Varanasi

One of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities/Everyday Places

Varanasi (also known as Benares or Kashi) is a city on the banks of the Ganges River in Uttar Pradesh, India, and is widely regarded as one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, with evidence of habitation stretching back roughly 5,000 years. It is the holiest city in Hinduism: Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi and being cremated on the banks of the Ganges breaks the cycle of rebirth and grants moksha (liberation). The city's ghats, a series of 88 stone steps leading down to the river along a 6.8-kilometer stretch, are the scene of daily rituals, cremations, and the famous Ganga Aarti ceremony each evening.