A City That Predates the Universe
Most ancient cities are measured in millennia. Varanasi — known in the sacred
tradition as Kashi — resists even that frame. The Kashi Khanda, a section
of the Skanda Purana devoted entirely to this city, makes an extraordinary claim:
Kashi was not built. It was established at the beginning of creation by Shiva
himself, and it will not be destroyed even when the universe dissolves at the
end of the cosmic cycle. When the great pralaya comes and all worlds are
submerged in the cosmic ocean, Kashi rises above the waters, held aloft on
the tip of Shiva’s trident.
This is not merely poetic hyperbole. It encodes a precise metaphysical claim
about the nature of this place: Kashi exists simultaneously in the physical
world and in a transcendent dimension that is not subject to the normal laws
of space and time. To enter Kashi is to step, even briefly, out of samsara
and into what the tradition calls Avimukta — the place that is never abandoned
by Shiva.
Mark Twain, who visited in the 1890s, wrote: “Benares is older than history,
older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all
of them put together.” He was sensing something real, though he lacked the
theological vocabulary to name it.
The Name — Kashi, Varanasi, Banaras
The city wears three names, each revealing a different facet:
Kashi — from the Sanskrit root kash, to shine. Kashi is “the luminous
one,” the city that shines with the light of Shiva’s presence. This is the
most sacred name, used in all liturgical and scriptural contexts.
Varanasi — from Varana and Asi, the two rivers that mark the northern
and southern boundaries of the sacred city. The city between these rivers is
the protected zone of Shiva’s presence. This is the ancient geographical name.
Banaras — a Persianised form of Varanasi, common in the Mughal and British
periods and still widely used in spoken Hindi.
The Cosmic Geography — Panchakroshi and the Avimukta Kshetra
The sacred geography of Kashi is mapped at several scales simultaneously.
The Panchakroshi Yatra is the great circumambulation pilgrimage of the
city — a circuit of approximately 88 kilometres covering 108 sacred shrines,
traditionally walked over five days. It delineates the outer boundary of
the Kashi kshetra (sacred territory). To complete this circuit is considered
equivalent to visiting every major pilgrimage site in India.
Within this outer boundary is the Avimukta Kshetra — the inner sacred zone
that Shiva never abandons. The Kashi Khanda describes this as Shiva’s own body:
its streets are his veins, the Ganga is his digestive tract, the Vishwanath
temple is his heart, Manikarnika ghat is his navel.
The sacred city is also understood as a yantra — a geometrical diagram of
divine energy. The 108 shrines of the Panchakroshi are not randomly distributed;
they map a precise energetic field. Many scholars of sacred geography have noted
that the spatial arrangement of major Kashi temples follows geometric patterns
related to Vedic altar design.
The 84 Ghats — Steps Into the Sacred
The most vivid and immediate experience of Kashi is the ghats — the broad stone
staircases descending from the city to the Ganga. There are 84 main ghats,
stretching for approximately 7 kilometres along the western bank of the Ganga.
(The Ganga flows unusually northward here — a sacred anomaly itself, as north
is the direction of the divine and the Ganga flowing toward it is considered
especially auspicious.)
Dashashwamedha Ghat is the most famous — the site where Brahma is said
to have performed the Ashwamedha (horse sacrifice) ten times. Every evening,
the magnificent Ganga Aarti is performed here: seven priests simultaneously
wield large brass lamps in concentric spirals before the river, accompanied
by bells, conches, and Sanskrit hymns. The spectacle, witnessed by thousands
every evening, is one of the most visually overwhelming religious ceremonies
on earth.
Manikarnika Ghat is the most sacred. Here, Hindu tradition holds,
Sati’s earring (manikarna) fell when Vishnu cut her body after her
self-immolation. This ghat has been burning continuously — twenty-four
hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year — for at least
3,500 years by traditional reckoning, possibly much longer. Up to 300
cremations take place here daily. The smoke from the funeral pyres never
fully dissipates from the sky above Manikarnika.
To die here is, in the tradition’s understanding, to receive moksha —
liberation from the cycle of rebirth. This is not a metaphor but a
theological claim taken with complete seriousness. Families travel hundreds
of miles to bring their dying relatives to Kashi. The Mukti Bhavan
(“liberation house”) near Manikarnika has operated for over 150 years
as a hospice specifically for people who come to Kashi to die.
Harishchandra Ghat is the second cremation ghat, smaller and more austere
than Manikarnika. Named for the legendary king Harishchandra who, in his
trials of absolute truth-keeping, was reduced to working as an attendant
at this very cremation ground.
Assi Ghat, at the southern end of the ghat complex, marks the boundary
of the sacred zone and is where the Ganga Mahotsav festival is
centred each year.
Kashi Vishwanath — The Lord of the Universe
At the geographical and spiritual heart of Kashi stands the Kashi Vishwanath
temple, housing one of the twelve sacred Jyotirlingas — the shrines of
Shiva’s light that are among the holiest sites in all of India.
The present temple was built in 1780 CE by Rani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore,
one of the great rulers of 18th century India, after the previous temple had
been demolished in 1669 CE by Aurangzeb and replaced by the Gyanvapi Mosque.
Ahilyabai built the new temple adjacent to the mosque. In 1835, Maharaja
Ranjit Singh of Punjab donated gold to cover the temple’s twin spires —
approximately 800 kg of gold is said to have been applied to the shikhara
(temple tower).
The lingam at Kashi Vishwanath is not a made object — it is a swayambhu
(self-manifested) form, arising naturally rather than being installed by
human hands. The darshan of this lingam is considered especially potent:
the Kashi Khanda states that a single glimpse of the Vishwanath lingam
destroys the accumulated karma of multiple lifetimes.
A new, vast Kashi Vishwanath Corridor was completed in 2021, connecting
the temple directly to the Ganga ghats and dramatically opening the
sacred space that had been congested for centuries. The project involved
the careful relocation of hundreds of structures and the restoration of
dozens of smaller temples in the corridor.
The Taraka Mantra — Shiva’s Gift to the Dying
The most extraordinary claim of the Kashi tradition is this: to those who
die within the sacred zone of Avimukta Kshetra, Shiva himself appears at
the moment of death and whispers the Taraka mantra — the mantra of crossing
— into their right ear.
The Taraka mantra is generally understood to be Ram Nam — the name of Rama.
This creates a beautiful theological paradox that exercised the minds of Shaiva
and Vaishnava commentators for centuries: Shiva, the supreme Shaiva deity,
whispers the name of Vishnu’s avatara into the ears of the dying. The tradition’s
resolution is that both names ultimately point to the same single Reality — and
that Shiva, who is sarvajna (all-knowing), knows this better than anyone.
The Taraka mantra teaching has practical implications that shape life in Kashi.
The city’s Dom community — the family that has maintained the Manikarnika
cremation fires for generations — hold an important and honoured role in this
sacred economy of death. They are understood not as workers in a lowly occupation
but as instruments in the liberation of souls.
The Ganga at Kashi — Sacred River, Sacred Confluence
The Ganga, known as Bhagirathi at its source and as Ganga in its lower
reaches, takes on its most sacred character at Kashi. The tradition holds that
the Ganga at Kashi carries the energy of all sacred tirthas (pilgrimage sites)
in India — bathing here is equivalent to bathing at every sacred river.
The Ganga Aarti ceremony at Dashashwamedha Ghat is not merely a tourist spectacle —
it is a precise ritual technology, performed at the sandhya (twilight, the
junction of day and night) which is itself a sacred threshold time in Hindu thought.
The fire, the river, and the prayers create a specific energetic invocation that
has been maintained daily for centuries.
For the serious pilgrim, the most auspicious bath is at Brahma Muhurta —
the hour and a half before sunrise — in the month of Kartika (October-November),
ideally on Kartika Purnima. This combination is described in the Kashi Khanda
as conferring the merit of a thousand ordinary pilgrimages.
