Banaras: Vision of a Living Ancient Tradition

alleys ancient ascetics associated auspicious Avimukta avtar Banarsi Benares Bhairav body Brahma Brahminicide called centre century chief mourner City of Light city of Shiva corpse cosmic cosmos cremation cremation ground cultural dance Dashashvamedha Ghat death deceased deity demons devotee divine Durga earth elephant father Ganesh Ganga Ganges ghat gods Hanuman Harischandra Ghat head heaven Himalayas Hindi Hindu holy human India Kashi Krishna lingam living look Lord macrocosmic macrocosmos Mahabharat Mahabharat epic Manikarnika Ghat mohalla Mount Kailash Muslim myth Panchakroshi Panda Parvati Philip Lutgendorf pilgrimage pilgrims pret priests Ramayan Ramcharitmanas Ramnagar religious ritual river Robert Schilder rupee Sanskrit Sarnath Shiva shrine sick person silk Singh sins skull snake Speaking of Shiva stone story symbol take a bath tradition trident Tulsi Tulsidas universe Valmiki Varanasi Vedic Vishnu Vishvanath temple walk white as jasmine widow worship कृतं विनश्यति