{"id":374,"date":"2018-04-22T11:50:44","date_gmt":"2018-04-22T11:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gauravw.com\/?p=374"},"modified":"2022-02-10T18:05:20","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T18:05:20","slug":"varanasi-benaras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gauravw.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/varanasi-benaras\/","title":{"rendered":"Varanasi – The oldest city of India"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together”-<\/em> Mark Twain<\/p>\n

The Name<\/span><\/h3>\n

Varanasi<\/strong> gets its name from two rivers which flow from the city’s two ends “Varun<\/em>” and “Assi<\/em>“. The mention of Varanasi might, in all certainty, make any Indian think of Temples and Ghats but the city has so much more to offer. Being the spiritual capital of India, many people from all walks of life and all around the world flock-in here. Each one in the quest of obtaining something different.<\/p>\n

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                      Zostel, Varanasi<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
There are many places one can choose to stay; in the city or near the ghats and their costs are directly proportional to the distance from ghats.<\/div>\n

Stay<\/span><\/h3>\n

A tip: If you are traveling alone I suggest you try Zostel<\/em> or Hotel Santoor<\/em>. I found them pretty comfortable & pocket-friendly for my short journey.<\/p>\n

The Ghats<\/span><\/h3>\n

Now, if you are an early riser, the city has much more in store for you like enjoying the morning sunrise at a ghat near you. The first impression will leave you spell bound.<\/p>\n

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Watching one of the oldest stars in our solar system from the ghats of one of the oldest city on the planet.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was awed to know how every ghat had a story associated with it or rather each step had a one of their own, for example, The Tulsi ghat<\/strong> is dedicated to one of the greatest poets of the world – Tulsidas who wrote Ram Charit Manas<\/em> – a poet that the present age can never produce, a poet who had composed an entire Epic of 12800 lines in a poetic format!<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, coming back to the ghat, there are 4 Hanuman idols consecrated on this ghat so it is a must visit and if you have time then why not sit and write a poem yourself. The great poet finally left for heavenly abode on the Assi Ghat<\/strong> – the last Ghat which comes under Kashi. You can see a fairly young crowd at Assi due to its closeness to Banaras Hindu University<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

BHU Story<\/span><\/h3>\n

The BHU is spread across 2700 acres and is known to be the Asia’s largest residential university<\/em>. The university was established by noted educationist Madan Mohan Malaviya<\/em> and there is another story behind it. The entire funds for the university were taken in form of donations some like Kashi Naresh ( visit Ramnagar fort<\/strong> ) donated land generously for the humble cause but getting funds wasn’t easy. MMM went door to door of rich landlords and extracted as much as he could, however, it wasn’t sufficient to fulfill the University.<\/p>\n\n

So he went to Nizam of Hyderabad to ask funds for the university. Nizam who was averse to the ideas of Hinduism grew furious and hurled a shoe at him. Malaviya who was determined to manifest his dream decided to take the show and auction it. This news, when reached Nizam, made him angrier and he sent his subordinates to buy this shoe at any price to avoid his insult of being sold to a someone not rich as him. The bid for the shoe went through the roof; almost as high as getting multiple IPL teams and so the secular BHU became more secular by the wit and intellect of MMM.<\/div>\n
To commemorate the founder of BHU, a statue of him has been erected right in front of New Vishwanath Temple<\/strong>.<\/div>\n

I must admit that I haven’t seen a temple with a Shikhara as high as this one. The temple which is constructed out of marble, features around 9 small temples in it dedicated to many gods. Every window\/ wall has been so thoughtfully made that it depicts a famous Hindu personality.<\/p>\n

It has a lush green sprawling garden outside where one can find many students relaxing much like the Saraswati Temple of BITS Pilani; there’s another story which connects directly to this place but let’s leave it or lest we shall get lost.<\/p>\n

The beautiful Ganga Aarti<\/span><\/h3>\n

In the evening, you can witness the magic of nature and watch the sunset at the Ghats. A philosopher might go on so far to say that even the sun feels upset that he won’t be experiencing the enchanting and grand Ganga aarti<\/em> at 7:30 pm on Dashashwamedh Ghat<\/strong>!<\/p>\n