Kashi is the city of Siva - Avimukta - one he never forsakes. The mythology of Kashi fuses together, diverse traditions of Shaivism, Vaisnavism, Advaita, Tantricism and Bhakti, almost all ancient philosophies of South Asia find a unique confluence. The oldest seat of Brahmanical learning, the Nominated Property testifies to the eternal truth that within the sacred, is a delicate balance between man and nature, male and female. Its sacred geographies, tirthas, associated rituals and mythologies have been propounded in puranic literature and jatakas that give a mapping of its sites of significance and bear testimony to its unchallenged position as the sacred centre of the region. Kashi “stands outside space and time and yet all space is contained within it.” Believed to be the origin and microcosm of the universe, this associative cultural landscape is held greater than the sum of all the other pilgrim sites, tirthas and kshetras in Hinduism - a defining attribute of its unique identity.