Uttar Pradesh

Varanasi

Varanasi's name comes from the Varuna and Assi rivers that once bounded the old city, though it is older than that etymology, considered one of the longest continuously inhabited cities on Earth, sacred to Hindus as the city of Shiva, where dying is believed to grant liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Mark Twain wrote that it was "older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend." Just outside the city at Sarnath, the Buddha delivered his first sermon after attaining enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, making this one region sacred to two of the world's major religions.