This is a remarkable book. Over 19 years have passed since it first came out and it retains an immediacy and freshness that is a tribute to the superb understanding displayed by the author where her subject is concerned. Books about cities are difficult enough at all times. A book about a city that is one of the oldest in the world and always prominent for being primarily a sacred spot is even more difficult. The usual attempts are either cringe-inducing panegyrics or besides-the-point debunking. This book manages the feat of being grounded in reality as well as being fully aware of the nature and troubles of interacting with holy ground and sacred reality. Ms. Eck is of course one of the most important writers on Hindu subjects alive today. She happens to be the Associate Professor of Hindu religion in the Department of Sanskrit and Indian studies at Harvard University along with a slew of qualifications too numerous to mention in a short review but even by her usual brilliant standards this is hot stuff.

Banaras is a contraction of the ancient Pali name for the city, Banarasi, which in itself comes from the Sanskrit term Varanasi. The various epimytological derivations of this are gone into with some vigor for those who are interested in that sort of thing. Her most important insight I feel is the recognition that there are two cities to keep in mind when we talk of Banaras. One is the historical pilgrim spot, venerable in tradition and now literally creaking with age. The other is the spiritual Banaras, the Platonic ideal of Banaras, the sacred city of light that stands outside of time and space and is eternal. This city is called Kashi, the illuminator or the city of light. These two cities coexist in the popular imagination and they have their nodal points as well as liminial zones where the devout pilgrim slips from one state to the other and leaves contradictions to be solved by the literal minded. This dual nature of Kashi has to be kept in mind at all times if any understanding at all is to be gained about the most holy place in all India.

For Banaras promises that ultimate Indian goal, freedom from rebirth. To die in Banaras is to never again be reborn, to have permanently merged into the god-field. Even today people come to Banaras to die, it is the culmination of a life well spent. In the grand Indian manner of course, this city obsessed with death is also the city most famed for the sheer pleasure that people take in living. The Banaras dweller does not have the sour piety that unfortunately characterizes other places in India; he has no anxieties about life for the afterlife is taken care of.

The innumerable pilgrim trails that dot the city, the many perambulations and sacred circles that you can cover are described with a wealth of detail. It is a safe bet that even residents of the city would not have such deep knowledge of all the sacred circuits present therein. Banaras is also famous for reproducing within itself all the other sacred spots of India. Hence going to Banaras is literally and spiritually to have gone to all India. The fact that Banaras was once a major center for the yaksha and naga religions is brought out as well as the too easily overlooked fact that Banaras plays an important role in Buddhist thought and literature too. Today, however, the city is predominantly a Shaivaite shrine, Shiva's abode par excellence and both the historical and mythological reasons for it so becoming are well covered by the author. The various shrines that exist in the city, the various observances and great festival days are covered in a manner that leaves you awed at its thoroughness. She picks out a little roadside shrine that even the city residents overlook, and demonstrates how it used to be one of the great sacred spots of antiquity as mentioned in the scriptures.

Two interesting historical facts stand out in this book. One is the fact that temples by the hundreds were demolished during the centuries of Muslim rule. This is a very brave thing for any author to put into a book as it flies against the prevailing sentiment that such things never happened and if they did they must not be mentioned in polite society. Ms. Eck has enough intellectual integrity not to fall for such things. She also had remarkable tenacity in digging out these ancient sites, usually left only in ruins when the work of pious vandalism was over or covered over by burial grounds or mosques.

The second interesting historical detail is about the famous bathing ghats of Banaras. Much beloved of the photographers as a symbol of Banaras are the steep steps, which lead down to the sacred river, and even Europeans traveling in the early days of colonial conquest were taken up by these steps. However the truth is that for most of its history there were no steps leading down to the water, just plain mud-banks! The Maratha rulers who dominated India between the Mughals and the British were responsible for constructing these steps and the oldest is barely four hundred years old at its outer limit. This sort of unusual perspective fills the book.

The book is written in an extremely readable style and difficult concepts are explained and elucidated well and clearly. The illustrations used are germane and do not overwhelm in a picture postcard manner. Ms. Eck has managed to convey a feeling of a living and vibrant tradition, not of a touristy exotic city. What is even more remarkable is that she is a dedicated practicing Christian, writing about another religion with a sensitivity and sympathy that is extraordinary. This is a book that is unhesitatingly recommended.

Reviewed by Rohit Arya

• Title: Banaras - City of Light
• Author: Diana L. Eck
• Publisher: Penguin Publishers