Varanasi: Varanasi is the holiest of the holy cities of India. Known as Kashi or Banaras, it is located on the banks of river Ganga, almost midway through its run from Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. It is the holiest of the seven sacred cities ( Sapt Puri ) of Hinduism and Jainism. It is also the the favourite city of Lord Shiva and was known as Shiv Ki Nagri or Kashi from pre-historic times. It is a general belief that death at Varanasi brings salvation or freedom from the cycle of death and rebirth. Some people roll down from the ghats into river Ganga ( Karwat Kashi ) for the achievement of Mukti or salvation. Varanasi draws people from distant lands for cremation of their loved ones at Manikarnika Ghat of Kashi and thereafter, these people congregate at the ghat, year after year for commemorating their death anniverseries. Immersion of ashes in the holy river at Kashi is a very sacred act and goes on and on, almost every day. Even some of the all time greats had a wish, will and longing that their ashes be immersed in river Ganga at Varanasi.
Varanasi is a multi-cultural and multi-religious spiritual city. The old city was located on the northern bank of river Ganga. Later development of the city has occurred on the western bank of river Ganga bounded by its tributaries Varuna and Assi. Sprawling campus of Banaras Hindu University has developed south of Assi river during the last hundred years. Varanasi is one of the oldest cities of the world, which is known to be inhabitated continuously since times immemorial. It is a city of ghats and temples. There are about hundred ghats on the western and northern flanks of the river Ganga. Dashashwamegh Ghat which is close to Kashi Vishwanath temple, Manikarnika Ghat which is used for cremation, Tulsi Ghat, where Tulsidas wrote Ramcharitmanas, Harishchandra Ghat where Raja Harishchandra served as a slave, Hanumangadhi Ghat and Assi Ghat are some of the prominent ghats. There are more than 3500 temples spread all over the city. Kashi Vishwanath temple, Sankatmochan temple dedicated to Hanuman, Bharat Mata Mandir, Durga Temple, Tulsi Manas Mandir and New Vishwanath temple are some of the prominent temples of the city. All streets of the city run through a continuous chain of temples, ultimately leading to the ghats. Varanasi has been drawing visitors, religious leaders and scholars from distant lands during its long history, but it also had its usual share of attacks, depredations and plunder, off and on, by murderous hordes during times of political instability or during conquests by foreign raiders. However, it has been built and rebuilt and has been able to survive, all these years, with all its cultural, religious and spiritual heritage.
Gautam Buddha, greatest of the greatest spiritual leaders of the world recited his first sermon to his deciples at Sarnath, which is located in the north of Varansai. The stupa and temples at Sarnath commemorate this act. It is the holiest place for all Buddhists and is a pilgrim centre, which draws people from all over the globe. Tulsidas had visions of Hanuman at Varanasi and was inspired by him to write Ramcharitmanas. Poet Kabir and Sant Ravidas lived at Varanasi and recited their immortal messages here for the humanity. Munshi Premchand, Jai Shankar Prasad, Ram Chandra Shukla and a large band of distinguished men of letters have illuminated the literary skies of Varanasi for decades. The historic efforts of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya led to the establishment of Banaras Hindu University, which is one of the biggest residential universities of the world.
Floods of 1948: The country had witnessed unprecedented floods during 1948. River Ganga flows through Banaras, Ghazipur and Ballia and forms a sort of natural boundary between U.P. and Bihar. It meets river Ghaghra in Ballia before crossing over to Chapra in Bihar. The spread of the river channel during floods covers about two miles, which submerges almost everything standing on its flanks. GT Road ( Grand Trunk Road ) follows the left bank of the river from Banaras to Ballia. GT Road was under 4 feet to 6 feet of water during the floods of 1948. The fury of the river submerged large tracts of land and caused untold damage to land, buildings, crops and livestock on its route. The task of Banaras flood survey division was to conduct field survey of flood affected lands and villages along the left bank of river Ganga from Banaras to Ballia and to suggest suitable works and remedial measures for the protection of cities, towns and villages and safety of people, property and livestock.
Clarks Hotel Annnexe: Clarks Hotel was a prominent landmark of Banaras. It had a big annexe built on spacious grounds attached to the hotel. Incidentlly, in the aftermath of the floods and lack of tourist traffic, the rooms of the annexe were freely available as long term rental accommodation. A number of government offices were functioning in the building, when our sub-division moved from Jaunpur to Banaras. Banaras flood survey division had already moved to Banaras and had set up its offices in Clarks Hotel Annexe. We also got sufficient accommodation for our offices, as also for our residnce at the annexe. The name of our daughter Rashmi at the time of birth at Jaunpur was Rajkumari. She was the centre of attraction for everybody working or living at Clarks Hotel Annexe. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur happened to be one of the cabinet ministers in Pandit Nehru’s cabinet at Delhi at that time. Taking some queue from that, everybody took pleasure in addressing our daughter Rashmi as Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.
River Ganga at Banaras: River Ganga rises from the Himalayas, running through mountainous country with narrow valleys, deep gorges, rocky bed and steep slopes. When it emerges into the plains, it has the freedom to change course and meander through the wide open valley, scattering fine fertilizing silt and organic matter all over the area, thereby making the soil rich and fertile. Gradually, the slopes become flatter and flatter and in the lower reaches the river is unable to carry further, its normal load of sand, silt and other floating matter. This leads to a gradual rise in the levels of bed and banks of the river and in times of floods, the river overflows and cuts through the banks and submerges large tracts of lowlying lands on both sides. There is almost no solution for taming rivers like Ganga in flood plains during floods. All that can be done is to have suitable protection works for cities and towns situated close to its banks and directly threatened by its currents during floods. The floods of 1948 were unprecedented and had submerged large tracts of land leading to widespread loss of life and property and making hundreds of thousands of people homeless. After preliminary surveys and analysis of available data, Banaras flood survey division identified the field tasks and remedial measures and assigned specific tasks to the subdivisions. Accordingly, our sub-division was briefed and directed to move to Ballia and to utilise all our resources for the survey of flood affected areas of Ballia district from the ravages of rivers Ghaghra and Ganga and to take suitable measures for strengthening the protection works of the city of Ballia and for the relief of people of afflicted areas in the district. Consequently, after spending about a month in the holy city of Banaras, we were again on the move in February 1950. Ballia is a small district, forming the eastern nook of U.P., bounded along the south by Ganga and along the northwest by Ghaghra.