{"id":2634,"date":"2020-05-18T09:08:13","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T09:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.india-tours.com\/blog\/?page_id=2634"},"modified":"2023-03-20T06:04:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T06:04:19","slug":"varanasi-an-oldest-city-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.india-tours.com\/blog\/varanasi-an-oldest-city-in-the-world.html","title":{"rendered":"Varanasi – An Oldest City in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The land of Varanasi, often referred to as Benares, has been the ultimate pilgrimage spot for Hindus for ages. Varanasi is the oldest living city in the world. This city is on the banks of river Ganges. Varanasi is one of the major religious places in India, where Hindus wishes to visit at least once in his\/her lifetime. People strongly believe that if they take dip in this river Ganga, their sins will wash away.
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Varanasi as \u201colder than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together\u201d. The holy city was the capital of the ancient \u2018Janapad\u2019 (kingdom) of Kashi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the great spiritual teachers are associated with Benares. Buddha gave his first sermon nearby in the deer park at Sarnath. Parshvanatha, the first master of the jains, was born in the town in the 8th century. Varanasi is the embodiment of heaven on earth.
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Eighty-five per cent of all Indians are Hindu. Every devout Hindu hopes to tread the hallowed \u2018Pankoshi road\u2019 at least once in their life and bathe in the same day in strict succession in the five ghats of Assi, Dashashwamedh, Adi Keshav (Varuna-sangam), Panchganga and, finally, the cremation ghat of Manikarnika. There are over 80 ghats, or embankment steps stretching four miles along the left bank of the Ganges.
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Varanasi is a bridge or \u2018tirtha\u2019 between heaven and earth, a crossing point where gods visit this world and mortals travel to the next. Shiva brought his wife, Parvati, to the City of Light. The town derives its name from the combination of two rivers \u2013 the Varuna and Assi.
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The bodies arrive all day on bamboo stretchers and on top of taxi roofs. They are accompanied to their final resting places with the traditional mantra, \u2018Ram, Ram, Satya Hai!\u2019
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Mourning is considered bad luck by the men who attend the funeral pyre. Women are forbidden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eldest son, head shaven, walks around the fire and sets it alight. It takes three hours to burn a body. Four hundred are cremated a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the ancient city of \u2018burning and learning\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along the banks holy men perform their pujas, offering \u201cprasad\u201d to the scummy waters. Turds float by. Nearby, under a pipal tree, a goat bleat. Two dogs fight over a bone. Monkeys scavenge rice grains swept towards them by a toothless old woman with a broom. Vultures circle overhead. Mynah birds screech from the trees. Children play marbles.
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A million Hindus a year come to Uttar Pradesh to purify themselves in the polluted waters flowing through Shiva the Destroyer\u2019s city. To achieve \u2018moshka\u2019 or \u2018mukti\u2019 \u2013 salvation from the pain of existence and the anguish of continual rebirth and death. Die in Varanasi and your spirit will be united with the absolute, the Atman.
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Eternal peace is guaranteed and enlightenment assured amid the noisy crowds, the dust, the incense, the clangorous rickshaw bells and the raw sewerage.
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Varanasi has been the centre of Sanskrit study for over 2,500 years. The institute was founded in 1791. The novelist Prem Chand and poet Tulksi Das as well as the musician Ravi Shankar were all born in Varanasi. Music houses can be found in every narrow alleyway along with the silk houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The place became the burning ghat because of its proximity to the sacred pools of Manikarni-kakhund dug by Vishnu with his discus. Shiva was so impressed by Benares that he dropped jewelled earrings into the river.
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Pilgrims come to Benares to press their palms together and give the traditional Namaskar greeting… to salute the divine in everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varanasi or Benaras as it was known previously is well-connected by both road and rail. The Varanasi Airport lies 25 km from the city center. Tourists coming from out of India can come first to Delhi or Mumbai and then fly by a domestic flight to Varanasi. From the airport, you can reach your hotel by a taxi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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La tierra de Varanasi, a menudo conocida como Benares, ha sido el lugar de peregrinaci\u00f3n definitivo para los hind\u00faes durante siglos. Varanasi es la ciudad viva m\u00e1s antigua del mundo. Esta ciudad est\u00e1 a orillas del r\u00edo Ganges. Varanasi es uno de los principales lugares religiosos de la India, donde los hind\u00faes desean visitar al menos una vez en su vida. La gente cree firmemente que si se ba\u00f1an en este r\u00edo Ganga, sus pecados desaparecer\u00e1n. 
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Varanasi como “m\u00e1s antiguo que la historia, m\u00e1s antiguo que la tradici\u00f3n, m\u00e1s viejo incluso que la leyenda y se ve el doble de viejo que todos ellos juntos\u201d. La ciudad santa fue la capital del antiguo \u2018janapad\u2019 (reino) de Kashi. 
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Muchos de los grandes maestros espirituales est\u00e1n asociados con Benares. Buda dio su primer serm\u00f3n cerca en el parque de ciervos en Sarnath. Parshvanatha, el primer maestro de los jains, naci\u00f3 en la ciudad en el siglo VIII. Varanasi es la encarnaci\u00f3n del cielo en la tierra. 
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El 85% de todos los indios son hind\u00faes. Cada hind\u00fa devoto espera pisar el santipido ‘Camino Pankoshi’ al menos una vez en su vida y ba\u00f1arse en el mismo d\u00eda en estricta sucesi\u00f3n en los cinco ghats de Assi, Dashashwamedh, Adi Keshav (Varuna-sangam), Panchganga y, finalmente, la cremaci\u00f3n ghat de Manikarnika. Hay m\u00e1s de 80 ghats, o escalones de terrapl\u00e9n que se extienden cuatro millas a lo largo de la orilla izquierda del Ganges.
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Varanasi es un puente o \u2018tirtha\u2019 entre el cielo y la tierra, un punto de cruce donde los dioses visitan este mundo y los mortales viajan al siguiente. Shiva trajo a su esposa, Parvati, a la Ciudad de la Luz. La ciudad deriva su nombre de la combinaci\u00f3n de dos r\u00edos \u2013 el Varuna y Assi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Los cuerpos llegan todo el d\u00eda en camillas de bamb\u00fa y en la parte superior de los techos de taxi. Ellos son acompa\u00f1ados a sus lugares de descanso finales con el mantra tradicional, \u2018Ram, Ram, Satya Hai’
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The land of Varanasi, often referred to as Benares, has been the ultimate pilgrimage spot for Hindus for ages. Varanasi is the oldest living city in the world. This city is on the banks of river Ganges. Varanasi is one of the major religious places in India, where Hindus wishes...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2634","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nVaranasi - An Oldest City in the world | India Tours Blog | India Travel Information<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.india-tours.com\/blog\/varanasi-an-oldest-city-in-the-world.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Varanasi - An Oldest City in the world | India Tours Blog | India Travel Information\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The land of Varanasi, often referred to as Benares, has been the ultimate pilgrimage spot for Hindus for ages. 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