<h1>Editor’s note: This is an opinion article based on the author’s general research and analysis. It does not present original reporting or interviews.</h1>A City of FaithBanaras is the city of Lord Shiva. It is famous for its wide and narrow streets, lined with small and large shops selling betel leaves (paan) and thandai. The city's fragrance and its thousands of temples, all connected by unshaken faith, draw people to it.The river front steps, or ghats, feel as though a loved one is calling you home. The land of the Ganges is like a mother's embrace, where rays of light dance across the waves and stretch across the sand as the sun sets gently behind the clouds.The air fills with the sounds of evening aarti and devotional bhajans, and birds fly free to the rhythm of these tunes. When you visit the Ganga ghats, time seems to stand still. You feel detached from life's joys and sorrows, wishing this exact moment would last forever. On the banks of the Ganga, you witness a true diversity of colors, much like the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna themselves. The city is a sacred pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Buddhists. This is Banaras, the city of Lord Shiva, Bhole Ki Nagri.Names and OriginsBanaras is one of the oldest living cities in the world. It is also known as Varanasi (the city of salvation), Vishwanath Nagari, and Kashi. Lord Vishwanath is regarded as the master of this universe, and the city is considered the land of liberation, where one attains salvation. According to a deep-rooted belief, anyone who passes away here is freed from the endless cycle of life and death. It is also called the "City of Ghats," since it has more than 100 of them.According to the Puranas, the city is believed to be so ancient that Lord Shiva created it to reside with Goddess Parvati before the Earth itself existed. Kashi can be considered older than history and tradition, and older still than the Puranic accounts that describe it. Whenever one tries to trace the history of Kashi, the evidence leads back to Vedic literature.The earliest known use of the word "Kashi" appears in the Atharvaveda. It also appears in the Shiva Purana, Brahma Purana, Agni Purana, and Matsya Purana, as well as in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Queen Sumitra, wife of King Dasharatha and mother of Lakshmana, was a princess of the Kashi kingdom.Ancient Kashi: Faith, Trade, and LearningThe Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana contains roughly 15,000 verses describing the city's various pilgrimage sites. Before the 6th century, Banaras was not only a center of Vedic dharma but also a thriving commercial and industrial hub, famous for its muslin, silk, perfumes, ivory, and sculpture. Historical records confirm that by the 6th century BCE, Varanasi was already the largest and most important city in the country.Conquest and Continuity Through the Medieval PeriodDuring the medieval period, the city was part of the Kannauj kingdom before passing under the authority of the Pala rulers of Bengal. After King Jaichand's defeat in the battle of 1194 CE, Muhammad Ghori entered Kashi, plundering the city and destroying several Hindu temples. The widespread looting drove many scholars living in Banaras to migrate elsewhere.In the 16th century, the Mughal emperor Akbar once again encouraged the city's religious and cultural life. During his reign, however, Banaras was briefly renamed Mohammadabad. Toward the end of the 17th century, in 1669, Aurangzeb demolished part of the Vishwanath temple and built the Gyanvapi mosque on the site.Around 1700, the Marathas began a new revival in the city, constructing the ghats seen today. In 1780, the Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar rebuilt the Kashi Vishwanath temple. As Mughal power declined through the 18th century, Awadh emerged as an independent state, with Banaras as its subordinate territory, and it was during this period that the British began establishing their authority in India.Chait Singh and the East India CompanyFollowing the Battle of Buxar, the Treaty of Allahabad was signed with Awadh in 1765; Chait Singh was king of Banaras at the time. When the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daula, died in 1775, his son Asaf-ud-Daula succeeded him. British Governor-General Warren Hastings used this transition to press the new Nawab into signing a fresh treaty, under which Banaras was handed over to the East India Company and Chait Singh became a Company subordinate, obliged to pay an annual sum of 22 lakh rupees. No further demands were meant to follow, and Chait Singh was to be left to rule Banaras in peace. Citing financial pressure, however, Hastings soon violated these terms.In 1778, Hastings demanded an additional 5 lakh rupees from Chait Singh as a war subsidy. In 1779 and 1780, the Raja sent 2 lakh rupees as a gift, but Hastings pressed further, demanding extra subsidies and an additional cavalry unit. Chait Singh apologized and said he could not meet the demand.Hastings responded by fining him 50 lakh rupees and marching on Banaras. The Raja met him at Buxar and placed his turban at Hastings's feet in submission, but Hastings refused any discussion before reaching Banaras. Once there, he ordered Chait Singh's arrest, and Chait Singh's nephew was installed as the new Raja, with the annual tribute raised from 22 lakh to 40 lakh rupees. In this way, the rulers of Banaras were reduced to little more than pensioners of the East India Company.The Spiritual Heart of BanarasBanaras is bound to Hinduism by an unbreakable thread. It is a deeply spiritual place where one can feel the essence of "Subah-e-Banaras," the divine mornings, and the city of Mahadev carries an unmistakable sense of pride and spiritual