Varanasi (Benares)

Varanasi, India's most sacred city is situated on the West bank of the Ganga. Varanasi is also known as Benaras. Varanasi derives its name from two streams, the Varuna on the North side of the city and the Assi, a small trickled on the south. Varanasi is said to combine all the virtues of all other places of pilgrimage and anyone dying within the area marked by the Panch Kosi road is transported straight to heaven. It is also an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhists as it was at Sarnath (10 km from Varanasi), Lord Buddha gave his Ist sermon after enlightment. Varanasi today, is also a centre of education, art and craft. The culture of Varanasi is deeply associated with the river Ganga and its religious importance. The city has been a cultural and religious center in northern India for thousands of years. Varanasi has its own style of classical Hindustani music, and has produced prominent musicians, philosophers, poets, and writers in Indian history, including Kabir, Munshi Premchand, Jaishankar Prasad, Pandit Ravi Shankar, and Ustad Bismillah Khan. The city has its own dialect of Hindi.