Benares is old and sacred. You will never forget its magic.
Benares is sacred to Hindus and Buddhists
It’s been a long time since I was in Benares
I haven’t been back to Benares in a long time. In the meantime, Narendra Modi has constructed a few facilities near the ghats, cleared the road to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple (after demolishing several temples), and inaugurated a few luxurious boat cruises.
It was the early, heady days of Modi when I last traveled to Benares. I took the train to the city (Benares now has a new airport and railway station as well) and chatted extensively with my fellow travelers. They watched me keenly as I held my garbage in a little paper bag and threw it into the dustbin when it was full.
At that moment, one of the rural gentlemen told me he was impressed that I refused to litter the compartment floor and asked his companions to follow my example. It was the early days of the “Swachh Bharat (clean India),” and the conversation drifted to a politician who stood on the platform at Mughalsarai station and held a broom as the cameras whirled. “Are we done?” he had asked as soon as the cameraman put his equipment away.
My companions told me about how they witnessed the local politician throwing the broom away in disgust and ordering one of his underlings to bring him water, soap, and a towel to clean his hands.
Politicians are a terrible breed, and Indian politicians are amongst the worst in the world. They will sell their souls and the country for money and influence.
You can call Benares by several names.
I’ve been to Benares more times than I can remember, and despite the impressive new construction, the city’s soul will remain unchanged.
Call it Benares. Call it Varanasi. Call it Kashi. These are the three most popular names of Benares. People believe the city’s original name is Kashi, meaning “the City of Light.” There is a myth surrounding this name, Kashi. Once upon a time, Brahma and Vishnu were arguing about which of them was the superior god when, suddenly, a column of light appeared. After their investigation, when they could not find the origin or the end of the column of light, they acknowledged Shiva as the supreme deity.
This column of light was the jyotirlinga, and they say the first jyotirlinga appeared in Benares. Therefore, one name of Shiva is ‘Mahadeva,’ the Supreme Lord. He is also the ‘Adi-Guru,’ the supreme guru.
The concept of a guru.
The word ‘guru’ has two roots. ‘Gu’ signifies darkness, and ‘Ru’ means light. Therefore, a guru removes darkness, allowing light to manifest. If you express it differently, a guru eliminates the darkness of ignorance from your mind and brings the light of knowledge. I won’t explore this topic further because I am not writing about mythology, the meanings of the word ‘guru,’ or the various Shaivite and Vaishnavite sects prevalent in India during those times.
My intention in this essay is to introduce you to Benares, also known as Banaras.
The name Varanasi comes from the two tributaries of the Ganges that bound Benares–the Varuna and the Asi. Sadly, the Asi has disappeared, and the last time I saw the Varuna River, chemical suds covered the surface of the water. The day I watched the suds as they floated onwards to their final destination, I wondered–not for the first or last time–about the futility of singing hymns to rivers if we pollute them.
The British may have renamed the city as Benares or Banaras, possibly because of their difficulty in pronouncing Varanasi.
Benares: The city of Shiva.
Kashi is Shiva’s city and is an ancient city. Kashi is one of the oldest living cities in the world, founded around the 11th or 12th century BCE. The city is also uniquely Hindu; however, it is also sacred to Buddhists.
Once upon a time, around the 6th Century BCE, it was home to the kingdom of Kashi. The Chinese pilgrim Hsuan-Tang visited Varanasi in the 7th century BCE.
The city’s fortunes declined during the years of the Delhi Sultanate, made a brief revival during Akbar’s reign, and then suffered again during Aurangzeb’s reign. Anyone familiar with Indian and Hindu history will be familiar with the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyan Vapi mosque controversy. Contrary to common belief, Aurangzeb did not name his mosque the Gyan Vapi Mosque; he called it the ‘Alamgiri Mosque’ after himself. Later, people adopted the name Gyanvapi (Well of Knowledge) for the mosque because of its proximity to a sacred water body.
Benares is sacred to Hindus, who travel great distances to visit the town and bathe in the Ganges. I recall reading a book written at the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century by a Brahmin priest, Vishnubhat Godse, who traveled from his home in Maharashtra to visit Varanasi. He told his family that his travels would take him to “Hindustan” en route to Benares. His journey took place in 1857-58 CE, and he first visited Jhansi and the court of the famous Queen of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmi Bai. He last saw her, disheveled and dusty, on horseback, pursued by the British. Vishnubhat Godse reached Benares and wrote his account many years after he returned home.
He called the book ‘Majha Pravas,’ but you can find English translations here and here.
Benares is the city of Death and Moksha.
Varanasi is the city of death, and many people opt to be cremated in the town, believing it relieves them from the continuous cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. To be cremated at Benares liberates your soul, known as ‘moksha.’ I must caution Westerners from translating the word literally. Like many Indian words, ‘moksha’ has shades of meaning. Consider the word ‘guru,’ which the West has translated and debased.
Benares is the city of death and liberation. When I was in Khajuraho (read the full post here), my crazy guide told me that another name for Benares is ‘Moksha Bhoomi,’ the ‘Land of Liberation.’
The Manikarnika Ghat is the burning ghat where cremations occur throughout the day. It is worth walking around from the gullies at the back to see the wood stacked, ready to be burned, the smoke carrying souls somewhere into space.
There is a community in India called the Dom (pronounced “dome”), which belongs to the lowest level of the untouchable caste in India. Yet, they have the sole right to offer the fire to the dead who arrive in Benares for cremation. The head of the Doms is the ‘Dom Raja,’ and while he is an untouchable, people whisper he is rich and politically powerful. They are the keepers of the sacred, burning flames, and while they wield considerable power, they cannot escape the confines of the caste system.