freedom: a place, as tradition holds, where devotees are as carefree and detached as Lord Shambhunath himself. In popular belief, it is regarded as the holiest city for Hindus.According to the Hindu Puranas, Banaras is the ancient name for Varanasi, formed from the confluence of two rivers, the Varuna and the Assi. Many rivers run through the city, but this particular confluence is what sets the sacred land apart. Tradition holds that Kashi was founded by Lord Shiva himself, who came here to reside with Goddess Parvati and promised never to leave.Because Kashi is known as Shiva ki Nagari, the city of Shiva, it carries the same qualities associated with Mahadev himself: carefree, easily pleased, divine, and extraordinary. No vision of Kashi is complete without Shiva, and his imprint is said to be present in every corner of the city.The Kashi Vishwanath TempleAmong the thousands of temples dedicated to Lord Shiva, the most prominent is the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas on the banks of the Ganges. Tradition holds that King Harishchandra rebuilt the temple in the 11th century, but its history from the 11th to the 15th centuries was one of repeated destruction. In 1194, Qutb-ud-din Aibak destroyed it on the orders of Muhammad Ghori; it was rebuilt in the 13th century, only for Firoz Shah Tughlaq to order its destruction again, followed by demolition at the hands of the Sultan of Jaunpur, Mahmud Shah, in 1447.In 1585, Pandit Narayan Bhat restored the temple with support from Raja Todar Mal, one of Emperor Akbar's Navaratnas. On April 18, 1669, Aurangzeb ordered it demolished once more. Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar had it rebuilt in 1780, and in 1835, Maharaja Ranjit Singh donated 1,000 kilograms of gold, used to construct the temple's golden spire (kalash).Other Sacred Sites of BanarasBanaras is also home to numerous other temples. The Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, established by the poet Tulsidas, hosts a world-famous annual music festival. The ancient Mandah Devi temple is known for its large pond, the Vishol Kund, and the temple of Mata Annapurna, near the Vishwanath temple, is said to be the first temple in the world where devotees receive prasad, blessed food, before it is formally offered to God.According to Hindu belief, death is as much a part of life's journey as anything else, and Kashi is considered the city of salvation. At Manikarnika Ghat, the last rites of the dead are performed day and night, and the fire of the funeral pyre is never extinguished. This is why people from across the country come here in their final moments, having completed their life's duties, to seek salvation. As in Mathura, Vrindavan, or Haridwar, an ancient temple can be found in nearly every corner of the city; Shiva is said to reside in every particle of Kashi.Situated along the Ganga with more than 100 concrete ghats, Banaras takes on the shape of a bow along the riverbank, and the people who live along these ghats have a distinctive way of life shaped by that geography.Buddhism and Jainism in KashiCulture and tradition live in every part of this city. In the 6th century BCE, Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon near Banaras at Sarnath, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where he formally established the Buddhist Sangha with five bhikkhus (monks). In this sense, Buddhism can be said to have begun here.Kashi is also a major pilgrimage site for Jainism. Of the religion's 24 tirthankaras, Varanasi is considered the birthplace of three: the 7th tirthankara, Chandraprabhu; the 11th, Shreyansanath; and the 23rd, Parshvanatha. Notably, Shreyansanath was born at Sarnath itself, the same site sacred to Buddhism. Several ancient Jain temples stand in Banaras, including one dedicated to Suparshvanatha, alongside the Jain temple at Jain Ghat and the Parshvanatha birthplace temple in Bhelupur.Saints, Poets, and a Composite CultureIn the 8th century, Kashi, the land of Mahadev, drew Adi Shankaracharya, who composed the "Kashi Vishwanath Ashtakam" here. Banaras is also the birthplace of the saint and social reformer Kabir; the city is considered incomplete without him, and his ashram stands in the Kabir Chaura neighborhood, itself world-famous for its musicians.Sant Raidas, the guru of Mirabai, was also born in Banaras, and Goswami Tulsidas composed the "Ramcharitmanas" at Assi Ghat. The city is home to the Aghor Sampraday as well, whose most prominent saint was Baba Keenaram; its ascetics, known as Aghoris, are recognized worldwide for their mysterious meditation practices.Banaras is not defined by any one tradition alone. It is a place where temple bells and the mosque's Azaan (call to prayer) both bring peace to the ear, and the city teaches coexistence by example. It is also the city of Mirza Ghalib, who wrote a beautiful poem for it titled "Chiragh-e-Dair," or "The Lamp of the Temple." It is the city where the great shehnai player and Bharat Ratna recipient Ustad Bismillah Khan would sit at the Balaji temple to practice his music. This blending of traditions defines the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, the composite culture, of Banaras.Food and CraftThe food culture of Kashi is itself a tradition, famous even in Bollywood and Hollywood for its paan (betel leaf); the food here is hard to describe in words. The Banarasi saree, too, is world-famous and has been the first choice of Indian women for centuries, now popular abroad as well. In this way, the city continues to teach a way of eating, dressing, and living rooted in peace.ConclusionMany have come to rule Banaras, and many have come to destroy its heritage. All of them came and went, leaving Varanasi essentially untouched, because Banaras is the city of Lord Shiva.

