Varanasi: overview

The most sacred stretch of the Ganges is at Varanasi (Benares), one of the oldest living cities in the world and arguably the most intense, atmospheric place in the whole of India.

Varanasi: an auspicious place

For more than 2,500 years this city has attracted seekers and pilgrims. Its heart lies between the streams of the Varuna and the Assi which flow into the Ganges and give the city its name. This is the home of the god Shiva, who, to his devotees, is the one great God. To die here in his city on the banks of the holy river is to achieve moksha, liberation from the cycle of life and death. Death is not hidden in India. It is part of life, and one reason why you find cremation grounds in the very centre of Varanasi, and cremation ghats lining the river.

It is not uncommon to see muslin-wrapped bodies being carried through town and down to the river, placed on a funeral pyre and cremated in full public view. This unlimited access to the practical applications of the Hindu faith, the raw intimacy with death and the stifling intensity of the narrow lanes that lead down to the holy river often combine to leave visitors literally breathless, emotionally overcome but never unmoved, or unimpressed. Perhaps nowhere else in India can offer the visitor such an explicit crash course in the tenets of Hinduism; a visit to Varanasi goes a long way in helping to explain sights and sounds you might encounter elsewhere in India.

Around the ghats and city

Dawn on the Ganges is a fabulous sight. The river flows south to north, with the city on the west bank, and fields and trees to the east. As the sun rises, the golden rays fall on the innumerable temples and 70 bathing ghats, on the priests under their tilted umbrellas, and devout Hindus taking a purifying dip. The one notable mosque on the skyline was built by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Rowing boats take visitors along the ghats from Assi in the north to Raj Ghat, a highly recommended experience. Within the city itself, the Vishvanath Temple is a major attraction, as is the Sankat Mochan shrine.

Pilgrims on the ghats at Varanasi
Temples and palaces line the banks of the Ganges at Varanasi
The faithful come to bathe from the ghats at Varanasi
A barber plies his trade on the ghats at Varanasi
Pilgrims on the ghats at Varanasi
Temples and palaces line the banks of the Ganges at Varanasi

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What to see in Varanasi

Pilgrims on Raj Ghat

The holy river Ganges flows south to north, with the city on the west bank, and fields and trees to the east. Dawn is the best time to venture on to the water. Rowing boats take visitors from Assi in the north to Raj Ghat – a highly recommended experience. As the sun rises, the golden rays illuminate countless temples and 70 bathing ghats, priests plying their trade under tilted umbrellas, and devout Hindus taking a purifying dip.

The dome at Vishvanath Temple

Built in the late 18th century, is the main Shiva sanctuary. It is closed to non-Hindus, but visitors can climb surrounding buildings to see the gilded dome. If Shiva is king of Varanasi, the goddess Annapurna is queen. Her temple is close to Vishvanath’s. She is the perfect mother, a gentle goddess who provides food (anna) and life.

The shrine of Sankat Mochan

This is the most popular shrine to the monkey god Hanuman. One of Hanuman’s main strengths is the ability to turn away difficulties, and on Tuesdays and Saturdays devotees gather to ask for his help. The chief priest lives in a house overlooking the Ganges on Tulsi Ghat where Gosvami Tulsi Das is said to have written his Ramayana epic.