Don’t walk around the ghats, photographing the burning pyres. People may become upset with you and may be rude about an act they consider sacrilegious.
Varanasi’s association with arts, culture, and music.
Arts, culture, and music are integral to Varanasi’s culture, even though their significance as a cultural center may have declined since those early days. I know that one of India’s last great tawaifs, Gauhar Jaan, lived in Benares in the early years of the previous century.
We have the British to thank for the degradation of the word ‘tawaif.’ Like the Japanese geishas, a tawaif was a courtesan skilled in art, music, and dance. The nobility, including kings and princes, supported them, and tawaifs were an integral part of high society in medieval India. Later, when British missionaries cast a disapproving eye on what they called moral depravity, the fortunes of the tawaifs declined. I doubt you will find a genuine tawaif anywhere in India now, as most people consider them to be prostitutes and relics of a depraved era.
Gauhar Jaan was the first artist ever recorded by the Gramophone Company (later called HMV). The recordings began in 1902 CE, becoming known as the ‘Gramophone Queen of India.’
Benares is on the banks of the Ganges River, and people believe that bathing in its waters absolves them of their sins. I have a cynical view of this belief, as well as the notion that the Ganga purifies itself, which gives people the impression that they may pollute it at will.
Scientists may disagree with this perception, but science often yields to religious faith.
Benares is the city of the Buddha.
Benares is also the city of the Buddha. After attaining nirvana, the Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon here, at Sarnath. The place comes alive during major Buddhist festivals, with pilgrims from across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia visiting Sarnath. A decade ago, I was fortunate to be in Benares at one such festival, and the sight of teachers holding sermons under the shade of a tree was enchanting. The sight took me back to my younger days when I often read a book under a tree, and I could visualize teachers delivering sermons to students in similar settings centuries ago.
These days, we can’t get enough of air-conditioned comfort.
The word ‘Buddha’ is a Sanskrit/Pali word that means ‘the wise one/enlightened one.’ The word is not a name, which is why we say “he Gautama Buddha,” not “Gautama Buddha.”
Munshi Premchand & Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Munshi Premchand, one of India’s greatest writers in Hindi and Urdu, was born in Benares. While his writing is magnificent, some of his books are depressing. I remember studying his novel, ‘Nirmala,’ in school, as well as ‘Godan.’ The books depressed me, even though the writing impressed me. That he could impress a ten-year-old kid with his writing is testimony to his greatness.
One of our most underrated Prime Ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri, was born in Benares. There is a story about our 1965 war with Pakistan. The Chinese humiliated us in 1962, and in 1965, when the Pakistani Prime Minister, Yahya Khan, tried to intimidate the diminutive Indian Prime Minister, he received a rude shock.
Several years back, when I visited Anand, the home of the brand ‘Amul,’ the managers related a fascinating story. Lal Bahadur Shastri wanted to investigate reports of the excellent milk collection systems at Anand. He visited the town and disappeared for a few days. LBS stayed incognito in a village for a few days, and when he returned to Anand, he asked Kurien, the Managing Director, to replicate the model for India.
Benares is famous for saris. Muslim weavers make the saris, and Hindu traders sell them. Do they have a symbiotic or exploitative relationship? I will not explore the question.
Despite its contradictions, you will not forget Kashi.
Yet, for all its religious significance, the river, the history, the culture, and the trade, Benares is a dirty city. My friends tell me that since our current Prime Minister built a ghat and named it after himself, hotels, tea, food, and boat rides have become more expensive. The priests, always greedy, have become extremely avaricious and arrogant. They demand money from the faithful, many of whom have to dip into their meager savings to pay.
Like any city on earth, Benares is a city of contradictions. Lofty spiritualism stands shoulder to shoulder with cows eating plastic from the municipal dumps. The beauty of the river coexists with chemical pollution from the soap suds draining from the bodies of the faithful. Traditional boatmen in their wooden boats try to compete with the siren calls of the new cruise boats that don’t care about the dolphins.
Visit Benares. Criticize the amenities all you want, but the city’s mystique and the magic of the river will stay in your heart forever.
Diana Eck wrote a brilliant book about Benares, called “Banaras.” However, she made one error in the book. According to her, Benares is a uniquely ‘Indian’ city, founded by local people, unlike Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras, which foreigners founded.
She wrote that the Turkic Muslims founded Delhi in the 12th century CE, and this statement is incorrect.
If you ignore the mythical origins of Delhi (Indraprastha or those of Raja Dilu), the fact is that the Tomar Rajputs created the First City of Delhi, Lal Kot, around 736 CE. Remnants of the original wall still stand in Delhi, and if anyone wishes to see these walls, I will be happy to take them for a walk to Delhi’s first city.
Some people love links!
· https://www.siddhayoga.org/mahashivaratri/jyotir-linga-column-of-light/
· https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cremation-ghats-of-varanasi
· https://www.johnfoundation.com/journals/sparkling/sijmrsv3i4-2020/s-45/
Banaras Book: https://amzn.to/43FZ4YU
Gauhar Jaan Book: https://amzn.to/43UIdQG
This is a great post with lots of excellent info and more in depth definitions of particular words. I hope the essential character of Benares is preserved. I wish the Ganges had a riverkeeper who could move everyone towards cleaning up the river and protecting the dolphins. The Hudson River in New York has very slowly gotten cleaner but there are further challenges. Cleaning a river may be much more difficult in India than America. Also enact laws prohibited new development which should be allowed only outside the original city limits. Great further reading recommendations.
No worries. You are busy. Great post!