Kashi

(“shining”) One of the traditional names
for the city of Benares. Benares is mentioned in the list of the Seven Sacred
Cities, where death brings final liberation
of the soul. In a more strict local sense, the
name Kashi designates the largest of the
three traditional sacred zones in Benares.
It includes everything within the
Panchakroshi Yatra road, a circuit
around the city that marks the outer limit
of the region. The name Kashi refers to the
mythic story of the jyotirlinga, the “pillar
of light” in which the god Shiva is said to
have first appeared. According to tradition, the pillar of light did not just land in
Kashi but was itself a form of Kashi, thus
indicating the city’s sanctity over all other
places on earth.