Kashi in the Epics and Puranas
Kashi appears throughout the epic and Puranic literature as a place of supreme
significance:
In the Mahabharata, Kashi’s king was the powerful ruler Kashiraja, whose
daughters Amba, Ambika, and Ambalika were taken by Bhishma for his half-brother’s
marriage — an event with consequences that ripple through the entire epic narrative.
The sage Agastya is associated with Kashi in the Puranas — he resided here
and received many teachings. The god Ganesh has a particularly strong presence
in Kashi — 56 forms of Vinayaka (Ganesha) are installed around the city at
protective positions, a practice described in the Kashi Khanda.
The sage Vyasa — compiler of the Vedas, author of the Mahabharata and
the Puranas — is said to have composed much of his work while residing in Kashi
and to reside there still in a timeless sense.
Key Takeaways
-
Kashi (Varanasi) is understood in the Hindu tradition as existing beyond
the normal laws of cosmic time — it is established by Shiva at creation
and survives even the cosmic dissolution, held on Shiva’s trident. -
The city’s sacred geography — the Panchakroshi circumambulation, the
84 ghats, the Avimukta Kshetra — constitutes a precise energetic map,
not merely a collection of shrines. -
Manikarnika Ghat, the continuously burning cremation ground, is the
most sacred place in Kashi — where Sati’s earring fell, and where the
fires of liberation have burned uninterrupted for millennia. -
The Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga is a swayambhu (self-manifested)
Shivalinga — among the most potent of the twelve Jyotirlingas in India. -
The tradition of the Taraka mantra — Shiva personally appearing to
the dying within Kashi and whispering liberation into their ear — makes
Kashi the only place where liberation is promised regardless of the
dying person’s spiritual attainment. -
The Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedha Ghat is among the most significant
living ritual performances in Hinduism, performed without interruption
every single evening.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can anyone visit Kashi and receive its spiritual benefits, regardless of caste or birth?
The Kashi Khanda is explicit that Kashi’s grace is available to all — the
sacred geography does not discriminate. The tradition holds that even animals
who die within the Avimukta Kshetra receive the Taraka mantra from Shiva.
For human pilgrims, sincerity of intention and the act of bathing in the
Ganga and taking darshan of Vishwanath are the requirements — not birth lineage.
Q: Is it really true that those who die in Varanasi attain liberation?
This is one of the most discussed theological questions in Hindu philosophy.
The Advaita reading, articulated carefully by Adi Shankaracharya, holds that
the liberation granted at Kashi is sadyo mukti (immediate liberation)
through the Taraka mantra — and that this overrides the karmic state of the
dying person. Other traditions hold that Kashi accelerates liberation
without absolutely guaranteeing it regardless of state. What all traditions
agree is that dying in Kashi is spiritually extraordinary — a rare grace.
Q: What is the best way to experience Kashi as a pilgrim?
Arrive before dawn, bathe at a ghat (Dashashwamedha or Assi are most accessible),
take darshan at Kashi Vishwanath at the earliest opening, walk the ghats
from north to south, sit at Manikarnika at dusk, and attend the Ganga Aarti
at Dashashwamedha. The Panchakroshi pilgrimage, if you have five days, is
the complete experience. Engage a learned guide who knows the city’s shrines —
much of Kashi’s sacred geography is invisible without instruction.
Q: Why does the Ganga flow northward at Varanasi?
The Ganga generally flows eastward toward the Bay of Bengal. At Varanasi,
due to the topography of the Vindhyan scarp, it curves and flows in a
northward direction for approximately 6 kilometres. In Hindu geography,
north (uttara) is associated with the divine, with Uttarayana (the sun’s
northward course), and with liberation. The Ganga flowing north at Kashi
is interpreted as the river turning its face toward God — and this northward
flow is one of the factors that makes this stretch of the river particularly sacred.
