VARANASI
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Calculator in India
Location: National
Highway No. 2 On Delhi-Calcutta Route (Uttar Pradesh)
Also Known As: Kashi
Main Attraction:
The Ghats, Benaras Hindu University
Best Season: September-March
Varanasi or Banaras
is one of the oldest cities of India.
This city has found
place in the Buddhist scriptures as well the epic of Mahabharata.
In Pali language
Varanasi was called Banarasi hence it got the name 'Banaras'.
Varanasi is also
called 'Kashi' or the city of spiritual light.
Kashi is the place
where Shiva and Parvati stood when the "time started ticking".
This ancient city
of India is located on holiest river of India--Ganga.
This relation is
unique and has attracted thousands of pilgrims.
One theory also
goes that Varanasi is located on the land
between the river
Varuna and Assi hence the name Varanasi.
This town also has
its place in history with many events and incidents
being related with
it. From time immemorial Varanasi has
been the center
of education, religion, art and culture.
For every visitor
Varanasi has different experiences to offer.
The shimmering red
and golden water of the Ganges when rays of dawn
falls on them, the
high banks, the temples, the Ashrams,
the pavilions all
are an experience in themselves.
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Chanting of Mantras,
the hymns along with the fragrance of incense
in fills the air
with mysticism which entrails every person.
The refreshing dip
in the Ganges with the splashing of water along the
ghats-- in Varanasi
discovery and experience takes to the ultimate bliss.
Not only for its
temples, Ghats and Ganges Banaras has produced many
exponents of art,
music, literature and crafts. These people were not
different from others
but it was the tradition of Banaras
which moulded them
in the way they came out to be.
Why only the luminaries,
Varanasi has excelled in the art of silk weaving.
The Banarasi silk
sarees and brocades are cherished as collector's items across the world.
As a eternal city
with rich and vibrant past, it has no exquisitely carved palaces,
no impregnable fort
no architectural splendour but still the city has an inherent charm of
its own.
The ghats dotted
with temples, the maze of alleys along the ghats, what ever
Varanasi has is
enough to attract the visitor again and again.
The city which did
not die even after being plundered many
times in is a true
sense a fascinating area to wander around.
PRIME ATTRACTIONS
Religious Places
The Ghats Of Varanasi
In this ancient
city of pilgrimage, the bathing ghats are main attraction.
People flock here
in large numbers every day to take bath and worship in
the temples built
beside the river bank.
Centuries old tradition
to offer puja to the rising Sun is still maintained.
The Kashi Vishwanath
Temple / Gyanvapi Mosque
This temple is dedicated
to Lord Shiva. It is popularly known as the golden
Temple due the Gold
plating done on its 15.5 meter high spire.
One tonne of gold
donated by Maharaja Ranjit Singh has been used in the
gold plating of
the spire. The temple was destroyed in the various
invasions and was
rebuilt in 1776 by Rani Ahilyabai of Indore.
St. Mary's Church
Situated in the
cantonment area of Benaras (Varanasi) the St. Mary's
Church has a low
tower, spire and projecting poitico. Instead of windows tile,
church has louvred
doors to the sides and hooded ventilation slots beneath the cornice.
Durga Temple
Built in the 8th
century, the Durga temple is one of the most important temples in Varanasi.
This temple is built
in Nagara Style. The shikhara of the temple is formed
by many small spires
which are built one on top of the other.
Bharat Mata Temple
This temple is dedicated
to Mother India. Just one kilometer from the
Varanasi station.
The temple is built in the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi
Vidyapeeth which
was built by Babu Shiv Prasad Gupt.
This temple was
inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1936 so that the
citizens could respect
Mother India in statue form. The statute is built in marble.
The statue is a
replica of undivided India in three dimension which
has the mountains,
plains and oceans in right proportion.
Tulsi Manas Temple
This temple is dedicated
to Lord Rama. The temple is built in the place
where Goswami Tulsidas
composed the epic 'Ramacharitramanas'
which provides us
with detailed description of the history and deeds of
Lord Rama. Tulsi
Manas Temple was constructed by a philanthropist family in 1964.
Nepali Temple
The King of Nepal
had built this temple on Lalita ghat in Nepali style.
The Nepali temple
is also called the 'Kathwala temple'. The temple has
some magnificent
woodwork. Tourist from all over the world come just to
see this temple
which has no comparison with any other temple in India.
The workers who carved
this temple out were brought from Nepal.
The wood used in
the temple is also found in Nepal. The speciality of
this wood is that
termites do not eat this wood. { Book Religious
Tours }
Museums
Ram Nagar Durg
2 kms from the Kashi
Hindu university, across the Ganges is located
the ancestral house
in the fort which was built by the former rulers of Kashi.
In one of the sections
of the fort is the museum which displays
the royalty which
was once part of the kingdom.
This museum gives
an insight into the grandeur which once prevailed in the fort.
On the Ramnagar
Pandav road is a beautiful Durga temple. This temple has very
delicate and intricate
carving done on stone. These carvings are worth giving a look.
Bharat Kala Museum
The Kashi Hindu
university has a museum which has a very rich collection
of precious and
rare historical artifacts, statues, pictures, paintings and manuscripts.
This small but very
well maintained museum gives an over view of the ancient
city of Varanasi.
Entry in the museum is free but check out the timings.
Others
Nandeshwar Kothi
Nandeshwari Kothi,
designed by James Prinsep is
a typical building
of the early 19th century in Benaras.
Benaras Hindu University
This is the largest
and oldest university in north India.
Spread over an area
of 2,000 acres, this great place of education was
established by Pt.
Madan Mohan Malaviya. Today the campus has
faculties of Arts,
Science, Music, Sanskrit, Languages,
Engineering, Statistics
and Medical to name a few of them.
The university also
has the huge Vishwanath temple which was built
and maintained by
the Birla family. The Sunderlal Medical center has
all the modern facilities
of medical field is also located in the university campus.
Jantar Mantar
The ruler of Jaisingh
built an observatory in Varanasi in line with those
built in Delhi,
Mathura, Ujjain and Jaipur observatories.
The Varanasi observatory
has all the instruments which were required
to record the motion
, speed and properties of various stars and
planets and other
cosmic objects. The observatory was built in 1600 and
still the instruments
give the exact measurements which can match any modern instrument.
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