List of people from Varanasi

File:Temples on the bank of Ganges, Varanasi.jpg

Varanasi on the banks of the holy Ganges River

This is a list of notable people from Varanasi.

Activists

• Annie Besant
• Dyal Singh Majithia

Arts, music and entertainment

• Ashutosh Bhattacharya (1917–2004), Tabla Player
• Girija Devi, Singer, Padma Vibhushan
• Siddheshwari Devi, Khayal Singer, Padma Shri
• Sitara Devi, Padma Shri
• Bismillah Khan, Shehnai Player, Bharat Ratna Padma Vibhushan
• Vikash Maharaj, Sarod Player, Yash Bharti
• Birju Maharaj, Kathak Guru, Padma Vibhushan
• Kishan Maharaj, Tabla Player, Padma Vibhushan
• Channulal Mishra, Hindustani classical Player, Padma Bhushan
• Shamta Prasad (Gudai Maharaj), Tabla Player, Padma Shri
• Ritwik Sanyal, Singer, Dhrupad
• Ravi Shankar, Sitar Player, Bharat Ratna
• Shivnath Mishra, Sitarist, Surbahar
• Uday Shankar, Dancer, Padma Vibhushan
• Sujit Kumar, Actor & Producer
• Anant Lal, Indian Classical Musician & Teacher
• Rasoolan Bai, Vocalist
• Ronu Majumdar, Flautist
• Lalmani Misra, Musician
• Hemanta Mukherjee, Singer, Music Director & Film Director
• Deobrat Mishra, Sitar, Surbahar artist
• Hiralal Yadav, Folk Singer, Padma Shri
• Vidisha, Actress

Literature and academics

• Baldev Upadhyaya, Hindi, Sanskrit scholar, literary historian, essayist and critic, Padma Bhushan
• Teg Ali Teg, Bhojpuri writer and poet
• Bedhab Banarasi, Hindi writer
• Bharatendu Harishchandra, Novelist, poet, playwright writer
• Devaki Nandan Khatri, Writer
• Gopinath Kaviraj (1887–1976), Sanskrit scholar; Principal Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi (1923–1937);Padma Vibhushan (1964)
• Jaishankar Prasad, Writer
• Kabir Das, mystic Bhojpuri poet and saint
• Ravidas, mystic saint and poet
• Premchand, Hindi-Urdu Writer
• Tulsidas, saint and poet, and philosopher
• Vagish Shastri, Sanskrit scholar, Tantric, linguist and grammarian
• Veer Bhadra Mishra, founding president of the Sankat Mochan Foundation; former professor and HOD of Civil Engineering at IIT (BHU), Varanasi
• Sudama Panday 'Dhoomil', Poet
• Shiv Prasad Mishra, Writer
• Shiv Prasaad Singh, Writer
• Kashi Nath Singh, Writer
• Shiv Prasad Gupta freedom fighter, philanthropist and founder of Kashi Vidyapeeth.
• Charu Sheel Singh, Writer
• Premendra Mitra, Bengali Poet & Novelist
• Deviprasad Dwivedi, Writer & Teacher, Padma Bhushan
• Harihar Kripalu Tripathi, Sanskrit Scholar, Padma Bhushan
• Namvar Singh, Indian Literary Critic, Sahitya Akademi winner
• Ashok Dhawan, MLA, Uttar Pradesh

Politics

• Raghunath Singh First Member of Parliamnt Varanasi
• Devendra Nath Dwivedi, Governor designate of Gujarat
• Mahendra Nath Pandey, Former HRD Minister of Gujarat
• Sri Prakasa, Governor of Assam
• Sampurnanand, Former Chief Minister of UP and Former Governor of Rajasthan
• Kamalapati Tripathi, Writer, Freedom Fighter and Former Railway Minister
• Raj Narain, former freedom fighter, royalty and politician.
• Veena Pandey, Former MLC, Uttar Pradesh
• Adya Prasad Pandey, Former Vice Chancellor Manipur University, Professor, Banaras Hindu University
• Ajay Rai 5 times MLA from Pindra

Royalty

• Raja Chait Singh Zamindar of Benaras
• Kashi Naresh Maharaja Banaras Vibhuti Narayan Singh
• Maharani Kiran Rao, Queen of Bhopal
• Maharani Lakshmibai, Queen of Jhansi

Scientists

• Sushruta, father of plastic surgery
• Bishun Khare, Research Scientist
• Arvind Mohan Kayastha, Biologist
• Sanjaya Rajaram, Plant Biologist
• Subhash Chandra Lakhotia, Cytogenetist and Biologist

Sports

• Prashanti Singh, Basketball Player
• Mohammed Shahid, Hockey Player
• Lalit Upadhyay, Field Hockey Player
• Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Basketball Player
• Ram Singh Yadav, Marathon
• Narsingh Pancham Yadav, Wrestler
• Bernard Brodhurst, Cricketer
• Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, Cricketer
• Divya Singh, Basketball Player
• Akanksha Singh, Basketball Player
• Pratima Singh, Basketball Player
• Punam Yadav, Weightlifter
• Shivpal Singh, Track and Field

Others

• Bhagwan Das, Bharat Ratna
• K. L. Shrimali, Padma Vibhushan
• Lahiri Mahasaya, Yogi
• Rai Krishnadasa, Padma Vibhushan
• Ravidas
• Sameer, Lyricist
• Sir James Brooke, Founder of the White Rajah dynasty of Sarawak
• Sunil Bansal, Politician
• Arun Pathak, Activist and Politician
• Ekta Chowdhry, Model
• Tapan Singhel, managing director and CEO of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance
• Sitaram Chaturvedi, Educator, Dramatist and Scholar
• Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Revolutionary and founder of Hindustan Republican Association
• Manmath Nath Gupta, Revolutionary and Author