Varanasi is also called Kashi and Banaras. It is a city of temples, riverside steps, scholars, weavers and musicians.
This article tells the city story in one place. It links to our separate articles on the temple, the saints and the artists. It does not repeat them.
- Kashi, Varanasi and Banaras are three names of one city on the left bank of the Ganga.
- About 84 ghats line the river. Dashashwamedh and Manikarnika are the best known.
- BHU was founded in 1916. Kashi Vidyapith in 1921. The Sanskrit college in 1791.
- The Banarasi sari got a GI tag in 2009.
Why is Varanasi called one of the oldest living cities?
How did the city get its names?
The city has three names. Kashi is the oldest and means “the shining one”. Varanasi is the official name today. Banaras is the older spelling that the British turned into Benares.
Tradition links “Varanasi” to two small streams, the Varuna and the Asi. The city lies on the left (western) bank of the Ganga between them. The Asi is now a drain-like stream.
Kashi was also a kingdom. It was one of the 16 Mahajanapadas of the 6th century BCE, and Varanasi was its capital. Read the full story in Kashi (Mahajanapada).
Sources (card 0): Ministry of Culture, Government of India; Varanasi District Administration.
How old is the city, really?
Popular writing calls Varanasi the oldest city in the world. Historians are more careful. Excavations show people living here from about 1000 BCE, and the city has stayed alive ever since.
So the safe exam line is this: Varanasi is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities of India.
Sources (card 1): Archaeological Survey of India; Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Check 1
Varanasi lies on the right bank of the Ganga.
What are the ghats, and why do they matter?
What is a ghat?
A ghat is a flight of steps that leads down to the river. Varanasi has about 84 ghats along roughly 6.5 km of the Ganga. Newer lists count a few more.
Pilgrims bathe, pray and watch the sunrise from these steps. The evening Ganga Aarti draws the biggest crowds.
Most ghats took their present shape in the 1700s. Maratha rulers and local kings paid for much of the building. Queen Ahilyabai Holkar was one of the great patrons. See her story at Ahilyabai Holkar.
Sources (card 2): Varanasi District Administration; Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Which ghats are named most often in exams?
- Dashashwamedh: the busiest ghat and the home of the evening Ganga Aarti.
- Manikarnika: the main cremation ghat.
- Assi: the southern end of the ghat line, at the old mouth of the Asi.
- Harishchandra: the second cremation ghat.
- Panchganga: the ghat linked with the saint Ramananda and Kabir.
Sources (card 3): Varanasi District Administration.
Check 2
Manikarnika Ghat is the main cremation ghat of Varanasi.
Why is Kashi sacred to so many traditions?
What makes Kashi holy for Hindus?
Kashi is the city of Shiva. The Kashi Vishwanath temple holds one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. The rebuilt temple dates from 1780, and Ahilyabai Holkar paid for it.
The full story is in Kashi Vishwanath Temple and Jyotirlinga: The 12 Sacred Shiva Shrines. This article does not repeat it.
Sources (card 4): Ministry of Culture, Government of India; Press Information Bureau.
Which poet-saints belong to Kashi?
The bhakti saints Kabir and Ravidas lived and taught here. Both spoke against caste and empty ritual. Read Kabir and Guru Ravidas.
Tulsidas wrote much of the Ramcharitmanas in Awadhi, and he spent his last years at Assi Ghat. See Ramcharitmanas.
Sources (card 5): Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
What is Sarnath, and how is it linked to Kashi?
Sarnath lies a short way north of Varanasi. The Buddha gave his first sermon here, in the Deer Park. Buddhists call this event “turning the wheel of dharma”.
The Dhamek Stupa and the Ashokan pillar stand at Sarnath. The four-lion capital of that pillar is now in the Sarnath Museum. Independent India chose it as the national emblem.
Jain tradition also places the birth of the 23rd Tirthankara, Parshvanatha, in Varanasi.
Sources (card 6): Archaeological Survey of India; Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Check 3
The Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath, near Varanasi.
