Page 208 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - India

206  CENTR AL INDIA

h Varanasi

Also known as Kashi (“the City of Light”), or as Benares, Varanasi
is situated on the west bank of the Ganges and is India’s holiest
Hindu city, with a spiritual and religious legacy that goes back
nearly 3,000 years. This is the city of Shiva, the foremost among
the 12 places where the god burrowed and then burst into the
sky in a fiery pillar of light (jyotirlinga). Sanctified by Shiva’s all-
pervading presence and the sacred Ganges, the 90 or so ghats Locator Map
Assi Ghat to Shivala Ghat
along the river define the life and identity of Varanasi. Stretching
from the southern Assi Ghat to the northern Adi Keshava Ghat,
close to the Malviya Bridge, the ghats cover more than 6 km
(4 miles). Lined with temples and shrines they reverberate with
the endless cycle of Hindu religious practice – from daily rituals
to profound rites of passage.

Tulsi Ghat
One of Varanasi’s oldest sites,
this ghat (earlier known as Lolarka
Ghat), was renamed after the
poet-saint Tulsidas, who lived here
in the 16th century. His house and
temple still stand nearby.

Mural of goddess on the walls
at Ganga Mahal Ghat Bhadaini Ghat

Assi Ghat
A linga stands beneath
a pipal tree on Varanasi’s
southernmost ghat, which Rewa Ghat
marks the confluence of
the Asi and Ganges rivers.

0 metres 50
0 yards 50
Ganga Mahal Ghat

Janki Ghat
Brick-red steps distinguish Janki
Ghat, in keeping with the
Varanasi tradition of each ghat
having its own distinctive colour.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p696 and pp708–709

206-207_EW_India.indd 206 05/05/17 3:11 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 24th April 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm