Night view of the city of Varanasi

From the archive record

Busy traffic on the roads and over crowded market of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. One can see the monkeys walking over the cables in front of Hotel Banaras Lodge. Varanasi, also known as Banaras, is an Indian city on the banks of the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh, 320 kilometres (200 mi) southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It is the holiest of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism, Ravidassia religion and Jainism, and played an important role in the development of Buddhism. Some Hindus believe that death at Varanasi brings salvation. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Varanasi is also known as the favourite city of the Hindu deity Lord Shiva as it has been mentioned in the Rigveda that this city at older times was known as Kashi or "Shiv ki Nagri". The