How did Kashi become a city of learning?
Why did students come to Kashi?
For many centuries, pandits in Kashi taught Sanskrit, grammar, philosophy and law in small schools called pathshalas. Students came from across India.
The British set up a formal college in the same tradition. It opened in 1791 as the Government Sanskrit College, on the proposal of the Resident Jonathan Duncan.
It became a university in 1958. In 1974 it took the name Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, after the former Chief Minister Dr Sampurnanand.
Sources (card 7): Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, About us.
How did BHU and Kashi Vidyapith begin?
- Banaras Hindu University (1916): Madan Mohan Malaviya led the effort. Annie Besant’s Central Hindu College joined the new university. The BHU Act was passed in 1915, and the foundation stone was laid on 4 February 1916.
- Kashi Vidyapith (1921): founded during the Non-Cooperation Movement by Shiv Prasad Gupta and Bhagwan Das. Mahatma Gandhi opened it. The name Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith came in 1995.
Malaviya has his own article: Madan Mohan Malaviya.
Sources (card 8): Banaras Hindu University; Press Information Bureau.
Check 4
Banaras Hindu University was founded in 1921, during the Non-Cooperation Movement.
What crafts and music is Kashi known for?
What is special about the Banarasi sari?
Weavers of Banaras make silk saris with gold and silver thread woven into the cloth, a style called brocade. The craft grew under Mughal patronage. See also Zardozi.
Banaras Brocades and Sarees received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2009. Banaras Gulabi Meenakari, a pink enamel craft on metal, received one in 2015.
Other Varanasi crafts with GI tags include wooden lacquerware and toys, hand block print and glass beads.
Sources (card 9): Geographical Indications Registry, India; Varanasi District Administration.
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Which musicians are tied to Banaras?
Banaras is a centre of Hindustani music. The shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan and the sitar master Ravi Shankar both grew up here. The city also has a strong tabla tradition; see Tabla.
In 2015, UNESCO named Varanasi a Creative City of Music. Read UNESCO Creative Cities Network and India.
Sources (card 10): Ministry of Culture, Government of India; Press Information Bureau.
Check 5
Banaras Brocades and Sarees received a GI tag in 2009.
UPPCS Special: What should an Uttar Pradesh aspirant remember about Varanasi?
How did Banaras fit into the history of the state?
In the 1700s Banaras grew into a semi-independent state under the Kashi rulers. In 1775 the Nawab of Awadh passed his rights over Banaras to the East India Company.
In 1781 Raja Chet Singh of Banaras rose against Warren Hastings. The revolt failed, and Chet Singh left the city.
After 1947, the Banaras state became part of Uttar Pradesh. Varanasi is now a district and the headquarters of a division. The division also holds Chandauli, Ghazipur and Jaunpur.
Sources (card 11): Varanasi District Administration; Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
What is the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor?
The corridor links the temple to the Ganga near Lalita Ghat. The Prime Minister inaugurated the first phase on 13 December 2021.
The work cleared old buildings around the temple and opened a wide approach from the river. It also gave the city new visitor facilities.
Sources (card 12): Press Information Bureau.
Which inland transport link runs through Varanasi?
Varanasi lies on National Waterway 1, the Ganga stretch from Prayagraj to Haldia. A river terminal here was opened in 2018. Details are in Inland Waterways of India.
Sources (card 13): Press Information Bureau.
Check 6
Raja Chet Singh of Banaras revolted against Warren Hastings in 1781.
Check 7
The Kashi Vishwanath Corridor was inaugurated on 13 December 2021.
Exam Traps
BHU is 1916. Kashi Vidyapith is 1921. Do not swap them.
Sarnath is the site of the first sermon. It is not in Bodh Gaya.
The Asi, not the Varuna, gives its name to Assi Ghat.
Manikarnika is the main cremation ghat. Dashashwamedh is the Aarti ghat.
MCQ on Varanasi (Kashi)
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