Varanasi

Varanasi (Hindi pronunciation: [ʋaːˈɾaːɳəsi], also Benares, Banaras Hindustani pronunciation: [bəˈnaːɾəs]), or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. The city also has a syncretic tradition of Islamic artisanship that underpins its religious tourism. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres (430 mi) to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi and 320 kilometres (200 mi) to the southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It lies 121 kilometres (75 mi) downstream of Prayagraj, where the confluence with the Yamuna river is another major Hindu pilgrimage site. Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities. Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name in the first millennium BCE. The Lion capital of Ashoka at nearby Sarnath has been interpreted to be a commemoration of the Buddha's first sermon there in the fifth century BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. In the mid-second millennium several figures of the Bhakti movement were born here. They included Kabir, Ravidas and Tulsidas. Kabir came to influence traditions in Hinduism, Sikhism, and Sufism. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, which is a popular vernacular reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana. In the 16th century, Rajput nobles in the service of the Mughal emperor Akbar, sponsored work on Hindu temples in the city. In 1740, Benares Estate, a zamindari estate, was established in the vicinity of the city in the semi-autonomous Mughal province of Awadh. In 1775, the East India Company acquired Benares city under the...