Are Varanasi And Banaras Same?
Varanasi or Benaras or Banaras or Kashi, situated in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh right on the Ganga is one of the oldest cities in the world that has survived since 11th century BC. Historically termed as the spiritual capital of India. Notably, it is India’s largest religious city and the most important of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism and Jainism. It hosts Hindu people that come to wash their bodies in water from river Ganges and bury their dead. Around 2000 temples exist in this city built in winding streets where one of the most important is the Kashi Vishwanath or the ‘Golden Temple’ that shelters the lord Shiva.
Varanasi also grew into an industrial city for Muslim and silk fabrics, fragrances, ivory works, and art Buddha is believed to have established Buddhism in the region in 528 BCE in Sarnath where he delivered his first sermon known as ‘The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma’. As for religious importance, Varanasi is noteworthy for the fact that Adi Shankara made Shiva as an official sect of the city in the VIII century. Muslim rule over the region continued throughout the early part of the Middle Ages that played an important part in Hinduism as it was a place of worship and pilgrimage besides being an educational and cultural institution for mysticism and poetry. It is worth stating that Varanasi was the place where Tulsidas wrote Ram Charit Manas, which is an epic poem dedicated to the life of Rama.
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