From the first moment you arrive in Varanasi, you feel brilliantly alive. Its sights, sounds, colors, and yes, death, bring you immediately into the present, absorbing you in its endlessly fascinating spectacle of ritual activity. Varanasi can only be described as spiritually intimate. It holds that sacred space between the human realm and the divine. So close they dance in the reflection of one another. Spiritual seekers come here to pray, to bathe, to purify, to make whole, and some to die. Transformation is it’s gift.

“Older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.”

– Mark Twain, giving his description of Varanasi

Learn or burn

“People come to Varanasi to learn or to burn.”

– Source unknown. A common expression in Varanasi.

The city name “Varanasi”, also known as Benares, a corruption of the name Varanasi, is derived from the two tributaries of the Ganges River — Varuna and Asi — between which it is physically situated.  Historically, the city has been known to the Hindus as Kashi, which means “brightness”, giving the city its spiritual name of “City of Light”. An early morning sunrise walk or rowboat tour of the riverfront temples will reveal the divine play of light it is known for.

According to Hindu tradition, Varanasi is the oldest city in the world, the eternal city of Lord Shiva. Legend holds that the city is 8000 years old. The old city is located on the west banks of the Ganges River, the sun rising from the east, casting it’s rays over the sacred river. A walk through it’s winding ancient streets is a walk through old world India with it’s chanting holymen, burning incense, climbing monkeys, sacred cows, ancient temples at every turn, and chai sellers alluring you to their savory brew.

Hindus have a cyclical view of life and death. In Varanasi in particular, this cycle is strikingly tangible and omnipresent: birth and death dominate the rituals of daily life.  After all, it is often jokingly said that people come to Varanasi either to learn or to burn. The belief is reinforced by the city’s physical layout: Varanasi is entirely positioned on the west side of the Ganges, the side of the setting sun and therefore symbolic of the city’s association with death as the Hindu cremation center; at the same time,  the city faces east, the side of the rising sun, symbolic of rebirth and new life. The closing of one cycle gives birth to a new one.

There are over 100 sets of steps on the Ganges riverbanks, allowing pilgrims to enter the water for ritual bathing. These are known as bathing ghats. Some ghats are used more for ritual than bathing. A massive ceremony known as the Ganga Aarti is held at sunset at the main Dashaswamedh ghat. The ceremony consists of bell-ringing to ward off evil spirits and offering a series of seven gifts of light to the river.  The lights get progressively brighter as the ceremony proceeds and ends by floating candles on the water and pouring water into the Ganges.