Varanasi

Varanasi

Mark Twain: "Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.

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-Basic Info

o On the banks of the Ganges river

o Holy city to Buddhists and Jains

o Holy place of Hinduism

- Basic Economy

o Several small cottage industries

o Banarasi Silk sari making, the production of textiles such as hand-woven carpets, and handicrafts.

- Basic Culture

o Houses are far from the Ghats

o Spacious; no pollution

- Holy City

o More than 1,000,000 pilgrims visit each year

- Importance of Varanasi

o Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges remits sins and that dying in Kashi ensures release of a person's soul from the cycle of its transmigrations

o Varanasi is one of the holiest places in Buddhism too, being one of the four pilgrimage sites said to have been designated by Gautama Buddha himself

o It is believed to be the birthplace of Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankar

o There has been continuous tension between different religious communities in the city

- Varanasi Ghats

o Nearly 100 Ghats

o Many of the Ghats were built when the city was under Maratha control

o Most of the ghats are bathing ghats, while others are used as cremation sites

o Many ghats are associated with legends or mythologies while many ghats are privately owned

- Temples

o Every road crossing has a nearby temples

o Small temples form the base of daily local prayers and other rituals

o But there are many large temples too, stood up at different times through out the history of Varanasi