Varanasi, North India

From our 3 week´s trip around North India. October 2006. Varanasi वाराणसी Vārāṇasī, also commonly known as Benares or Banaras (Hindi: बनारस, Urdu: بنارس, Banāras and Kashi (Hindi: काशी Kāśī, is a city situated on the banks of the river Ganga (Ganges) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, regarded holy by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, and one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.The culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the river Ganges and the river's religious importance. The city has been a cultural and religious centre in northern India for several thousand years. A particular style of classical Hindustani music developed in Varanasi centuries ago, and many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians resided or reside in Varanasi, including Kabir, Ravi Das, Munshi Premchand, Jaishankar Prasad, Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Ustad Bismillah Khan. Tulsidas wrote his Ramcharitmanas there, and Gautam Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath near Kashi. Ayurveda is said to have originated at Varanasi.Varanasi is the home of Banaras Hindu University. Residents mainly speak Kashika Bhojpuri, which is closely related to the Hindi language. People often refer to Varanasi as "the city of temples", "the holy city of India", "the religious capital of India", "the city of lights", "the city of learning" and the "culture capital of India".American writer Mark Twain wrote, "Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."It is still unknown as to how and by whom Varanasi was founded. According to legend, the city was founded by the Hindu deity, Shiva, thus making it one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in the country. It is one of the seven sacred cities of Hindus. Many Hindu scriptures, including Rigveda, Skanda Purana, Ramayana, and Mahabharata, describe the city.Varanasi is generally believed to be 3,000 years old. According to myth, it is 5,000 years old, being inhabited since the times of the Sumer civilization in Mesopotamia.Varanasi was a commercial and industrial center famous for its muslin and silk fabrics, perfumes, ivory works, and sculpture. During the time of Gautama Buddha (born circa 567 BCE), Varanasi was the capital of the kingdom of Kashi. The celebrated Chinese traveler, Xuanzang, attested that the city was a center of religious, educational, and artistic activities, and that it extended for about 5 km along the western bank of the Ganges.Varanasi became an independent kingdom in the eighteenth century, and under subsequent British rule, it remained a commercial and religious center. In 1910, the British made Varanasi a new Indian state, with Ramanagar as its headquarters but with no jurisdiction over the city of Varanasi itself. Kashi Naresh (Maharaja of Kashi) still resides in the fort of Ramanagar.On March 7, 2006, four bombs went off in an act of terrorism at Varanasi. Around 20 people were reported killed, and many were injured. One of the bombs was planted in the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, a shrine dedicated to Lord Hanuman, while another was planted on a platform of the Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station, the main railway station in the city. An Islamic group, Lashkar-e-Kahab, claimed responsibility for the terror attacks. On November 23, 2007 Varanasi faced another bomb blast. The bomb was placed in the civil court of Varanasi. More than 20 people died and over 100 were injured. India TV news channel received an e-mail before 5 minutes of bomb blast saying that there will be bomb blast in different cities of Uttar Pradesh within next 5 minutes. The e-mail address was registered on Yahoo.France. A terrorist organization called HUJI took the responsibility of bomb blast. HUJI is run by a terrorist named Masood Azhar who was released by Indian government in the year 1999 after Air India flight IC 814 was hijacked by Taliban and demanded to release him.

Channel: Travel & Events
Uploaded: December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm
Author: vladamikulec

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Tags: Banaras  Benares  Ganga  Ganges  Gangā  Hindus  India  Kashi  Kāśī  Sanskrit  Varanasi  Vārānasī  بنارس  काशी  गंगा  बनारस  वाराणसी  

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