Opinion: A cultural overview of Varanasi’s history, spiritual traditions, Ganga ghats and Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

Varanasi: History, Spirituality and Cultural Heritage

Varanasi: The Timeless City of Lord Shiva, Faith, Culture and Civilization

Editor’s note: This is an opinion article based on the author’s general research and analysis. It does not present original reporting or interviews.The Conveyor BeltThe Indian education system works like a conveyor belt. It begins at age three or four with play school, the child's first step into formal education. From there, the belt moves through primary school, secondary school, and board exams. Next come entrance exams such as JEE, NEET, and CLAT, followed by college and a degree, and finally, entry into the job market.The Scale of the SystemIndia has around 1,500,000 schools, more than 1,100 universities, and over 43,000 colleges. In terms of student numbers, it is the largest education system in the world, with 260 million students enrolled across schools and colleges.Who Regulates WhatAt the school level, education is controlled by CBSE, ICSE, and the respective state boards of each state. NCERT prepares the textbooks and syllabus. For higher education, the UGC regulates universities, AICTE regulates engineering education, and the NMC (National Medical Commission) regulates medical colleges.One interesting feature of this structure is that education falls under the Concurrent List of the Constitution, meaning both the central and state governments can legislate on it. This is why every state has its own board and a separate syllabus.Ancient Roots: Gurukuls, Takshashila, and NalandaThis structure was not built in a single day; it took thousands of years to form. In ancient Greece, Plato founded the Academy, from which we get the word "academia." But while Europe was still developing its education system, India was already far ahead.India had the ancient tradition of the gurukul system, where children lived in ashrams, far from home. Education there was not limited to memorization. Students learned the Vedas and scriptures alongside mathematics, science, Ayurveda, archery, music, astronomy, and animal care. The system was designed to create a complete human being, not merely someone fit for a job.The world's oldest university-type institutions also emerged in India. Takshashila, located in present-day Pakistan, is where scholars like Chanakya are said to have studied. Nalanda, in Bihar, at its peak hosted thousands of students and hundreds of teachers, drawing scholars from as far as China and Korea. Nalanda was destroyed by Khilji in the twelfth century; it is said that its library burned for a month.After this, the era of maktabs and madrasas began, with education focused primarily on religious teaching. It evolved over time but remained open to all, though there was still no centralized system. This arrangement persisted for a long time.The British Era and the Birth of the Modern ClassroomIndia's modern school system was not born in India; it was born in Europe. In 1806, Napoleon's army defeated Prussia. Following this defeat, Prussia created the world's first compulsory education system, a state-controlled model with a fixed syllabus and standard dress, rigid and uniform, designed to produce obedience rather than creativity.When the Industrial Revolution arrived, factories needed workers who could move quietly, arrive on time, follow orders, and not ask questions, and this model of schooling spread across the world. Some present this as a conspiracy, asking whether schools were designed to make people fail. The more accurate reading is that the original goal of that era was obedience, not creativity, and that standardized classroom became the global standard. This same standardized approach reached India through the British.In 1835, British official Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote a document strongly recommending English-medium education for India. In his own words, the objective was to create a class of people "Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, opinion, morals, and intellect." That same year, Governor-General William Bentinck passed the Education Act of 1835, mandating English-medium education to prepare a workforce that could pass exams and serve as English-knowing clerks.In 1854, Wood's Despatch was introduced, and under this framework, India's first three modern universities were established in Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras between 1856 and 1857. This system achieved two things for the British: a degree meant a government job, and a government job meant social respect. That mindset remains so deeply rooted that even today, when a child is born, family members often say, "They will grow up to become an officer."Independence and the Rebuilding EffortWhen the British left in 1947, the literacy rate stood