Varanasi

Why this icon A morning boat ride past the ghats on the Ganga. Source: en.wikipedia.org

Zostel

The story

Dawn on the Ganga: the ghats' steps and temple towers glow gold on the west bank as the sun comes up over the east bank, people sit and stroll on the steps and boats wait at the lowest one, and a traveller photographs it all from a rowing boat.

Why this picture

Varanasi's 84 ghats are stone stairways down into the Ganga along its crescent-shaped west bank, under a wall of sandstone palaces three and four storeys high and temple towers, mostly rebuilt in the 18th century. They face east, so the sun rising over the flat sandbanks of the empty east bank lights them gold; people come down to the steps at first light (Assi Ghat holds its dawn music and yoga), boats are moored at the lowest steps, and the dawn boat ride along them, in six-metre wooden rowing boats, is the classic way to see them. In winter gulls wheel over the boats.

The sky wears Banaras brocade, from Uttar Pradesh.

The motion

The sun's rays breathe; the river lines run, row against row; the boatmen pull at their oars and the boats ride the water; three gulls wheel over the river. A 16-second loop.

Colour

Rani Pink #ED145A

Apricot #FFCE7B

Gulabi #EE3C96

Varanasi takes Apricot #FFCE7B, one of the three Flowers colours — with its icon in Steel Grey on it.

Another moment in Varanasi

A second scene: another true moment at Varanasi, drawn in the graphic vocabulary with the animals and city symbols that belong there. Wide for screens, tall for a phone held upright.

The story

Kite day in Varanasi: on a bright January afternoon at Makar Sankranti the sky over the Ganga fills with paper kites; on the sands of the east bank below Ramnagar Fort two travellers fly one of their own, she on the string and he with a kulhad of lassi, while the old city lies low across the river, a cut kite drifts away over everything, gulls wheel over the water and a macaque sits on the fort's river steps.

Why this moment

Makar Sankranti (14 January) is kite day across North India, and in Banaras the kites go up from the rooftops, the ghats and the river sands; the Zostel map of Varanasi draws kids flying kites on the ghats. Ramnagar Fort (1750) stands on the Ganga's east bank opposite Tulsi Ghat, cream Chunar sandstone rising from its river steps, a short boat ride across (the Zostel guide). Lassi in a clay kulhad is the city's drink, gulls winter on the river, and monkeys are everywhere along it.

The motion

A cut kite drifts across the whole sky; the kites on their strings dip and swing; gulls wheel over the water; the river's rows run; the sun's rays turn; a traveller hops on the beat. A 16-second loop.

In the picture

Its files

wide: wide second scene, SVG wide second scene, Animated SVG wide second scene, PNG
tall: tall second scene, SVG tall second scene, Animated SVG tall second scene, PNG

Also in the kit's zip, in its own folder.

The sound of Varanasi

What you hear in Varanasi, each on a card of its own. Nothing plays until you tap.

The oars
Two heavy wooden oars creaking against their pegs, three slow strokes in calm water, drops falling from the blades.
Its own sound · 4 s
Dawn boat
Dawn on the wide, slow river: oars creaking in their pegs, drops from the blades, gulls wheeling low over the boat, the stone steps far off.
Its air · 10 s

Varanasi in symbols

Beside its icon, the things that are Varanasi, drawn in the Brand Manual's city language: a monument in the city grey with its openings cut, the things of the place in flat landscape colours. Each comes in colour and in the city grey. Every place's symbols

Banarasi silkOf the place
Banarasi silk (GI 2009): fine silk woven with gold zari brocade — small floral butis across the body, a border of kalga (the paisley) and bel (the creeper) edged by jhallar, a row of upright leaves.
SVG Grey SVG PNG
Lassi in a kulhadOf the place
Lassi in a kulhad, Varanasi's sweet thick curd drink, served in the unglazed clay cup that is thrown away after one use, a crust of malai heaped on top.
SVG Grey SVG PNG
Ramnagar FortMonument
Ramnagar Fort (1750) on the Ganga's east bank opposite Tulsi Ghat: cream Chunar sandstone ramparts rising from the river steps, crowned by carved balconies, pavilions and two towers.
SVG Grey SVG PNG

Also drawn for Varanasi 31

Detailed icons from the library that name Varanasi among their places: one drawing, on the page of every place it belongs to. Those drawn for Varanasi alone come first. Every detailed icon

Say hello to Varanasi's Zobus

Zobu in Varanasi's own dress, on the palette. Hover or tap one and it waves. Each comes still and alive — idle, hello and hop — for stickers, stories and the app.

Every destination's Zobus →

Female
Still Idle Hello Hop Face Wave
Male
Still Idle Hello Hop Face Wave

Their faces, poses and moves 31

Varanasi's Zobus from the rig: a face for a profile picture, a pose for a story, a move as a still; each opens its file. Every Zobu in motion

Faces 20

Poses 11

Show all 11

The kit

Everything Varanasi needs: its profile, its cover, wide and tall, its icon, tile, display picture and lockup, its loop and the symbol becoming it, its second scene, its city map, its city symbols and its Zobus — every file ready to download.

51 files in one zip, the cover, its second scene, its symbols, its Zobus and its city map included

Profile

Varanasi’s page as a story, 1080 × 1920: its cover, its tile, its name, its line and its verbs — for stories, status and a phone’s lock screen.

SVGOther formats

Cover, wide

1600 × 900, for screens: a page’s top, a slide, a share card. The still is the loop’s first frame. The animated SVG loops in 16 s; where it shouldn’t move, use the still.

SVG Animated SVG PNG

Cover, tall

900 × 1600, composed for a phone held upright: stories, reels, a lock screen. The animated SVG loops in 16 s; where it shouldn’t move, use the still.

SVG Animated SVG PNG

Tile

The icon in one colour on Varanasi’s own — for a grid, a story, a sticker.

SVG PNG

Icon

A monument: city grey, its detail cut out. Transparent; the mono takes any one colour.

SVG PNG Mono SVG

Loop

Festival bunting flutters above it, or confetti points twinkle. 7.2 s, seamless.

Animated SVG Lottie JSON

Motion

The symbol becomes Varanasi and turns back — a Lottie loop for stories, the app and the web.

Lottie JSON

Display picture

Circle-safe: the colour, the icon and the name — for chats, socials and the app.

SVG PNG

Lockup

The horizontal lockup, with Varanasi under the wordmark — for signage, email and merch.

SVG

City symbols

Varanasi’s symbols, each in colour and in the city grey, as SVG and PNG — in the zip’s symbols folder.

See them with their files

Zobus

Varanasi’s Zobu pair, still and alive (idle, hello, hop), waving still and as a face (a profile picture) — in the zip’s zobus folder.

Female SVG Male SVG

Also made for Varanasi 5

The rest of what the library holds for Varanasi: the pattern of its region, the card its links share, each opening its own file or gallery.

The map we made for Varanasi

36 things to do around our Zostel, two walks and 16 quests, on one A2 sheet that folds to A6 — a map made for travellers. Print it, fold it, go.

Download for print (PDF)Download the map (PNG)Download the guide (PNG)

A2, both sides, folds to A6. For print: double-sided, flipping on the long edge; at a print shop, the PDF at actual size.

ClickTap the sheet to zoom in

The mapClick to zoom in

The guideClick to zoom in

Its pieces on the map 60

Every spot on the Varanasi sheet, by what you go there for, each drawn with a drawing of the library. A piece opens its drawing with its files; the line under it names the other places that drawing belongs to.