The Location of Struggle: Identity-politics of place
fig.9 Manikarnika ghat,1905. The image reveals one of the many instances of the juxtaposition of the various layers of topography, economy, rituals, the built fabric and the spectacle of everyday life.
Kashi. Avimukta. Anandavana. Rudravasa. Mahashmashana. Banaras. Benares. Bunarus.25 The multiplicity of names only scratches the surface of how deeply layered and complex Varanasi is as a symbolic, phenomenal and embodied urban construct (fig.9). To grasp the identity-politics of place embedded in Varanasi, one must uncover the historical layers leading into its construction. The city has grown radially outwards where the earlier settlements developed around the three hillocks, Vishveshwara, Kedareshwara and Omkareshwara (fig.10). The topographical features have an embedded microcosmic order which have come to define Varanasi through the narratives of sacred geography. The city itself is a multi-nucleated labyrinth of journeys, where the narrow serpentine lanes produce a dense juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane, where the rituals of theology coexist with the rhizomatic practices of everyday life. These pathways intersect with circumambulatory routes which symbolize zones of increasing sanctity (fig.10), piercing through the urban fabric of the city. The fabric trickles down towards the river, where the city meets the riverbank at the threshold of the stepped ghats. There are 87 ghats on the banks of Ganga, all 25
Kashi: the city of light, Avimukta: the never-forsaken, Anandavana: the forest of bliss, Rudravasa: the city of Shiva, Mahashmashana: The great cremation ground, Eck.
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