Varanasi - the heart of spiritual tourism in India
Varanasi - the heart of spiritual tourism in India Don't be surprised if your heart misses a beat in Varanasi. Also known as Benares and Kasi, it is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world and the nation's spiritual core. In character it can be best described by a word Indian polity now treats with cirumspect derision: secular. It is here that great saints were born - from Sant Kabir to Ravidas. It is here that the great traditions of Hindustani classical music still thrive. This is a place where faith stirs in the soul and where the mortal coil is laid to rest and allowed to become one with the elements. A river runs through it. No ordinary river, this is the great Mother Ganges herself. In fact, the name of the city comes from her two tributaries - Varuna and Asi - that flow through the city. The Rigveda refers to the city as Kasi, the City of Light, founded by none other than Lord Shiva himself. The Kasi Viswanath temple here has one of the 12