Banāras
Subtitle: city of light
By: Diana L. Eck.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 1983
Place of publication: Princeton, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 427
Subjects: Hinduism -- India -- Vārānasi.; Vārānasi (India) -- Religious life and customs.
Description: "One of the oldest living cities in the world, Banaras is the holy place of the Hindus, as significant to them as Jerusalem is to Jews and Christians and Mecca is to Muslims. Referred to by Hindus as Kāshī (the Luminous), the city is visited by pilgrims from all over India, who come to bathe in the Ganges--many, indeed, to die on its sacred banks. Basing her work on Sanskrit texts and on her experience of the city itself, the author analyzes the art and architecture, geography, history, and anthropology of Banaras and describes its elaborate and thriving rituals, its myths and literature, and its continuing importance to religious seekers."--Book cover.
Notes: Originally published: New York: Knopf, 1982.