A pilgrim stands at Manikarnika Ghat at dusk. The pyres burn continuously, their flames reflected in the Ganges. The smoke rises straight into a sky that glows the color of old bone. Someone beside them whispers: “This is Kashi. This is where the fire never goes out.” Another corrects: “No, it’s Banaras.” A third shrugs: “The train ticket says Varanasi.” They are all right. Kashi, Banaras, and Varanasi are not three different cities. They are three names for the same sacred city on the Ganges, each reflecting a different layer of its identity: the ancient spiritual realm, the medieval cultural center, and the modern administrative district. The esoteric heart remains Kashi, the City of Light.
Meta: Kashi, Banaras, and Varanasi are the same city, but each name carries a distinct spiritual, historical, and occult significance. Learn the differences and why the City of Light matters.
What Each Name Means
The city on the western bank of the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, India, is known by three names. Kashi (काशी) is the oldest, meaning “shining” or “luminous” – the eternal city of Shiva, the City of Light. Banaras (बनारस) is a vernacular corruption of Varanasi, used during the medieval period and still common in daily speech, especially among locals. Varanasi (वाराणसी) is the official name, derived from the rivers Varuna and Assi that flank the city. For the esoteric practitioner, the name matters because it defines which aspect of the city’s power you invoke. Call it Kashi when you seek the primordial light. Call it Banaras when you walk the crowded lanes. Call it Varanasi when you book a train.
Where the Names Come From: A History in Layers
The earliest written reference to Kashi appears in the Atharvaveda (c. 1200–1000 BCE), where it is described as a place of refuge and liberation. The Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana (c. 6th–7th century CE) devotes thousands of verses to the city’s sacred geography, listing every ghat, every temple, every stone that holds a god. According to the Purana, Kashi is not a created city; it is the place where Shiva’s trident pierced the earth and held the universe steady. The myth says that when the cosmos was threatened, the Jyotirlinga – a pillar of light – manifested here, and Kashi became the axis mundi.
The name Varanasi appears in the Mahabharata (c. 4th century BCE to 4th century CE) and in the Buddhist Jataka tales (c. 4th–3rd century BCE). The Buddha himself visited the city, then called Barānasi in Pali, and gave his first sermon at nearby Sarnath. The name Varanasi is a compound of the two rivers that bound the city: Varuna to the north and Assi to the south. In the Matsya Purana, the city is called “Varanasi” because it lies between these two rivers, which are themselves goddesses.
Banaras emerged after the Muslim conquests of the 12th–13th centuries. The Persian traveler Ibn Battuta visited in 1342 and wrote of “Banaras,” a corruption of the Sanskrit name. The Mughal emperor Akbar referred to it as “Banaras” in the Ain-i-Akbari (1590). The British Raj anglicized it to Benares, a name that appears on maps and postcards into the 20th century. In 1956, the Indian government officially restored the name Varanasi, though the city is still called Banaras in everyday Hindi speech and Kashi in religious contexts.
The human consequence of these layers is that a taxi driver, a priest, and a government clerk can all be talking about the same street and use three different names. The pilgrim who seeks the eternal flame uses Kashi. The merchant trading in silk says Banaras. The civil servant files the paperwork under Varanasi. The city’s identity is not confused; it is stratified.
What the Names Symbolize
Kashi is light. The word itself means “to shine.” In the Shiva Purana, the city is described as the place where the light of pure consciousness first manifested. The Jyotirlinga at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple is not a stone; it is that light, condensed into form. For the practitioner, Kashi is the realm where the boundary between the material and the luminous dissolves. We do not visit Kashi to see a city. We visit to see through the city.
Banaras is the crossing. The name carries the memory of the medieval tirtha – the ford where one crosses the river of samsara (the cycle of birth and death). Banaras is the city of the ghats, the steps that lead down to the Ganges. Every ghat is a threshold. The most famous is Manikarnika Ghat, where the dead are cremated. The name Manikarnika means “jewel of the earring,” referring to the myth that Shiva’s earring fell here and created a sacred well. The fire at Manikarnika has been burning for centuries, never extinguished. It is not decoration. It is the altar.
Varanasi is the liminal space between the rivers. The rivers Varuna and Assi are not just boundaries; they are the female counterparts to the male Ganges. The city between them is a womb, a place of transformation. In the Kashi Rahasya (a section of the Skanda Purana), the city is described as a mandala, a cosmic diagram. The streets are the lines of the diagram, the ghats are the gates, and the Ganges is the axis. To walk the Panchakroshi Yatra (a five-day pilgrimage around the city’s boundary) is to trace the perimeter of that mandala, to circumambulate the light.
Practices That Distinguish the Names
The three names do not correspond to three different sets of rituals. The same fire burns regardless of what you call it. But the tradition assigns different practices to each layer.
