Holiest Place of Hindus. Review on Varanasi

Varanasi also commonly known as Benares or Banaras is a city situated on the banks of the River Ganges in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, also regarded as holy by Buddhists, and Jains is the Holiest Place of Hindus(and center of earth in Hindu Cosmology) where at least once in life a Hindu is expected to do pilgrimage and if possible pour the remains(ashes) of cremated ancestors here into the River Ganga. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and probably the oldest of India

The Kashi Naresh(Maharaja of Kashi) is the chief cultural patron of Varanasi and an essential part of all religious celebrations. The city has been a cultural and religious centre in North India for several thousand years. The Benares Gharana form of Indian classical music developed in Varanasi, and many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians resided or reside in Varanasi, including Kabir, Ravidas Their Guru Swami Ramanand, Trailanga Swami, Munshi Premchand, Jaishankar Prasad, Acharya Shukla, Ravi Shankar, Girija Devi, Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Bismillah Khan. Tulsidas wrote Ramacharitamanas here, and Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath located near Varanasi

History:

According to legend, the city was founded by the Hindu deity, Lord Shiva, around 5, 000 years ago, [3] thus making it one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in the country. Varanasi is generally believed to be about 3, 000 years old.[16] Varanasi was a commercial and industrial center famous for its muslin and silk fabrics, perfumes, ivory works, and sculpture. Varanasi became an independent Kingdom of Kashi in the eighteenth century, and under subsequent British rule

Climate:

Varanasi experiences a humid subtropical climate(Köppen climate classification Cwa) with large variations between summer and winter temperatures. Summers are long, from early April to October, with intervening monsoon seasons and are also extremely hot, even by South Asian standards.

Temples:

Varanasi is a city of temples. Almost every road crossing has a nearby temple. Such small temples form the basis of daily local prayers and other rituals. But there are many large temples too, erected at different times through out the history of Varanasi.

1)      Kashi Vishwanath Temple,

2)      Durga Temple

3)      Sankat Mochan Temple

4)      Vyasa Temple at Ramnagar

5)      The New Vishwanath Temple

6)      Tulsi Manas Temple

7)      Annapurna Temple

8)      Sankatha Temple

9)      Kalbhairav Temple

10)   Bharat Mata Temple

Varanasi is home to four universities:

1)Banaras Hindu University,

2)Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth,

3)Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies and

4)Sampurnanand Sanskrit University.

Transport

Varanasi is well connected by air, rail and road with the major Indian cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Jaipur, Patna, Secunderabad etc.It is located at a distance of 776 km from Delhi. It is located at a distance of 1840 km from Secunderabad

Residents mainly speak Hindi and Kashika Bhojpuri, which is closely related to the Hindi language. People often refer to Varanasi as "the city of temples", "the holy city of India", "the religious capital of India", "the city of lights", and "the city of learning."