“All the different ages of man were represented in the people of the city. Different millennia coexisted side by side. Minds set in different ages walked the same pavements, drank the same water, returned to the same dust.”
William Dalrymple wrote these words about New Delhi, yet they feel even more apt for Varanasi – the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city. Here, antiquity and modernity do not clash; they occupy the same space.
This was the city I grew up in – a place where ancient rituals unfolded beside the rhythms of everyday life. An internet café nestled within the grounds of an akhara was not an unusual sight. The winding galis of the old city housed shops selling betel nuts and flowers, bangles, Banarasi saris, utensils and toys, all leading towards the sacred Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Cows, cycle-rickshaws, motorcars and pedestrians negotiated the same narrow streets. The sounds of Banaras rose in a chorus of bells, prayers, commerce and conversation. Standing on its ghats or wandering through its labyrinthine lanes dotted with temples, one cannot help but wonder how this ancient city has travelled through millennia while remaining so distinctly itself.
Mythological Kashi – City of Light
Kashi, Banaras, Avimukta, Varanasi – by whatever name it is known, the city occupies a unique place in India’s spiritual imagination. For thousands of years, pilgrims, seekers and scholars have journeyed here in search of enlightenment, peace and ultimately, moksha.
Part of Kashi’s sacred significance lies in its geography. Here, the Ganga takes an unusual northward turn, flowing towards its source rather than the sea. In Hindu tradition, the north is associated with permanence and the Pole Star, while the south is linked with mortality and the realm of the dead. The crescent-shaped riverfront, with the city rising above it, has long been viewed as a cosmic landscape where the boundaries between life and death blur. It is this belief that draws countless devotees to the city, hoping to spend their final days here or have their ashes immersed in its waters.
The oldest name of the city is Kashi, a name that appears in ancient texts and traditions dating back over three thousand years. The word is commonly derived from the Sanskrit root kash, meaning “to shine” or “to illuminate.” The Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana explains that the city derives its name from the divine light of Shiva that shines eternally here, earning it the epithet “The City of Light.”
Varanasi is also believed to derive its name from the rivers Varuna and Assi that mark the city’s traditional boundaries. Over centuries, Varanasi became Baranasi, Banaras and eventually Benares under British rule. Another ancient name, Avimukta, from Matsya Purana meaning “never forsaken,” reflects the belief that Shiva never abandons the city – even during the cosmic dissolution, or pralaya, Shiva holds Kashi aloft on his trident, preserving it from destruction.
Ancient texts also trace the city’s beginnings to Anandavana or Anandkanana – the “Forest of Bliss.” It was believed to be a sacred grove where Shiva’s presence permeated every corner, making it a landscape of divine joy and spiritual awakening. Other names reveal different dimensions of Kashi’s character. It is known as Rudravasa, the abode of Rudra, another form of Shiva, affirming its status as the god’s chosen city. Or the name Mahashamshana – the Great Cremation Ground – a reminder of Kashi’s enduring association with death, liberation and divine existence.
Indeed, no deity is more closely associated with the city than Shiva. Hindu mythology describes Kashi as his earthly home, a place where the divine is believed to be especially accessible. One popular legend recounts that after marrying Parvati, Shiva brought his bride to Kashi, making it their abode. Another links the city to the fiery jyotirlinga through which Shiva revealed his infinite form to Brahma and Vishnu. These stories, though varied, share a common theme: Kashi as a sacred space where the divine manifests itself in light, knowledge and liberation.
Even today, mythology continues to shape the city’s living traditions. Festivals such as Rangbhari Ekadashi and the unique Masane ki Holi celebrate Shiva’s enduring presence in the city and its acceptance of the eternal cycle of life and death. In Banaras, mythology is not confined to ancient texts; it continues to be present in the streets, temples and ghats, linking the present to a timeless sacred past.
Historical Kashi – City of Enlightenment
References to Kashi appear in some of India’s earliest sacred literature, including the Jataka Tales and the Upanishads. Scholars suggest that the city was already an established centre of settlement and culture by the first millennium BCE. Situated on the banks of the Ganga, it developed like many ancient river civilizations – as a hub of trade, pilgrimage and intellectual exchange.
Few cities have shaped the spiritual landscape of India as profoundly as Banaras. Just beyond its northern edge lies Sarnath, where Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon in the sixth century BCE after attaining enlightenment. The event marked the beginning of the Buddhist Sangha and transformed Sarnath into one of the most important centres of Buddhist learning in the ancient world. Emperor Ashoka later commemorated the site with stupas and monasteries, while pilgrims from across Asia journeyed there for centuries. The seventh-century Chinese traveller Xuanzang described the region as a thriving centre of religion, art and scholarship.
Varanasi also occupies an important place in Jain tradition. Several Jain Tirthankaras, including Parshvanatha, are believed to have been born in and around the city, making it a significant pilgrimage destination for Jains alongside Hindus and Buddhists.
What distinguished Banaras, however, was its culture of inquiry. As Indian thought shifted from ritual to philosophical introspection, Kashi became a crucible for ideas that shaped the Upanishads. Questions about the self, consciousness and liberation animated debates among sages and scholars who gathered in Kashi.
Over time, the city became synonymous with learning. New philosophical schools, interpretations and theological traditions were debated and refined here. To gain acceptance, scholars often had to defend their ideas before the learned circles of Banaras. The city attracted some of India’s most influential thinkers, including the grammarian Patanjali in the second century BCE, Adi Shankara in the eighth century CE and Ramanuja in the eleventh century. Their visits reinforced Kashi’s reputation as one of the foremost intellectual centres of the subcontinent.
