KASHI

   Kashi means ‘light of the world’ in Sanskrit. Rana B Singh of Benares Hindu University (BHU) says Benares is an amalgam of two words - Bena (ready) and Ras (to serve); ready to serve the juice of life. Varanasi is a Hindi construction from the names of the rivers Varuna and Asi, which form the city’s northern and southern boundaries.

      In his journey through India, Mark Twain made this famous quip: “Benares is older then history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together!’

Rana B Singh argues that the idea that Varanasi-Benares-Kashi is at least five thousand years old and the world’s oldest inhabited city is suspect. There’s no mention of the city in either the Ramayana or Mahabharata, except for a single line in the former that refers to kasha (grass), not Kashi (cosmic light). He doesn’t deny the mythology but maintains Varanasi as we see it today is very much a modern creation that dates from only the 17th century.’