1896年，美国作家马克·吐温坐船顺恒河而下，来到了瓦拉纳西。后来他写下了一句被引用至今的话：这座城比历史更古老，比传说更古老，看起来比它们加起来还要老上两倍。他眼前的景象已经存在了几千年——石阶层层没入河水，屋顶上密布寺庙，火葬的烟火日夜不熄。世界上很多城市都号称最古老。但瓦拉纳西不一样——它从来没有停止过做自己。
0%
地名的由来·2/3·1′
The place
Varanasi (Kashi — City of Light)
活了三千年的城
比历史更古老，比传说更久远——一座在同一条河边焚烧亡者、祈祷不息的城市，三千年从未中断
c. 1800 BCE – present (over 3,000 years of continuous habitation)Varanasi (Kashi — City of Light)
故事寓意
“一座城能屹立三千年，靠的不是城墙和军队，而是它对人类灵魂的意义。真正持久的东西不是建在石头上的，而是建在一个深刻到每一代人都甘愿拼尽全力去重建的信念上。”
人物
M
Mark Twain (American author who visited in 1896)T
The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama, who preached at nearby Sarnath)X
Xuanzang (Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, 7th century CE)U
Ustad Bismillah Khan (shehnai maestro, 1916-2006)K
Kabir (mystic poet-weaver, c. 1398-1518)T
Tulsidas (author of the Ramcharitmanas, c. 1532-1623)来源
Twain, Mark. Following the Equator, 1897, Ch. LVIII; Eck, Diana L. Banaras: City of Light, Princeton University Press, 1982; Narain, A.K. and Roy, T.N. Excavations at Rajghat, Banaras Hindu University, 1976; Skanda Purana, Kashi Khanda (12th-14th century CE); Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya 56.11); Xuanzang, Da Tang Xiyu Ji (Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, 7th century CE)