Varanasi- A City of Temples

Everybody knows India as a holy country with varied cultures, religions and diverse people. People of India believe in worshiping their gods and every religion has got its own holy places listed. Hinduism, the biggest religion in India, has got a lot of holy places like Shri Amarnath, Ma Vaishno Devi temple etc. Varanasi is also counted amongst these places.

The city, Varanasi, has always been recognized for its temples and other holy monuments. These monuments have got their own mesmerizing history and greatness. The world renowned Kashi-Vishwanath temple of Varanasi is the best and the most prominent example of it. This jewel of Varanasi is dedicated to Lord Shiva and has got a golden spire which is apprx 15 meters in height. The temple was built in 1777 and has a political past with adjoining mosque which is named as Gyan Vapi Mosque. The mosque has got identical structure to the surrounding area.

The holy river Ganga banks the Varanasi shores. Needles to mention that the Ganga or the Ganges is the biggest and the holiest river of India. It is not considered to be good if any Hindu has not taken a dip in this holy river once in lifetime. The ghats, Dasaswamedh Ghat and Marnikarnika Ghat, are a center of attraction as each one has got its own significance. Dasaswamedh Ghat is known for its nightly performance of the Ganga Aarti where-as the Marnikarnika Ghat is known as a crematory where Hindus cremate their dead.

One thing, which people are hesitated in doing now-a-days, is drinking the holly water of the sacred well known as Gyan Kupor Well. Earlier, people used to come here to drink the water of this well because they had a belief that this will cure their long term illnesses. Another site, which is not so old, is the Tulsi Manas Temple which was built in 1964 and is dedicated the Lord Ram. They say that the great poet Tulsi Das wrote the Hindi (one of the Indian languages) version of the great epic Ramayana and was named as Ram Charit Manas. The writings of the great epic are carved on the white marbled walls.

There is another temple that never goes un-noticed and that is Bharat Mata Temple. This is dedicated to the Mother India and in the heart of temple, there is a statue of Mother India which is actually a map of un-divided India. The temple was built in 1936 and was inaugurated by Mahatama Gandhi. Varanasi also boasts of the astronomical observatory named as the Jantar Mantar. It was built by Maharaja Jai Singh of Jaipur in 1737. It is known for predicting future eclipses, calculate the declination of the sun, stars and planets and decipher local time.

Varanasi is also known for the BHU (Banaras Hindu University) which is counted amongst the largest learning centres in Asia and is facilitating more than 20k students enrolled in various courses. The university was founded by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya in 1917. It is remarkable to say that he was an educator and a freedom fighter as well.