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Varanasi
वाराणसी
Varanasi वाराणसी, also commonly known as Benares or Banaras
बनारस, and Kashi काशी, is a city situated on the left
(west) bank of the River Ganga (Ganges) in the Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh, regarded as holy by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains. It is one
of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and
probably the oldest of India.]
The Kashi Naresh (Maharaja of Kashi) is the chief cultural patron of
Varanasi and an essential part of all religious celebrations. The
culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the River Ganges and
the river's religious importance. The city has been a cultural and
religious centre in North India for several thousand years. The
Benares Gharana form of Indian classical music developed in Varanasi,
and many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and
musicians resided or reside in Varanasi, including Kabir, Ravidas
Their Guru Swami Ramanand, Trailanga Swami, Munshi Premchand,
Jaishankar Prasad, Acharya Shukla, Ravi Shankar, Girija Devi,
Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Bismillah Khan. Tulsidas wrote his
Ramacharitamanas there, and Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at
Sarnath near Kashi.
Varanasi is home to four
universities: Banaras Hindu University, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi
Vidyapeeth, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies and
Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. Residents mainly speak Kashika
Bhojpuri, which is closely related to the Hindi language. People
often refer to Varanasi as "the city of temples", "the holy city of
India", "the religious capital of India", "the city of lights", and
"the city of learning.
Varanasi experiences a humid
subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa) with large
variations between summer and winter temperatures. Summers are long,
from early April to October, with intervening monsoon seasons. Cold
waves from the Himalayan region cause temperatures to dip across the
city in the winter from December to February. The temperature ranges
between 32°C – 46°C (90°F – 115°F) in the summers, and 5°C – 15°C
(41°F – 59°F) in the winters.[20] The average annual rainfall is
1110 mm (44 in).[21] Fog is common in the winters, while hot dry
winds, called loo, blow in the summers.
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