Varanasi
The oldest continuously inhabited city on earth, lit nightly by river fire and chant.
Varanasi is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities on earth and the spiritual centre of Hinduism. The ghats — 88 of them along the Ganges — are the city's spine. The two non-negotiable rituals are a sunrise boat ride (start at Dashashwamedh, drift south) and the evening Ganga Aarti (Dashashwamedh again, the priests with brass lamps). The cremation ghats at Manikarnika and Harishchandra are open to outsiders but require respect — no photos, no shorts, no smiling. Stay back from the Old City lanes (which are narrow, faeces-prone, and disorienting) on your first night; ease in. Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon, is a 30-minute drive and a quiet half-day.
Source · Wikipedia · Varanasi · CC-BY-SA
The oldest continuously inhabited city on earth, lit nightly by river fire and chant.