INDIA CROSSING THE RIVER GANGES Varanasi or Benares - cycle-rickshaws dominate the streets in the city center. Varanasi is a city situated on the banks of the River Ganges in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh; 320 kilometres (199 mi) southeast of state capital Lucknow. It is regarded as a holy city by Buddhists and Jains; and is the holiest place in the world in Hinduism (and center of the Earth in Hindu cosmology). It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and probably the oldest in India.