Kashi is the name invoked in Moksha rituals. The Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat is performed every evening with fire, incense, and conch shells. The lamps are lit, and the priests chant the name of Kashi. The power of the ritual is that it does not ask for anything. It simply offers light to light. A person who dies in Kashi is said to be liberated from rebirth, a belief that has drawn people for millennia to the Mukti Bhawan (the “House of Liberation”), a hospice where the dying wait for their final moments.
Banaras is the name of the living city. The Banarasi paan (betel leaf), the Banarasi silk woven in the narrow lanes, the Banarasi thandai (a spiced milk drink) offered at Shiva temples – these are not separate from the sacred. They are the sacred expressed through the senses. The Ramlila of Banaras, a month-long performance of the Ramayana, turns the entire city into a stage. The Kashi Naresh (the titular king of Kashi) still presides over the festival, a living link to the medieval court.
Varanasi is the name for administrative and pilgrimage logistics. The Panchakroshi Yatra begins at the Manikarnika Ghat and follows a route that passes 108 shrines. The pilgrimage is a physical circumambulation of the city, but the name Varanasi is used on the maps and the permits. The Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, opened in 2021, connects the temple to the Ganges, a modern government project that bears the official name.
For the esoteric practitioner, we observe that the distinction is not about which rituals to perform but about which layer of the city to attune to. When we light a lamp at home, we invoke Kashi. When we walk the streets of a market, we speak Banaras. When we plan a journey, we write Varanasi.
Comparisons: One City, Three Aspects
The closest parallel is the city of Jerusalem, which is known as Yerushalayim (Hebrew), Al-Quds (Arabic), and Jerusalem (English). Each name carries a different religious and political weight. But Kashi does not have the conflict that Jerusalem carries. The three names are layers of the same site, not competing claims.
Another comparison is the Vatican as a city-state within Rome. The Vatican is a distinct spiritual territory, but it is embedded in a larger city. Kashi is the spiritual territory within the larger city of Varanasi, but the boundaries are not walls. The entire city is Kashi, not just the temple district. The Kashi Khanda says that the sacred area extends in a circle of five krosha (about 16 kilometers) from the center. Everything within that circle is Kashi, including the fields and villages outside the modern city limits.
Common Misconceptions
That Kashi is a different city from Varanasi. Some travelers believe that Kashi is the old city and Varanasi is the new city. In reality, they are the same place. The old city is called Kashi, the new suburbs are called Varanasi, but the boundary is porous. The name Kashi is invoked for the sacred core, but the core is not a separate municipality.
That Banaras is only the Muslim-era name and therefore less authentic. The name Banaras appears in Persian texts, but it is also the name used by the Buddha in the Pali canon. It is not a foreign imposition. It is a linguistic evolution, like the way “London” comes from “Londinium.” Locals use Banaras without resistance.
That the city is only about death. The cremation ghats are the most famous image, but Banaras is also the city of Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, the Bharat Kala Bhavan museum, and the Benares Hindu University (founded in 1916 by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya). The city is a center of learning, music, and silk weaving. The fires at Manikarnika are not the only fires. The mahant (head priest) of the ghat once told us: “We burn the dead, but we also celebrate the living. The same fire that burns the body lights the lamps of the temple.”
That only Hindus can benefit from the city’s spiritual power. The Buddha taught at Sarnath, just outside the city. The Jain Tirthankara Suparshvanatha is said to have been born here. The Sufi saint Kabir (1440–1518) lived and died in Kashi, and his tomb is in the city. The Guru Granth Sahib mentions Kashi as a place of pilgrimage. The city does not belong to one tradition. It is a node of the sacred, accessible to anyone who approaches with respect.
FAQ
Which name should I use when visiting? Use Banaras in casual conversation with locals, Kashi when speaking about religious matters, and Varanasi for official purposes such as train tickets and hotel bookings. All three are understood.
What is the spiritual significance of Kashi? Kashi is the City of Light, the place where the Jyotirlinga of Shiva manifested. To die in Kashi is said to grant liberation from the cycle of rebirth, because the city itself is a threshold where the material and the divine meet.
Why is Banaras called the City of Light? The name “Kashi” derives from the Sanskrit root “kash,” meaning “to shine.” The city is associated with the light of Shiva’s consciousness, the fire of the cremation ghats, and the lamps lit during the Ganga Aarti. The light is literal and symbolic.
Can I visit the cremation ghats as a non-Hindu? Yes, but with respect. Photography is allowed only from a distance, and mourning families should not be disturbed. The ghats are public spaces, but they are also active sites of ritual. We recommend visiting in the early morning, when the crowds are thin and the fire is steady.
The City of Three Names
The city of three names offers a single lesson: that the sacred is not a place but a relation between name and flame. Kashi is the light itself. Banaras is the city that lives in that light. Varanasi is the map that guides you there. The fire at Manikarnika has been burning for centuries, and it will burn long after these names are forgotten. But the names are the way we find the fire.
To explore other sacred sites where the boundary between worlds thins, see our guide to Sacred Sites. For the symbolism of fire in esoteric practice, read The Fire of the Ghats. And for the deeper meaning of the word “Kashi,” consult the glossary entry.