Uttarkashi

(“northern Benares”) Himalayan town
and sacred site (tirtha) on the
Bhagirathi River in northern Uttar
Pradesh. As its name indicates,
Uttarkashi is claimed as the northern
form of the city of Benares, the city of
the god Shiva that is one of the most
sacred sites in India. Uttarkashi’s charter
myths also claim that in the present age,
Shiva no longer dwells in Benares, but
instead lives in Uttarkashi. To buttress
the claim to being the northern Benares
Uttarkashi shows many parallels and
homologies with Benares itself: In both,
the Ganges River flows in a northern
direction through the city; both have
their core region defined as the area
between the Varuna and Asi Rivers;
both are enclosed by a panchakroshi
pilgrimage route; and in both, the primary deity is Shiva in his form as
Vishvanath. Uttarkashi is a site of great
antiquity—inscriptions have been discovered from the seventh century C.E.—
and although these parallels to Benares
might seem slavish, the basis of this
claim is not just that Uttarkashi is a holy
place, just as Benares is a holy place, but
that the holiness of Uttarkashi is equal
to that of Benares. Aside from its importance as a pilgrimage town, Uttarkashi
is also the district headquarters and
a major supply point to the other sites
in the region. The town was severely
damaged in an earthquake in early 1993
and has been rebuilding slowly since
that time.