Varanasi - The City Which Holds the Secret of Life

The name Varanasi originates from the names of two rivers Varuna and Asi. Varuna, still flowing in the city and asi is a small stream near Asi ghat. The city is also reffered to as "kashi" which means 'luminous one’ or ‘city of the light’ and derived its name from ‘Kasha’ which actually means ‘brightness’. Varanasi is also known by the name Banaras. The city is also known for its heritage in music, art, culture, religion and literature.

                     khaak hai jis jameen ka paras, wo sehar benares hai..

Varanasi India is a mysterious city in itself. It is known to be the oldest city in the world, existing here even before traditions were established.Varanasi is said to be founded by Lord Shiva and Parvati as the most religious place in the world. Every year over 100 million people across the world visit Varanasi and different tourist places in Varanasi to experience the culture and tradition followed by this city.

In terms of tourism and places to visit in Varanasi, this city is the only place where you could end up with inner peace and be a part of one of the oldest Indian traditions as well. Other than religious places, there are several places to visit near Varanasi that can be visited such as Sarnath and Ram Nagar. Where Sarnath is one of four holy Buddhist sites sanctioned by the Buddha himself for pilgrimage and Ram Nagar fort is situated on the bank of Ganga river.Tourist places in Varanasi have always been famous with foreign tourists, that's the only reason that about 1 million foreign visitors love visiting Varanasi every year.   

The most exquisite places to visit in Varanasi includes more than 23000 temples and 15 mosques for the religious believers and over 50 most known places to eat in Varanasi, including our beloved Banarasi Pan and Ramnagar ki lassi. In matter of food, i think Varanasi is the only place where you can find so many variety of dishes without getting a hole in your pocket. Varanasi places to visit and places for eatery has a  revenue of over $10 million every year distributed over 1 crore people.

There are several Varanasi places to visit, such as different ancient temples which includes Kashi Vishwanath temple, Durga Mandir,Sankat Mochan and many more. Moving on from temples the city has 70 ghats near the Ganga river at which numerous religious practices are performed. Some of the well known ghats are Dashashwamedh ghat, Assi ghat, Harischandra ghat and Marikanka ghat. 

There are many places to visit in Varanasi and around. Sitamarhi is the place which is located between Varanasi and Allahabad. It is one the places to visit near Varanasi as it is well known Hindu pilgrimage and famous tourist spot. There is another place near Varanasi, Mirzapur,which is famous for its sightseeing with various number of waterfalls and scenery beauty. Tourism has a profound effect on people of Varanasi and their daily life and for this same reason they always treat their tourists as god.

Varanasi is also called as the hub of the learning culture and arts. Varanasi has influenced people in spiritualism, mysticism, Sanskrit, yoga and Hindi language. It has honored writers which includes infamous novelist Prem Chand and Tulsi Das, renowned saint-poet who wrote Ram Charit Manas. No doubt it is the city which holds the secret of life because life is all about culture, tradition and arts all of which resides at the core of the Varanasi. It has been the place for people who have born with music and dance in them such as the Master of Masters Ravi Shankar, the internationally renowned Sitar maestro and Ustad Bismillah Khan who have set world benchmark for Shehnai. Other than tourist places in Varanasi, these people create Varanasi's image in front of whole world.