at under 20 percent; the 1951 census recorded it at 18.33 percent, meaning more than 80 out of every 100 people could not write their own names. Higher education was similarly limited, with only 20 universities and around 500 colleges nationwide, serving approximately 250,000 students.To address this, the new government began reforms. In 1948, the Radhakrishnan Commission was established for university education. The UGC (University Grants Commission) was set up in 1953, and the Secondary Education Commission followed in 1956. The biggest turning point came in 1964 with the Kothari Commission, which introduced the 10+2+3 structure: ten years of schooling, two years of higher secondary education, and three years of undergraduate study. The Kothari Commission laid the foundation for India's modern classroom system and strongly recommended spending 6 percent of GDP on education. Even 60 years later, India still has not reached that target; actual spending remains around 4 percent.In 1968, the first National Policy on Education was introduced, under which Navodaya Vidyalayas were opened and Operation Blackboard was launched. The policy was revised in 1992. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan followed in 2001, and in 2009, the Right to Education (RTE) Act was passed, making free and compulsory education a legal right for children aged 6 to 14.As a result, the gross enrollment ratio at the primary level has reached nearly 100 percent, and the literacy rate has risen from 18 percent to around 74 percent, a genuinely significant achievement. In higher education, the number of colleges grew from about 500 to over 43,000, and enrollment rose from 250,000 to over 4.33 crore (43 million) students. India's higher education system is now the third largest in the world, after China and the United States.The IIT and IIM WaveAfter independence, Nehru envisioned building institutions that could power the country's industries. The first IIT opened in Kharagpur in 1951, inside a former Hijli detention camp where the British had once imprisoned freedom fighters, a place of punishment that became a place shaping the country's future. IITs were subsequently established in Bombay, Madras, Kanpur, and Delhi. The first two IIMs opened in Calcutta and Ahmedabad in 1961. Nehru called these institutions the "Temples of Modern India," and today, graduates of these colleges run companies like Google and Microsoft.Privatization and the Rise of Private UniversitiesThe second wave came in 1980, when the government realized it could not manage the entire higher-education sector alone and opened the door to private players. Engineering and medical colleges then flooded the southern states, particularly Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.The third wave arrived after 2000, ushering in the era of private universities, with new campuses opening in almost every city. Between 2017 and 2020 alone, the number of universities grew to 1,113. But today's reality is one of quantity without quality: colleges are opening everywhere, yet most fail to provide adequate facilities or placement opportunities. According to a FICCI report, only 45 percent of graduates are employable, while 55 percent lack the required skills. Institutions have expanded in size, but quality has not kept pace, arguably the biggest irony of the system.The Learning CrisisChildren reaching school and college raises a deeper question: what is the actual value of what they are learning? The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is published every year after a village-to-village assessment of children, evaluating two core parameters: basic reading skills and foundational arithmetic. The results are troubling: only one in four children can properly read a book in their own native language, and many struggle with simple addition or division.Children are physically present in class, and their attendance is marked, but genuine learning is not happening. This is known as the learning crisis.A System Divided by WealthThis feeds directly into another major issue: the divide between education for the rich and the poor. On one side are private schools with air-conditioned classrooms and smart boards; on the other are government schools where even the roofs are broken. Strangely, government school teachers receive good salaries, yet mostly underprivileged children study there, while private schools are filled with children from affluent families but pay their teachers very low salaries. Money and quality end up misaligned.In countries like Singapore, rich and poor students study together in the same schools. In India, by contrast, the quality of a student's education is often determined by whether their family is rich or poor.The Coaching Industry and KotaWhen schools cannot be trusted to prepare students, parents turn to coaching centers, giving rise to a parallel education system and a