At the same time, the city evolved into a major centre of temple worship. Early forms of devotion centred around sacred groves, local deities and simple shrines. Between the Mauryan and Gupta periods, however, the worship of Shiva, Vishnu and Shakti gained prominence. Temples became not only places of worship but also centres of learning and community life, while the Puranas and Upanishads firmly established Kashi as one of Hinduism’s holiest cities.
By the end of the Gupta era, Kashi had become a confluence of Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions – philosophical, devotional, scholarly and spiritual – earning its enduring identity as a city of enlightenment.
Destruction, Survival and Reinvention – City of Reinvention
Few cities have endured as many cycles of destruction and renewal as Banaras. Between the eleventh and eighteenth centuries, invasions repeatedly reshaped its landscape. Temples were razed, centres of learning disrupted, scholars dispersed – yet the city refused to fade.
Pilgrims continued to arrive. Rituals continued to be performed. New temples rose where old ones had fallen.
The first major assault came during the Ghaznavid incursions into northern India, followed by the Ghurid conquest at the end of the twelfth century.
The sixteenth century saw a revival of Sanskrit learning, led by scholars from Maharashtra and the south. Under the Mughals, Banaras experienced both patronage and persecution. Akbar’s era saw Rajput nobles rebuild temples and ghats, including the Vishweshwara and Bindu Madhav temples. Aurangzeb’s reign brought renewed destruction, yet the city’s spiritual pulse endured.
After 1707, Banaras entered another period of renewal. Maratha rulers, the Peshwas, the Holkars of Indore, the Scindias of Gwalior, the Bhonsles of Nagpur, the Ranas of Mewar and several other regional dynasties sponsored the rebuilding of temples, ghats and religious institutions. Much of the riverfront that visitors admire today owes its existence to their patronage.
Banaras emerged from these centuries not diminished but transformed. Its skyline, temples and ghats bear the imprint of many eras, reflecting a city that has continually reinvented itself while retaining its soul.
Ancient Soul, Contemporary Life – The Modern City
The eighteenth century marked a new chapter. Under Maharaja Balwant Singh and later Chet Singh, Banaras regained political autonomy before eventually coming under British rule. Yet its cultural identity remained intact.
Under British rule, Banaras entered yet another phase of transformation. New neighbourhoods emerged beyond the old city, roads connected expanding settlements and civic infrastructure reshaped the urban landscape. Yet the sacred geography of the ghats and temples remained at the heart of the city.
The British period also witnessed the institutionalisation of learning that had flourished in the city for centuries. The establishment of the Sanskrit College in 1791 laid the foundation for formal Sanskrit education and reinforced Banaras’s reputation as a centre of scholarship. In the early twentieth century, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya’s vision of a modern university rooted in Indian values led to the establishment of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1916. Supported by Annie Besant, the Kashi Naresh and patrons from across India, BHU became one of the country’s most important centres of higher education, combining modern sciences with the study of Indian philosophy, culture and traditions. A few years later, Mahatma Gandhi established Kashi Vidyapeeth as an important institution associated with India’s freedom movement and nationalist education.
Beyond its universities, Varanasi continued to nurture institutions that reflected its long tradition of intellectual and cultural inquiry. Annie Besant’s Theosophical Society played an influential role in promoting educational and social reform. The Rajghat Education Centre, founded by J. Krishnamurti on the banks of the Ganga, introduced an alternative vision of education centred on self-awareness, critical thinking and holistic development. In 1960s, the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies at Sarnath was established to preserve and promote Tibetan language, religion, philosophy, culture and arts, further strengthening the city’s role as a meeting ground of diverse spiritual and intellectual traditions..
Today, Varanasi stands at the crossroads of tradition and modernity. It is a thriving centre of pilgrimage, education, crafts and tourism. Recent redevelopment projects, including the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, have transformed access to some of the city’s most sacred sites while attracting millions of visitors from India and abroad. Yet despite the changing skyline and expanding infrastructure, the essence of Banaras remains unchanged.
From Myth to Modernity – The Eternal City
Banaras is unlike any other city. Most cities trace their origins to rulers or trade routes; Banaras traces its beginnings to myth. Whether one sees these stories as faith or metaphor, they reveal a deeper truth: for centuries, Kashi has been imagined not just as a place, but as an idea.
That idea has evolved – from sacred groves to philosophical debates, from Buddhist monasteries to modern schools, from destruction to renewal. Today, tourists livestream prayers from the ghats, cafés stand beside ancient temples and boatmen still row across the same crescent-shaped riverfront that inspired saints and poets. Yet dawn still breaks over the Ganga with the sound of bells and chants, and funeral pyres still burn at Manikarnika Ghat – reminders that the city’s essence remains unchanged.
Banaras is a city of contrasts – life and death, scholarship and devotion, memory and reinvention. It belongs as much to mythology as to history. In its lanes and along its riverfront, one encounters not just the story of a city, but the story of India itself – its faiths, philosophies, conflicts, resilience and continuity.
More than three thousand years after it first appeared in legend, Kashi continues to shine. It remains the “City of Light” not because of lamps that illuminate its ghats, but through its enduring ability to illuminate the human search for meaning. In an age of rapid change, Banaras stands as a reminder that a city can evolve endlessly while remaining faithful to its soul.
This article was originally published in The Emerging World, August 2026, Page 24, https://theemergingworld.in/epaper/read/1295
The article is based on my talk on The Story of the Living City of Gods: Banaras on The Indian Podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/5CVnqJ1oEEa6zJm1NZeMVw?si=f1dNjvcfSPq6J_7C31NpxQ
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