MY BLOGS- HISTORY OF VARANASI (INDIA)

                                           HISTORY OF VARANASI (INDIA)

 Varanasi, a most famous and oldest inhabited city of the world, originally known as the Kashi (Kashi word was derived from the ‘Kasha’ which means the brightness). Varanasi is renowned by many names, some of are Brahma Vardha, Anandakanana, Avimuktaka, Mahasmasana, Kasi, Sudarsana, Surandhana and Ramya. Currently Kashi is known by the name Varanasi which was derived from the two tributaries of the holy River Gange named Varuna and Assi. Kashi is situated at the banks of the Holy River Ganges in the Uttar Pradesh state of India.

Varanasi city is the center of a variety of cultural and religious activities of the Northern India including learning, literature and art from years. It is also known as the city of God as it is considered that it was manufactured by the Lord Shiva. It is the center for origination of the Hindustani classical music from Benares Gharana. It is the birth place and work place for many Indian philosophers, poets, writers, musicians and other great personalities. It is the place where Gautama Buddha has given his first sermon at the holy place named Sarnath.

Location of the Kashi

It is located in the North India in the middle valley of Gange, in the east part of the UP state and around 320 kilometres southeast to the Lucknow. It is situated about 797 km towards southeast of the New Delhi, 121 km towards east of Allahabad and 63 km towards south of Jaunpur. It is considered that people make a panch koshi parikrama between the Varuna and Assi ghat (a five mile, 8.3 km distance) which ended at the Sakshi Vinayak Temple.

According to the Hinduism and Jainism, Kashi is the most holy city of the seven sacred cities. It is believed by the Hindus that one who dies in the Varanasi will get salvation from the cycle of birth and death and finally intermingled in to the Lord Shiva.

It has become the most famous place for tourism in India because of its culture, tradition, sightseeings, attractive places, ghats, fairs, festivals and temples. Many of its old temples have been destroyed decades ago in the 12th century in the time of the Muslim King Mohammad Ghauri. The current temples and other religious places in Kashi are of 18th century.

King of Kashi

The King of Kashi, Kashi Naresh, become the chief guest and organizer of all the cultural as well as religious celebrations of the Varanasi city. The culture of Varanasi is very old and religious, which is intimately connected with the Gange River.

From the eighteenth century, Varanasi became an independent Kingdom of Kashi. Kashi Naresh’s generations still lives in the fort of the Ramanagar. It is situated at the east of the Varanasi at the right bank of the River Ganges. This Fort was built by the Kashi Naresh “Raja Balwant Singh” in the eighteenth century.

The Ramnagar fort and its museum tell the true history of the kings of Benares. The king of Ramnagar was the chief cultural patron and known as the essential part of all religious celebrations of Hindus.

The modern Varanasi was built at the time of Rajput and Maratha kings. The kings of Varanasi were continued to be important through much of the British rule including the maharaja of Benares, or Kashi Naresh until independence of India and during the reign of the Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh. Anant Narayan Singh, the son of Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh, became the next king of the Benares after his father death.

It is the most cultural and spiritual capital of the India which is renowned for having the largest residential University of Asia Benares Hindu University. It is the holy city where the most famous Hindu Epic Ramcharitmanas was written by the Goswami Tulsidas. People often say the Varanasi by the name city of temples, the holy city of India, the religious capital of India, city of lights, city of classical music, city of learning and oldest