What is the description of Varanasi in scriptures?

Question

I'm informed that real Kasi/Varanasi is different. I want to know the description of Varanasi mentioned in scriptures.

Answer 1

Vishvanatha and Varanasi

The seventh of the jyotirlingas is named Vishvanatha and it is located in the cityof Varanasi or Kashi. Varanasi is a very sacred place. Brahma himself performed difficult tapasya there. So difficult was the tapasya that Vishnu shook his head in disbelief. When Vishnu shook his head, a jewel (mani) fell down from Vishnu’ ear (karna). The place where the jewel fall is known as Manikarnika and it is a famous tirtha. Varanasi is not destroyed when the rest of the world is destroyed. Shiva himself raises it on the point of his trident and protects it while destruction rages all around. When the world is re-created. Shiva replaces Varanasi to its appointed place. Shiva and Parvati once went to visit Brahma. Brahma began to chant hymns in Shiva’s praise with all of his five mouths. One of the mouths however made mistakes in the pronunciation of the hymns. This angered Shiva and Shiva severed the offending head with a gaze of his third eye. But this effectively amounted to the killing of a brahmana and Shiva committed a crime. The severed head therefore got stuck to Shiva’s back would would not come off, no matter where Siva went. But when Shiva arrived in Varanasi, the head fell off his back. Shiva realized that Varanasi was a special place and he resolved that he would always be present there.

—Shiva purana:chapter25

source:— http://www.bharatadesam.com/spiritual/shiva_purana.php

The City of Varanasi

The city of Varanasi is very sacred. Shiva himself lived here with Parvati and Ganesha. Varanasi is one of the six greatest tirthas on earth. The other five are Kurukshetra, Shriparvata, Mahalaya, Tungeshvara and Kedara. The sins of someone who worships Shiva in Varanasi are immediately forgiven. Any living being who dies in the city goes immediately to heaven. Several are the lingas and sacred ponds in Varanasi; some of them were set up by Vishnu and Brahma themselves. The river Varuna winds through the city and unites with the holy river Ganga. At the confluence of the Varuna and the Ganga, Brahma established a linga known as Sangameshvara. Amongst other famous lingas in Varanasi are Shailesha, Svarnilesha, Madhyameshvara, Hiranyagarbheshvara, Goprekshaka, Vrishadhvaja, Upashantashiva, Shukreshvara, Vyaghreshvara and Jambukeshvara.

—Linga purana:chapter16

source:— http://www.bharatadesam.com/spiritual/linga_purana.php

NOTE:—ORIGINAL CHAPTER NO. MAY VARY