massive coaching industry. Kota is the clearest example: a city whose entire economy runs on entrance exam preparation. At its peak, around 150,000 children lived there, away from home, studying up to 16 hours a day on a punishing schedule.The scale of competition is staggering. In 2026, 2.4 million students registered for NEET, but there are only about 130,000 MBBS seats nationwide, of which roughly 64,000 are in government colleges, meaning approximately 35 students compete for a single affordable government seat. In JEE Main, more than 1.5 million (15 lakh) students registered, while only about 18,000 IIT seats exist. The students who don't make it are often labeled failures by the system, but the reality is simply that there are not enough seats for everyone.The pressure of this system shows itself in the most tragic way: every year, news of student suicides emerges from Kota, involving children aged 16 to 25 who left home hoping to become doctors or engineers. Adding to this is the trauma of paper leaks: national exams like NEET have repeatedly been dragged into controversy, sometimes requiring re-exams. For a student who has spent two years preparing, a leaked paper or a scrapped result can be devastating, shattering trust in the system entirely.The Job Market RealitySuppose a student clears every stage: the entrance exam, college, and a degree. Getting a job is where the harsh realities of India's current job market set in. The unemployment rate among graduates under the age of 25 is as high as 40 percent. After 16 years of study, many graduates still find themselves without adequate opportunities, and most then compete for the relative security of a government job.From 2014 to 2022, the government received 22 crore applications for government jobs, of which only 7.2 lakh people were selected, meaning roughly 1 in 300 applicants got a job. It's worth asking what happens to the rest.It is easy to blame schools and colleges alone, but the responsibility is shared across the whole system:●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Media and cultural narrative: films and family conversations reinforce a narrow set of "acceptable" careers, doctor, engineer, government officer, while other paths such as analytics or software design are rarely presented as equally valid.●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Parenting style: research suggests that overly strict parenting can weaken a child's self-confidence and independent decision-making.●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Psychological patterns: people often gravitate toward choices whose outcomes they can already predict, reinforcing familiar but limited paths.NEP 2020: A New BlueprintIn 2020, after 34 years, India introduced a new education policy, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. On paper, it addresses many of these underlying problems. It replaces the old 10+2 structure with a 5+3+3+4 model. Under this system, education for children as young as three focuses on early learning; arts, science, and commerce are studied together rather than in separate streams; and vocational skills like coding and carpentry are introduced from Class 6 onward.Multiple entry and exit options are now available in higher education: one year of study earns a certificate, two years a diploma, and if a student leaves midway, their credits are not lost but stored in an Academic Bank of Credits. The policy also emphasizes early education in the mother tongue and repeats the long-standing promise to spend 6 percent of GDP on education. The policy's real test, however, lies in implementation, and it has still not been fully adopted by many states.Conclusion: An Epic, Unfinished JourneyThe journey that began at Takshashila and Nalanda reached a point where Macaulay's 1835 minute turned education into a machine for producing clerks. After independence came a period of struggle, followed by the 10+2+3 system and, eventually, the Right to Education Act. Kota turned into a coaching factory alongside a system now serving 260 million students in schools and colleges, and today NEP 2020 and YouTube classes are reshaping access to learning, making it easier for children even in remote areas to study and build a future.India's education journey, full of ups and downs, is nothing short of an epic saga. Even though the system is sometimes portrayed as a complete villain, it remains a system worth engaging with and improving, not abandoning.

Opinion: An overview of India’s education system, its challenges and how NEP 2020 aims to reshape learning.

Khushi Singh

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Varanasi: The Timeless City of Lord Shiva, Faith, Culture and Civilization

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Varanasi: The Timeless City of Lord Shiva, Faith, Culture and Civilization

India's Education System: A Conveyor Belt from Gurukul to Google