BENARES (in Sanskrit, Varanasi), Hin dustan, a town in Northwest Provinces, in the division of the same name, on the left bank of the Ganges, from which it rises like an amphi theatre, presenting a splendid panorama of temples, mosques, palaces and other buildings, with their domes, minarets, etc. Fine ghauts lead down to the river. It is built of freestone and contains many handsome and highly decorated houses, but the height of the houses and narrowness of the streets give it all the usual inconveniences of an Asiatic town. Kasi the Splendid, as the Hindus commonly call it, is one of the most sacred places of pilgrimage in all India, being the headquarters of the Hindu religion. To die at Benares is the great est happiness for a Hindu, because he is then sure of immediate admission into heaven. The number of pious foundations and temples is exceedingly great. There is a continual influx of wealthy pilgrims into the city, and many of the Hindu princes have a town residence here. The principal temple, called Bisheswar, is dedi cated to Siva. Aurungzebe built a splendid mosque on the highest ground in the city, and it is the most prominent oTct from the river side. At the end of the 1 th century an ob servatory was erected in this city by one of the rajahs, which still exists. One of the temples
has a great number of sacred monkeys attached to it. Altogether there are about 1,500 Hindu temples. Among the municipal structures are the government college, hospitals, town-hall, asylums, swimming baths and waterworks. Benares carries on a large trade in the produce of the district and in English goods, and manu factures silks, shawls, embroidered cloth, jewelry, etc. The merchants and bankers are numerous and wealthy. There are few English inhabitants, except the .government officers, and the members of the various missions. Kasi was ceded to the East India Company by. the Nabob of Oude in 1775. During the mutiny of 1857 a serious outbreak occurred here. The Benares College was opened in 1791. It is maintained by the government and includes the Sanskrit College, with over 400 students, and the English College, with about 100. It occupies a fine building, completed in 1852. Pop. about 204,000. Consult Sherring, (Sacred City of the Hindus' (1869) ; Havel!, (Benares, the Sacred City' (1911).