Vārāṇasī -- Shiva calling...

Vārāṇasī

or Kāśī (the luminous one) or Banāras as it is also known, is the oldest most ancient city on the face of my country, India. One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, Kashi lies on the west riverbank of Ganga, endlessly flowing by it...

I had a chance to visit this sacred land purely by chance. Varanasi had been on my list of must-see places, I hadn't stumbled on an occasion or reason to head off to this place. That's until my roomy's mother was talking to him over phone and asked how far Kashi was from Delhi -- roomy being new to this part of India, turned to ask me. All I had to say - "Let's go!"

Varanasi railway station

Kashi has the status of being THE most important pilgrimage for a Hindu. It has its mention in the scriptures of the lore and the journals of various historians that visited it in the centuries.

Varanasi is about 800 kms from New Delhi. It is well linked by trains and air, roads can be well avoided. Trains take about 12-14 hours and flights about 1 to1.5 hours one way - to or fro.

Kashi is a prime pilgrimage for Hindus. The three GSB maths(Institute/monastery/college) -- 'Kashi Math', 'Gokarn Math' and 'Kawale Math' -- are all situated one beside the other on Brahma Ghat.

Brahma ghat

An auto-rickshaw takes about half hour and Rs.60 from the railway station to reach hotel 'Barahdari', in Mydagin. Brahma Ghat and Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple are of about 10-15 minute walk from Mydagin.

Thus, every so often in Varanasi, among the busiest streets, one finds bodies of the dead being carried, by people making their way to cremation ghats, chanting "Raam naam satya hai" -- The name of God is truth. -- ...Human life, ceaselessly swarming in and out of existence, baring naked the point and truth of all life!...

Varanasi is also dubbed the 'Cultural capital of India' and is home to some major patrons of art, culture, literature & philosophy in India -- Guru Ramananda, Kabir, Ravidas, Sant Tulsidas from the early years..

Munshi Premchand, Ravi Shankar, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Bismillah Khan, Madan Mohan Malviya, Lal Bhadur Shastri(First President) more recently to name a few...

Kashi has been a seat of great learning from centuries bygone. The Buddha gave his first sermon after at Sarnath, about 10 kms from Kashi.

~ GHATS ~

The Ganga flows to form a 'C' beside Kashi and has about 100 ghats on its banks. A ghat is broad flight of steps leading into a river, used mostly by pilgrims and bathers. Most ghats are picturesque and have legends associated with them.

Google map showing the essential Kashi -- Drag/zoom to navigate.

Some of the oldest, prominent ghats --

• Manikarnika ghat -- The main cremation ghat. Also called Maha Smashana (Great Crematory) due to the bodies that are brought here since centuries for cremation. Scindhia ghat is close by. This is very close to Vishwanath temple.
• Dashashwamedh ghat -- Lord Brahma is said to have performed a certain sacrifice and bathed in Ganga here. The traditional Ganga aarti (for about 45 minutes) is performed here, starting somewhere between 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Huge crowd gathers for this everyday.

Evening aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat

Evening aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat

• Harishchandra ghat -- This is another ghat for used for cremations.Legend has it that Raja Harishchandra worked at this ghat.
• Kedar Ghat -- Is very scenic.
• Tulsi ghat -- Named after Sant Tulsidas who lived here in Kashi and wrote most of his epic 'Ramcharitmanas' here.
• Assi ghat -- Is a ghat to the southern end of riverside.

BOAT RIDES --

Boat rides are a nice way of viewing ghats, from the river. At sunrise, this ride serves best as one gets a glimpse of the pilgrims bathing, performing oblations in Ganga. Or in the evening, it is a sight to see the 'diyas' offered to Ganga. The boat rides cost around Rs.300 for a ride from the northern ghats to the southern ones and back, which can be negotiated to about Rs.30 per head! :)

BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY

--

The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is one of the oldest universities in present day India. Founded in 1916, the university campus is spread over 5.5 km² with independant buildings and faculties/departments for courses like Gemology, Mining, Ayurveda, Basic Principles, Performing Arts, nursing, linguistics etc. Dept.of Ancient Indian history, Culture and Archeology even!!! -- It has one of the very best colleges of Engineering and Medicine in the country!

