a SHAKTI PITHA site sacred to the Divine Mother.
It is considered the most desirable place where a
Hindu can die and be cremated, as it is understood
that liberation from birth and rebirth is conferred
upon a person by the holiness of the city. Myth
says that the Ganges flows through the topknot
of Shiva down to Earth; for many it is understood
that those who bathe in it derive special blessings
from Shiva.
At Benares any act of devotion whatsoever, be
it the smallest offering, act of penance or char-
ity, or chant, yields unlimited results. Benares
has been known at different times as Varanasi or
Kashi (the place of the supreme light). It has been
a great center of Shiva worship in particular and
has known more than 3,000 years of continuous
habitation. Only a few buildings are left from
before the 16th century, as Muslim armies from
the 12th century destroyed nearly every temple
there.
The city’s primary Shiva shrine, the Vishwanath
Temple, dates only from 1776, when it was rebuilt
across the road from its original ancient location.
The jnana vapi, or Well of Wisdom, is adjacent to
the site of the original temple and is the ritual cen-
ter of Benares. The well is said to have been dug
by Shiva himself, and its waters carry the liquid
form of JNANA, the light of insight.
Benares contains so many hundreds of shrines
and temples that it is said a pilgrim would need
all the years of his or her life to visit them all.
Some of these temples are named after the
great pilgrimage centers, in other parts of India:
RAMESHVARAM, DVARAKA, Puri, and KANCHIPURAM.
In this way, visiting Benares is tantamount to vis-
iting all the major shrines and temples of India.
Most pilgrims make only short visits of days or
weeks to Benares, but there are also many thou-
sands who see it as the last port of call of their
earthly existence. There are nearly 100 cremation
spots in the six-mile expanse of the Ganges at
Benares.
A well-worn 50-mile pilgrimage path encircles
the holy city; pilgrims generally take five days to
complete the walk, visiting 108 shrines along the
way. A second important Benares pilgrimage route
takes two days to complete and has 72 shrines.
Bustling, dusty Benares was once an area of
sylvan wilderness. Sages and saints such as BUD-
DHA, MAHAVIRA, and TULSIDAS all at one time or
another prayed and meditated here. For centuries
Benares may have been the most often-visited
sacred place on the planet. In any case, for Hindus
there is no holier city on Earth.Further reading: Winand Callewaert and Rober Schil-
der, Banaras: Vision of a Living Ancient Tradition (New
Delhi: Hemkunt Publishers, 2000); Diana Eck, Banaras:
City of Light (New York: Columbia University Press,
1999).Bernard, Pierre Arnold (1875–1955) Western
tantric teacher
Born Peter Coons in Leon, Iowa, Pierre Bernard
created the Tantrik Order in America, in New
York City, in 1909, perhaps the first Hindu group
in the United States founded by a Westerner.
As a young man, Bernard moved from Iowa to
California, where he held odd jobs. At age 30 he
met Mortimer Hargis, with whom he formed the
Bacchante Academy in San Francisco to teach hyp-
notism and “soul charming,” a term that referred
to sexual practices. The earthquake of 1906 lev-
eled the academy and Bernard moved east.
In 1909 Bernard founded the Tantrik Order
in America and gave himself the name Oom the
Omnipotent. He taught YOGA and tantric Hin-
duism, a branch of the religion that focuses on
sexual energies and consciousness. In 1910 he
was arrested on charges filed by two women in
his group that he was conducting sexual orgies
and was keeping women against their will. He
was allowed to continue operating his institute
but was kept under the eye of the local police. He
became legal guardian of his half sister, Ora Ray
Baker, later to become the wife of Hazrat Inayat
Khan, founder of the Sufi Order.K 70 Bernard, Pierre Arnold