hindu cremation center), facing directly east (symbolic of rebirth).
• The east-facing direction of city creates incredible morning light; a sunrise boat ride is a “”must”. Since the city is entirely positioned on the west bank, sunrise boat rides afford the early riser unparalleled, magical, orange-hued views of ritual bathers performing puja (worship) of the rising sun and doing laundry. The cost (paid directly to the boat rower) runs about $1/person/hour.
• The ghats.  The stone steps (ghats) lining the Ganges — descending from the city, down the riverbank, and into to the river — emphasize the city’s focus on the sacred river. There are over 100 individual ghats in total lining the river’s edge; these steps make access to the river possible during wet (when the river runs high and only a few steps are visible) and dry (when the river runs low and many steps are visible) seasons.
• The age of the city. According to Hindu tradition, Varanasi is the oldest city in the world, the eternal city of Shiva. However, to put this in historical perspective, the city was likely settled by the Aryans, as they progressed eastward across the Gangetic plain in the earlier part of the 1st millenium BCE (1000-750 BCE). Although certainly still pretty old, this would make it far younger than the oldest Indian subcontinent civilization, the Harappan civilization (2300-1000 BCE) along the Indus River Valley, which existed simultaneously with the Sumerians in Mesopotamia (2900-1800 BCE) and the Old Kingdom Egyptians (2650-2134 BCE).
• “Burning” or cremation ghats.
  • As the Hindus’ most sacred city, Hindus arrange (to the extent possible) to die and be cremated in city, whereupon their ashes are left to be carried away by the sacred Ganges river.
  • The cremation fires at these ghats burn 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • Firewood used for cremation: mango tree for common people and sandalwood for rich.
  • Double the weight of the body is required in firewood in order to cremate the body — it takes about 3 hours.
  • Not everyone can be cremated. If you suffered from a snakebite, were pregnant when you died, or suffered from leprosy, you cannot be cremated. As a result, 25,000 corpses are weighted-down and dropped into the Ganges every year (not cremated).
  • The premier cremation ghat in the city is Manikarnika Ghat, and lies about a 5-10 minutes walk north of the main ghat.
  • No photographs are permitted, for obvious reasons
• Ganges ceremonies at sunset at the main (Dashaswamedh) ghat. Every day, as the sun sets, multiple Ganges ceremonies begin on the steps of the main ghat. The ceremony consists of bell-ringing (to ward off evil spirits) and offering a series of seven gifts of light (the light gets progressively brighter) to the river; it ends by floating candles on the water and pouring water into the Ganges. A definiitely memorable experience…

Travel Guide

For travels throughout North and South India, we recommend using our ApproachGuides to India, which will complement existing travel guides and give you a deep appreciation for the country and its cultural, historic and artistic background.