Entrance to Kashi Hindu Vishwavidhyalay (BHU)

BHU - Collage

BHU is about 5 kms from the railway station. Beware of peak hour traffic in the evenings.

~ TEMPLES ~

• Shri Kashi Vishwanath -- Mahadev (Great Lord) resides in his complete glory here as Shri Kashi Vishwanath, a 'Jyoti-linga' (bright sign/mark/symbol) and is a pilgrimage on its own. Countless devotees from around the country throng for darshan of the lord here. Post darshan, one can see Shri Annapoorna devi temple, Shri Hanuman and Shri Shani dev around temple premises. Dashashwamedh Ghat and Manikarnika Ghat are at about 500 to 600 meters from the temple. The temple is about 10-15 minute walk from Mydagin.
• Shri Pracheen Durga -- An ancient temple, deemed to be 2000 years old. Shri Durga was established here to preside over Kashi and it's people. Is close to BHU and Sankat Mochan Hanuman. About 15-20 minutes from both by auto-rickshaw.
• Shri Sankatmochan Hanuman -- An ancient temple dedicated to Shri Hanuman. This temple was established by Sant Tulsidas and is iconic of the hindus and their ever staunch devotion to the deities Shri Rama,Lakshmana, Seeta & Hanuman.The temple is very close to BHU, about 5-10 minutes on auto. Rs.10-15 on rickshaw.
  
• Shri Vishwanath temple, BHU -- Built in the 1960s within the premises of the Banares Hindu University, this beautiful temple and its artifacts are indicative of the typical north-Indian temple and stimulate the psyche of the masses into the spiritual with its beautiful paintings and scriptural texts carved on its walls. The temple is huge, august and simply inspires that which it was meant to.
  The temple is about 1.5 km inside from the entrance gate of BHU. Rickshaws take you there at Rs.10-20.

Vishwanath mandir in BHU

• Pracheen Shri Guru Brihaspati Bhagvan Mandir -- This temple situated at Dasaswamedh ghat, is dedicated to Shri Guru Brihaspati. Shri Brihaspati is worshipped in the form of a 'linga'. A beautiful brass idol inside the temple, captivates the devotee.
  

~ KASHI MATH SAMSTHAN ~

Samsthan Shri Kashi Math is Kashi is one of the oldest maths(monastery/institute) of the Gowda Sarastwat Brahmans (GSBs). The history and foundation of the Kashi Math Samsthan can be traced back to Shri Vijayeendra Tirtha swamiji from the Kumbhakonam Matha, who founded the Kashi Matha in around 1542 A.D. Shri Yadavendra Teertha was the first Swamiji of the Samsthan. The samsthan was founded on the the banks of Holy Ganga in this holy city of Kashi and hence the name. (Sources: kashimath.com)

It is situated on the Brahma Ghat, at 10 minutes walking from an area called Mydagin.
The walk from Mydagin to Kashi Math is through a tree of gullies that branch into more. It can be difficult to memorize a particular path to the Math, but the gullies are busy, bustling with people who are eager to direct you just

at

the mention of "Kashi Math?!"

Inside the gullis - Stairs leading to Kashi Math

Shri Kashi Math,

K, 22/86, Brahmaghat,

Varanasi - 221 001

Kashi math is the 'mula-math' (root-math) of the 'Kashi Math Samsthan'. Brahma ghat is right below Kashi Math.

It has 42 rooms for accommodating its GSB pilgrims.

Rooms can be rented here for nominal charges.

The best part about staying at Kashi Math is the amchi-food

(GSB/konkani)

that is served here.. :-)

Kashi Math has the following deities in its 500+ years old premises -- Shri Lakshmi Narasimha, Shri bindu Maadhava, Shri Hanumanta.

Hanuman idol on a wall

BANARASI SAREES --

Banarasi sarees have been the traditional favorite of the Indian women since ever. The typical Banarasi silk saree, richly embroidered, costs Rs.3,000 to 5,000. With the plain cloth alone costing a minimum of Rs.2000.

Needless to say, streets of Varanasi are flanked by shops selling Banarasi sarees.
Typically, the cloth making a banarasi saree is much (about Rs. 2000-3000) costly compared to other sarees. The sarees themselves are much more costlier, ranging from Rs. 4000-5ooo onwards.