Created in Canva
6th Century BCE | Kashi as a Mahajanapada The city emerged as one of ancient India's major kingdoms and developed as an active centre of trade and urban life. 3rd Century BCE | Ashoka at Sarnath Ashoka commissioned monuments here; the Lion Capital later became India's national emblem. 12th–17th Century | Conflict and Rebuilding Political shifts brought periods of damage, rebuilding, and transformation across the city. 18th–19th Century | Banarasi Weaving Weaving traditions evolved into one of the city's most recognised cultural identities. Present Day | Preservation and Loss While many traditions survive, several crafts and occupations continue to face modern pressures. 1200–1000 BCE | Kashi in Ancient Texts Kashi first appears in ancient literature and was associated with ideas of illumination, knowledge, and spirituality. 528 BCE | Buddha at Sarnath Near Varanasi, Buddha delivered his first sermon, marking the beginning of Buddhism as a teaching tradition. 7th Century CE | Recorded by Travellers Visitors such as Xuanzang documented the region and left valuable historical accounts. 16th–18th Century | The Ghats Take Shape Many ghats visible today were rebuilt or expanded during these centuries. 19th–20th Century | Literature and Music Artistic and literary traditions strengthened the city's cultural life over time.What lies Ahead The City in Ancient Texts Editor's Note How Varanasi Became Varanasi The River and the Ghats Banaras Beyond Temples Lanes That Remember Stories Banarasi Silk and the Hands Behind It Music, Poetry, and Cultural Life The City Through Old Photographs Between Preservation and Loss Varanasi Through My Lens Closing Notes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 8 10
EDITOR'S NOTEIhave found magazines fascinating ever since my childhood. The ones published once a month would literally test my patience, as I would eagerly wait for the next issue to arrive.You may ask: what is so special about magazines? To me, they are not merely special; they are an exclusive piece of art. If an ordinary article were a rose, then a magazine would be nothing less than a bouquet — bringing together storytelling, journaling, designing, discovery, exploration, and expression under one roof. Because of this I always carried a desire to someday create something similar myself.Another question you may ask is: why Varanasi? What is so special about it? To be honest, I have never particularly found this city amusing or extraordinary. Perhaps a large part of this feeling comes from the fact that it is my birthplace; familiarity often makes things seem ordinary, dull, or easy to overlook. Yet for those who are not from Varanasi, this city often appears as a spiritual abode, a place filled with meaning and wonder.This magazine is my attempt to look at the city through a different lens — to move beyond my indifference and rediscover it with curiosity, appreciation, and a fresh perspective.~by Navneet Kumar Gupta
THE CITY IN THE ANCIENT TEXTS The manuscript pages in the Kāśı̄ Khanda of the Skanda Purāna, a Sanskrit text traditionally composed and transmitted over centuries, Within the examined text appears one of the most enduring descriptions associated with the city: The passage identifies the region as Avimukta — “the place never abandoned by Shiva.” According to the mythology, when the rest of the universe is destroyed during Maha Pralaya (the great dissolution), this sacred territory remains completely untouched. Shiva and his consort Parvati are eternally present there. In the textual tradition, Kāśı̄ is not described merely as a city of streets and structures, but as a sacred space permanently associated with Shiva. Rather than presenting the city as temporary or earthly alone, the verse frames it as a place of enduring spiritual significance. References to Kāśı̄ stretch across many centuries and traditions. Ancient Sanskrit literature remembers Kāśı̄ among early kingdoms of northern India (late Vedic period, c. 1200–600 BCE). Buddhist sources of roughly the 5th–3rd centuries BCE connect the region through nearby Sarnath, where the Buddha is said to have delivered his first sermon. Jain traditions remember Varanasi as the birthplace of Pārśvanātha, the 23rd Tirthankara, traditionally dated centuries before the Common Era. Across texts separated by time, geography, and belief systems, one pattern repeatedly emerges: Kāśı̄ appears not only as a city, but as a place that generations returned to in search of meaning.अिवमु ं तदारभ्य ेत्र मेतदुदीय ते । पय ङ्क भूतं शवयोिन रन्त रसुखास्प दम् ॥ The Kamauli Copper Plate Inscriptions, a series of important 11th and 12th-century land-grant charters issued by the Gahadavala dynasty of Kannauj and Varanasi Map of Kashi in 'Kashi Darpana' 1877 Rajrajeshwar Ghat 1832 Eve Of The Eclipse Of The Moon 25th November 1825
WHY DOES A CITYWHY DOES A CITYWHY DOES A CITY HAVEHAVEHAVE THREE NAMES?THREE NAMES?THREE NAMES? WHY DOES A CITY HAVE THREE NAMES?city usually leaves its older names behind. . Bombay became Mumbai, Calcutta became Kolkata, and Madras became Chennai. Varanasi, however, never followed that pattern. More than two thousand years have passed but people still use Kashi, Banaras, and Varanasi almost interchangeably. Very few cities carry several names across centuries while keeping all of them alive. The reason for this lies in the fact that these names did not emerge at the same time, nor from the same sources. Each of them entered the history through a different route. KASHI — OLDER THAN THE CITY WE SEE TODAY The earliest known names associated with the region is Kashi (Kāśı̄), appearing in ancient Indian literature. The word is traditionally connected to the Sanskrit root kaś, meaning "to shine" or "to illuminate." What makes this interesting is that early references often speak not merely of a settlement, but of Kashi as a kingdom and region. Long before the present cityscape of crowded lanes and ghats existed, the name had already entered scriptures literature and memory. So it's quite a possibility that the name may have become famous way before the city itself acquired its present form. VARANASI — WHEN GEOGRAPHY BECAME A NAME The origin of Varanasi is traditionally linked to two water bodies: the Varuna River in the north and the Asi stream in the south. Thus the land between them gradually became associated with the name Varanasi. Many ancient cities took names from rivers because rivers determined where people settled, traded, travelled and survived. While Kashi represents an older literary identity, Varanasi appears closer to a geographical description — a name tied to landscape rather than symbolism. BANARAS — A NAME CHANGED BY PEOPLE The name Banaras emerged gradually through shifts in pronunciation over centuries.Words rarely remain unchanged when they pass through different languages and communities. Varanasi appears in various forms across time — Baranasi, Banaras, and later Benares. Rather than being invented at a single moment, the name seems to have evolved naturally through everyday speech. Perhaps this explains why the city still answers to all three names today. One came from ancient texts, one from geography, and one from the regional dialect of the very people inhabiting this place.A