{3VARANASI Global cachet for Kashi

For centuries, Varanasi has attracted mystics and philosophers, poets and spiritual leaders, traders, wanderers and adventurers. It is one of India’s oldest towns, with uninterrupted habitation going back about 3,000 years. This was, after all, a city that sat near the crossroads of the Uttarapath and Dakshinapath, the ancient trade routes of the north and south. Over the centuries, it became an important centre for learning and pilgrimage across faiths, but particularly for Hindus, who believe that it is here that Shiva lived and released the Ganga from his matted locks and onto the earth. “The ghats as we see them now are about 200 years old,” says Aruna Sinha, professor emeritus, History, at Banaras Hindu University. “But people have been visiting the Ganga and praying along her banks for thousands of years. Over time, the important places of worship and pilgrim centres along the river bank became ghats.”

There are 84 ghats in all, named for temples, myths, and important people associated with the area’s history. The number 84 is significant in Hindu mythology.

“These ghats are like living documents that tell us about the significance of the city in the past and the present,” says Sinha. “And that’s what makes them so special and so relevant to us and the world.”

They form a vital bridge between the city and the revered river Ganga, inextricably liking the two. The entire 6.5-km riverfront has been nominated to be included in the Unesco World Heritage list. The ghats are indeed greater than the sum of their parts.