CITY OF VARANASI

The city of Varanasi is located on the western bank of the Ganges where it makes a gentle curve.The Ganges is worshipped as a goddess and is referred to as "Mother Ganga". In fact Hindus believed that it is the goddess Ganga descended from heaven. The Ganges is 2510 km long and flows through northern India and empties into the delta in Bangladesh. Its most important tributary is the river Yamuna, which flows through Delhi and Agra before joining the Ganges at the town of Prayag, for which the Prayag Ghat in Varanasi is named after.

Hindus believe that by bathing in the Ganges on specific occasions will cleanse away their sins and help them attain salvation. Many Hindus also believe that the water from the Ganges can cleanse away past sins and cure all ills. Similarly, Hindus believe that to be cremated by the bank of the Ganges at Varanasi will cleanse away past sins. Some bring the ash of their family relatives to immerse in the Ganges, as doing will helped the deceased attain salvation.

The Ganges is mentioned in the Rig-Ved, the earliest and holiest Hindu scripture. Earlier scriptures place the Indus and Sarasvati rivers as the major rivers, but in later scriptures, the Ganges gained prominence as the most important of the three