Varanasi Rediscovered

Varanasi has been a subject of perennial interest eversince the days of Hiuen Tsang, Al-Biruni, Fitch, Coleman, Prinsep, etc. Interest in Varanasi has not in any way faded even in the modern days of electronics and computers. Travellers in India, and from the outside world have been equally keen about learning of this mysterious city, the oldest on earth, and yet the most vibrant for historians, scholars, antiquarians, travellers, sight-seers and pilgrims. In true and appropriate response to the theme hundreds of books in many languages do credit to the lore of Varanasi, a connoisseur's caravanserai. It takes courage to add to the vast literature existing on Varanasi, unless an author has something definitely new and a first time hit on the age-old fascinating subject. And this book, Varanasi Rediscovered, precisely proposes to hit a ground never before tried by scholars. It questions the very geography, topography, structural existence of the city so named, and accepted as a matter of fact, unchallenged, and unquestioned. Varanasi Rediscovered questions this. Does the present city really represent the Varanasi of the Buddha, or for the people even before him? For the Harappan encroachers, or for the later Aryans? Has the city changed its site? Where could have been the original real Varanasi, so much praised in the scriptures, held so dear by the millions of Hindu devotees? Who or what caused such catastrophic changes for a city which still draws travellers and devotees from all over the world? The author's submission is bound to be a fundamental addition to the vast Varanasiad, although the thesis proposed could understandably raise a volume of controversy.