Varanasi

Varanasi (Sanskrit: वाराणसी Vārāṇasī,Telugu: వారణాసి, [ʋaːɾaːɳəsiː), also commonly known as Banaras and Kashi, is a city on the banks of the river Ganga (Ganges) in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Hindus, Buddhists and Jains think it is holy. It is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.

Varanasi Kashi Banaras Benares Avimukta Ānandavana Rudravāsa[1]
Metropolis
Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Ahilya Ghat, Chet Singh Ghat, Kedar Ghat, Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat, Ganges River bank along Varanasi, Man offering prayers to the river Ganga, Dashashwamedh Ghat
Nickname:  The spiritual capital of India
Varanasi Location in Uttar Pradesh Show map of Uttar Pradesh Varanasi Varanasi (India) Show map of India Varanasi Varanasi (Asia) Show map of Asia
Coordinates: 25°19′08″N 83°00′46″E
Country	India
State	Uttar Pradesh
Division	Varanasi
District	Varanasi
Government
• Type	Municipal Corporation
• Body	Varanasi Municipal Corporation
• Mayor	Mridula Jaiswal (BJP)
• Divisional Commissioner	Deepak Agarwal, IAS
• District Magistrate	Kaushal Raj Sharma, IAS
• Inspector General, Varanasi Range	Vijay Singh Meena, IPS
• Senior Superintendent of Police	Prabhakar Chaudhary, IPS
Area
• Metropolis	112.10 km2 (43.28 sq mi)
Elevation	80.71 m (264.80 ft)
Population  (2011)
• Metropolis	1,201,815
• Rank	32nd
• Density	11,000/km2 (28,000/sq mi)
• Metro [2]	1,432,280 (32nd)
Language
• Official	Hindi[3]
• Additional official	Urdu[3]
• Regional	Bhojpuri
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	221 001 to** (** area code)
Telephone code	0542
Vehicle registration	UP 65
GDP	$3.07 billion (2016–17)[4]
Per capita income	INR 1,93 616[5]
Sex ratio	0.926 (2011) ♂/♀
Literacy (2011)	80.12%[6]
HDI	0.645[7]
Website	varanasi.nic.in

Notable people

Rani Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi from 1842 to 6/18/1858, an Indian queen and charismatic female strategist, was born here, named Manikarnika. On 10 May 1857, she led the Hindu revolt, also known as India's First War of Independence, against the British navy. She died on 6/17/1858 or 6/18/1858 at age 29.

References

• Singh, Rana P. B. Varanasi as Heritage City (India) on the scale the UNESCO World Heritage List: From Contestation to Conservation. Archived 2018-12-26 at the Wayback Machine Swedish South Asian Studies Network.

1. "Varanasi: About the city". Official website of Uttar Pradesh Tourism. Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
2. "Urban Agglomerations/Cities having population 1 lakh and above" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
3. "52nd REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR LINGUISTIC MINORITIES IN INDIA" (PDF). nclm.nic.in. Ministry of Minority Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
4. "Yogi Adityanath is right. Route to UP's $1 trillion GDP goal passes through hinterland". Retrieved 25 September 2019.^{[permanent dead link]}
5. "Executive Summary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
6. "Varanasi City Census 2011 data". census2011.co.in. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
7. http://ssca.org.in/media/4_2016_HDI_t1hcMZm.pdf

Other websites

• District Varanasi Official Website - Official website of Varanasi District and City
• Why Did Aurangeb Demolish Kashi Vishawnath ? Archived 2016-12-21 at the Wayback Machine