Perhaps the Muslim conquerors once perceived the Hindus' reverence for Varanasi as a threat there is no temple in this 3,000-year-old city dating from before the 18th century but later it became a holy city for Muslims, too, with Emperor Aurangzeb even trying to rename it Muhammadabad.
Emperor Aurangzeb made an attempt to rename the city as Muhammadabad.
It has on display some fascinating memorabilia of Himalayan expeditions, in particular the equipment used by local Sherpa Tensing Norgay (here Indianized as Shri Tensingh), when, with Edmund Hillary, he was the first to conquer Everest in 1953.