“Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, And looks twice as old as all of them put together,” Mark Twain once said.
Kashi, Banaras, Benares or Varanasi. Call it by any name, the age-old city remains famous for many reasons – it’s temples, ghats, pan (beetle quid), it’s culture. But on it’s streets is where the city truly thrives.
The streets of Varanasi wake up before dawn and are seldom found dark and empty. Every street has at least one temple, one tea-shop, one pan ki dukan and a guest house, with people visiting these places round the clock.
Here are some snapshots from some treets in Varanasi’s Sonarpura and Godaulia areas.