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Banaras The Eternal City

Compiled by Bindu Misra; Illustrations by Amarjeet Malik;

City of many names, Banaras as it is most commonly called, was officially renamed in 1956 as Varanasi, a name from antiquity. It was first known as Kashi, the city of light, when it was the capital of the kingdom of the same name about 500 BC.

For over 2000 years, Banaras the eternal city has been the religious capital of India. Built on the banks of sacred Ganga it is said to combine the virtues of all other places of pilgrimage and anyone who ends their earthly cycle here is said to be transported straight to heaven.

Banaras was also celebrated as the place where the most profound wisdom dwelt, the seat of all enlightenment and learning. Its permanent advantages include the highest sanctity, fertile soil, and its location on a great river. Hindu rulers built great palaces, temples, and ghats in the city. It is also mentioned in late Vedic literature and in the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The city encompasses Sarnath, where Buddha preached his first sermon in about 530 BC.

From the 4th to the 6th century, Banaras was a great cultural centre, but the onset of Muslim occupation in 1193 resulted in the city's decline and the destruction of its ancient temples. For nearly six centuries, the city was under Muslim rule. The first raid by Muslims, who sacked and plundered some Hindu temples, occurred about AD 1035. Banaras was finally conquered in 1194 when an Afghan general according to Muslim historians, destroyed nearly a thousand temples and carried off his booty on the back of 1,400 camels.

Temples continued, however to be destroyed and rebuilt, with some emperors taking part in both activities at different times, until the last episode of destruction by Mughal emperor Aurangazeb in 1669.

In the early years, say 1,000 BC, Kashi’s inland acres, behind the high bank of the river were known as the forest of bliss. There beside its ponds and lakes, under the trees, gurus, and their students, ascetics, meditators, scholars, and disciples made their hermitages, their classrooms.

However the essence of the place is that it is a holy city, the most sacred place on the 1,560 mile course of the sacred Ganga river. And it is because of this fact that princes and conquerors, merchants and artisans came to it and left their mark on it. And it is why the pilgrims come. The allure of Banaras is great, for the Hindu who dies here attains moksha or liberation.

Holiest of cities to Hindus and earthly abode of Lord Shiva, Banaras is a beacon for pilgrims who come to bathe in the sacred Ganga river. There are pandas ( brahmin priests) who wait by the ghats to assist pilgrims. For a small contribution, such men provide food and flowers for offerings and coach the uncertain in their prayers.

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