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BENARES
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BENARES , the See also:Holy See also:City of the See also:Hindus, which gives its name to a See also:district and See also:division in the See also:United Provinces of See also:India. It is one of the most See also:ancient cities in the See also:world. The derivation of its ancient name Varanasi is not known, nor is that of its alter-native name Kasi, which is still in See also:common use among Hindus, and is popularly explained to mean " See also:bright." The See also:original site of the city is supposed to have been at Sarnath, 31' M. See also:north of the See also:present city, where ruins of See also:brick and See also: The bank of the river is entirely lined with stone, and there are many very fine See also:ghats or landing-places built by pious devotees, and highly ornamented. These are generally crowded with bathers and worshippers, who come to See also:wash away their sins in the sacred river Ganges. Near the Manikarnika See also:ghat is the well held to have been dug by See also:Vishnu and filled with his sweat; great See also:numbers of pilgrims bathe in its venerated See also:water. Shrines and temples See also:line the bank of the river. But in spite of its fine See also:appearance from the river, the architecture of Benares is not distinguished, nor are its buildings of high antiquity. Among the most conspicuous of these are the mosque of Aurangzeb, built as an intentional insult in the See also:middle of the Hindu quarter; the Bisheshwar or See also:Golden See also:Temple, important less through architectural beauty than through its See also:rank as the holiest spot in the holy city; and the See also:Durga temple, which, like most of the other See also:principal temples, is a Mahratta See also:building of the 17th century. The temples are mostly small and are placed in the angles of the streets, under the See also:shadow of the lofty houses. Their forms are not ungraceful, and many of them are covered over with beautiful and elaborate carvings of See also:flowers, animals and See also:palm branches. The See also:observatory of See also:Raja Jai Singh is a notable building of the See also:year 1693. The See also:internal streets of the See also:town are so winding and narrow that there is not See also:room for a See also:carriage to pass, and it is difficult to penetrate them even on horseback. The level of the roadway is considerably See also:lower than the ground-floors of the houses, which have generally arched rooms in front, with little shops behind them; and above these they are richly embellished with verandahs, galleries, projecting See also:oriel windows, and very broad overhanging See also:eaves supported by carved brackets. The houses are built of chanar stone, and are lofty, none being less than two storeys high, most of them three, and several of five or six storeys. The Hindus are fond of See also:painting the outside of their houses a deep red See also:colour, and of covering the most conspicuous parts with pictures of flowers, men, See also:women, bulls, elephants and gods and goddesses in all the many forms known in Hindu See also:mythology. Benares is bounded by a road which, though 5o m. in See also:circuit, is never distant from the city more than five kos (7 m.); hence its name, Panch-kos road. All who See also:die within this boundary, be they Brahman or See also:low See also:caste, Moslem or See also:Christian, are sure of admittance into See also:Siva's See also:heaven. To tread the Panch-kos road is one of the great ambitions of a Hindu's See also:life. Even if he be an inhabitant of the sacred city he must See also:traverse it once in the year to See also:free himself from the impurities and sins contracted within the holy precincts. Thousands from all parts of India make the See also:pilgrimage every year. Benares, having from time immemorial been a holy city, contains a vast number of Brahmans, who either subsist by charitable contributions, or are supported by endowments in the numerous religious institutions of the city. Hindu religious mendicants, with every conceivable bodily deformity, line the principal streets on both sides. Some have their legs or arms distorted by long continuance in one position; others have kept their hands clenched until the See also:finger nails have pierced entirely through their hands. But besides an immense resort to Benares of poor pilgrims from every See also:part of India, as well as from See also:Tibet and See also:Burma, numbers of See also:rich Hindus in the decline of life go there for religious salvation. These devotees lavish large sums in indiscriminate charity, and it is the See also:hope of sharing in such pious distributions that brings together the concourse of religious mendicants from all quarters of the See also:country. The city of Benares had a See also:population in 1901 of 209,331. The See also:European quarter lies to the See also:west of the native town, on both sides of the river Barna. Here is the See also:cantonment of Sikraul, no longer of much military importance, and the suburb of Sigra, the seat of the See also:chief missionary institutions. The principal modern buildings are the See also:Mint, the See also:Prince of See also:Wales' See also:hospital (commemorating the visit of See also: 1599, it was incorporated with the See also:Mogul See also:empire. On the dismemberment of the Delhi empire, it was seized by Safdar Jang, the See also:nawab See also:wazir of Oudh, by whose See also:grandson it was ceded to the East India See also:Company by the treaty of 1775. The subsequent See also:history of Benares contains two important events, the See also:rebellion of Chait Singh in 1781, occasioned by the demands of See also:Warren See also:Hastings for See also:money and troops to carry on the Mahratta See also:War, and the See also:Mutiny of 1857, when the See also:energy and coolness of the European officials, chiefly of See also:General See also:Neill, carried the district successfully through the See also:storm. The DISTRICT of BENARES extends over both sides of the Ganges and has an area of too8 sq. m. The See also:surface of the country is remarkably level, with numerous deep ravines in the calcareous See also:conglomerate. The See also:soil is a clayey or a sandy See also:loam, and very fertile except in the Usar tracts, where there is a saline efflorescence. The principal See also:rivers are the Ganges, See also:Karamnasa, See also:Gumti and Barna. The principal crops are See also:barley, See also:rice, See also:wheat, other See also:food-grains, See also:pulse, See also:sugar-See also:cane and See also:opium. The See also:main line of the East Indian railway runs through the See also:southern portion of the district, with a See also:branch to Benares city; the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway through the northern portion, starting from the city; and a branch of the See also:Bengal & North-Western railway See also:BENCH 715 also terminates at Benares. The See also:climate of Benares is cool in See also:winter but very warm in the hot See also:season. The population in 1901 was 882,084, showing a decrease of 4 % in the See also:decade due to the effects of See also:famine. The DIvIsIoN OF BENARES has an area of 10,431 sq. m., and comprises the districts of Benares, See also:Mirzapur, See also:Jaunpur, See also:Ghazipur and See also:Ballia. In 19ot the population was 5,069,020, showing a decrease of 6 % in the decade. See E. B. See also:Havel!, Benares (1906) ; M. A. Sherring, The Sacred City of the Hindus (1868). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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