Varanasi also known as Benares, Banaras or Kashi is a city on the banks of the river Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Regarded as the spiritual capital of India, the city draws Hindu pilgrims who bathe in the Ganges River’s sacred waters and perform funeral rites. Along the city's winding streets are some 2,000 temples, including Kashi Vishwanath, the “Golden Temple,” dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.

Varanasi, the spiritual capital of India, is believed to be the most ancient surviving city of the globe. Legend has it that the first Siva Jyotirlinga emanated from the earth in this city and flared straight into the sky. This is why Varanasi is also known as Kashi or “the City of Light”

Varanasi grew as an important industrial centre famous for its muslin and silk fabrics, perfumes, ivory works, and sculpture. Buddha is believed to have founded Buddhism here around 528 BCE when he gave his first sermon, "The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma", at nearby Sarnath.