The book gives for the first time a comprehensive view of the complex world of India’s sacred place par excellence. It discusses the immaterial essence of »place« – which in Benares materializes in the shape of lingas, deities, ponds, wells or rivers. Thousands of these places represent tirthas, crossings between this world and the other. Since the locative aspect of religion is in constant search of places at which to profit from divine energy, Benares (also known as Banaras, Varanasi, Kashi, Avimukta or Anandakanana) represents the entire universe: the Cardham, the four corners of the subcontinent, the seven sacred cities of India, the twelve lingas of light, all these and many more are found there. The imagined landscape is documented by 18th- and 19th-century pictorial presentations, which convey a more powerful message than topographical maps based on »true« distances. Following the footsteps of pilgrims, the book leads through a sacred landscape that seems almost overloaded with imprints of meaning. Countless lingas – stones that embody elements of cosmogony and anthropogenesis, as the French philosopher Jean Malaurie states – echo cosmic power. Beyond a scholarly presentation of pilgrimages and documentation of their routes the book opens up a new view: visually compelling photographs focus on sacred objects like lingas as the objects of worship. The presentation of ritual acts transcends the narrow confines of scholarly discourses and is revealed as art.