Varanasi is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world, even as the traditions are transformed in the face of modernization, generational changes and emigration. The city has a syncretic tradition of Muslim artisanship that underpins its tourism. The name Varanasi was officially so revived after 1947, but the city is still widely known by its earlier name
Banaras or
Benares, and its ancient name
Kashi. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river. It is 692 kilometres (430 mi) to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi, 320 kilometres (200 mi) south-east of the state capital, Lucknow, and 121 kilometres (75 mi) east of Allahabad, another Hindu pilgrimage site.