Varanasi

Varanasi: The Living City on the Ganges

Varanasi is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with evidence of settlement dating back to around 1200 BCE. It sits on the western bank of the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, about 800 kilometres southeast of Delhi. Hindus consider it the holiest city in India; dying in Varanasi is believed to ensure moksha, liberation from the cycle of rebirth. This is not a metaphor that the city keeps at a remove – Varanasi’s cremation ghats operate continuously and the city’s relationship with death is public and unobscured in a way that is unlike anywhere else most Western visitors have been.

The Ghats

The city’s defining feature is its 88 ghats: stone stairways descending from the old city down to the Ganges, each named and serving different purposes. The ghats stretch for about 6 kilometres along the riverbank and are best understood from a boat on the water, looking back at the layered medieval city rising behind them.

Dashashwamedh Ghat is the main ghat, the most active and the site of the Ganga Aarti ceremony. The aarti runs nightly at dusk, when a coordinated group of priests performs a fire ritual with large brass lamps, incense, and conch shells, accompanied by chanting and music. Several hundred to several thousand people attend on any given evening; the viewing boats on the river fill from an hour before sunset. The ceremony lasts about 45 minutes and is simultaneously a religious ritual and a tourist spectacle – the priests have been doing this every evening for generations, and the fact of a watching audience does not change what is happening. Arrive at least 30 minutes early by boat or risk being behind several rows of people at ghat level.

Manikarnika Ghat and Harishchandra Ghat are the two cremation ghats. Manikarnika is the larger and more sacred; cremations run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Approximately 100 bodies are cremated daily at Manikarnika. The pyres are visible from the river and from the ghat steps. Photography is prohibited and that prohibition should be respected without exception.

Assi Ghat, at the southern end of the main ghat stretch, is where many of the guesthouses catering to longer-stay visitors are concentrated. The ghat is quieter than Dashashwamedh and has its own smaller morning aarti. The riverbank cafes here are the places where people end up staying for a week when they meant to stay for two days.

The Old City and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple

The lanes of the old city behind the ghats are genuinely difficult to navigate: narrow, unlabelled, occupied by cows, motorcycles, sadhus, pilgrims, and vendors, and not organized on any grid. This is not a complaint; it is the point. The Kashi Vishwanath Temple, dedicated to Shiva and built in its current form in 1780 by Ahilya Bai Holkar, is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines in India and among the most important pilgrimage sites in Hinduism. Non-Hindus were historically not permitted inside; the rules have changed and non-Hindu visitors are now admitted to the outer courtyard and some inner sections. A major reconstruction has expanded the temple complex significantly since 2019. The area directly around the temple has security checkpoints requiring bags to be left outside.

Sarnath

Sarnath is 10 kilometres north of Varanasi, accessible by auto-rickshaw in 30 minutes (approximately Rs 150-200 one way). The site is where the Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, setting the Dharma Chakra in motion. The Dhamek Stupa, a cylindrical brick structure 28 metres in diameter and 34 metres tall, was built in 500 CE on the spot where this first sermon was delivered. The Archaeological Museum at Sarnath holds the original Ashoka lion capital from the 3rd century BCE, which became the national emblem of India. The site is less crowded than Varanasi and completely different in atmosphere: quiet, orderly, with Buddhist pilgrims from across Asia.

Food

Varanasi is a strongly vegetarian city. The kachauri-sabzi breakfast – fried dough filled with spiced lentils, served with potato curry – from street vendors near the ghats costs Rs 30-50. Chaat from Old Varanasi’s established chaat sellers (Kashi Chaat Bhandar on Godowlia is a reference point) includes aloo tikki, gol gappa, and dahi puri in the Rs 40-80 range. Malaiyo, a winter specialty (available November to February), is a frothy milk-and-saffron sweet that dissolves on the tongue and exists essentially nowhere outside Varanasi.

For a sit-down meal, the restaurants on Assi Ghat serve thalis in the Rs 120-200 range. Brown Bread Bakery on Tripura Bhairavi Road, established by a German-Indian couple, has been a fixture for long-stay visitors for decades.

Practical Notes

The Ganges at Varanasi is heavily polluted; do not swim in it. Festivals change the city’s intensity dramatically: Diwali, Kartik Purnima (when the full moon falls in October or November), and Maha Shivaratri each bring enormous crowds to the ghats. This can be the reason to visit or the reason to plan around, depending on your tolerance. November through February is the coolest and most comfortable period. The heat from April onward is significant; the monsoon (July-September) brings heavy rain but also a Ganges that rises dramatically to cover the lower ghats.