Varanasi

Hindu man watched the eclipse as he took a bath in the Ganges River in Varanasi , India.

The event in Varanasi was marred however when a woman was killed and several others injured in a stampede on the river banks police said.

Many Hindus believe that they must visit Varanasi and bathe in the Ganges at least once in their lifetimes.

When he founded the Clean Ganga movement, the solution to Varanasi's problems seemed obvious: build more sewage-treatment plants.

Some of Varanasi's weavers are reported to have migrated to Gujarat in western India to operate power-looms.

By the time the Ganges reaches Varanasi, India's holiest city, the river has been somewhat restored by several tributaries.

A bomb blast in the Indian city of Varanasi has killed a girl and injured at least 30 other people.

The phenomenon began at dawn over the western coast of India, passing over Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Varanasi and Patna, Nasa said.

These competing demands are lowering water levels all along the Ganges, a crisis most apparent in the sacred city of Varanasi.

Kashi Vishwanath was a temple located in Varanasi, "the oldest living city in the world, " and the place most sacred to Hinduism .

Varanasi's estimated 300, 000 weavers, of whom 90% are Muslim and the rest Hindu dalits (formerly "untouchables" ), have always been poor.

Still, as the new water-management plans in Delhi, Kanpur and Varanasi suggest, all is not lost.

As our guide, Ashok Verma, later told me in Varanasi, India: "Crafts are the best thing to buy; they have people's dreams woven into them. "

The natural event I was most proud of bringing to people's TV screens was the solar eclipse at Varanasi.

The Ganges River is so heavily polluted at Varanasi that the water is septic - no dissolved oxygen exists.

Floating offerings of flowers and candles are sold in Varanasi to light the way for pious rituals.

The noise of Varanasi floats away as time slows to an ancient rhythm.

And the backdrop and colour of Varanasi were brilliant.

The cremation ghats in Varanasi burn day and night.

A boy jumps off a promenade into the river Ganges in the northern Indian city of Varanasi on July 21, 2009.

In India, 2 people were killed and over 10 injured in a stampede in Varanasi.

This shot was taken at Varanasi, India.

Upadhyay called the incident a "commotion" during sacred rituals in Varanasi.

A bomb blast at the railway station in Varanasi, India, on March 7, 2006.

Direct buses from Varanasi to the Nepalese border at Sunauli take 9 hours and cost about Rs 100.

A normal ticket from Delhi to Varanasi costs 1, 272 rupees ($29) in AC2 class, whereas a 1-day AC2 IndRail pass costs $43.