List of people from Varanasi

Varanasi on the banks of the holy Ganges River

This is a list of notable people from Varanasi, India.

• Sir James Brooke, founder of the White Rajah dynasty of Sarawak
• Premchand, Hindi writer
• Madan Mohan Malaviya, founder of the Banaras Hindu University
• Lal Bahadur Shastri, former Prime Minister of India, Bharat Ratna
• Bismillah Khan, Shehnai player, Bharat Ratna
• Channulal Mishra, Hindustani Classical player, Padma Bhushan
• Kishan Maharaj, Tabla player, Padma Vibhushan
• Ravi Shankar, Sitar player, Bharat Ratna
• Siddheshwari Devi, Khayal singer, Padma Shri
• Vikash Maharaj, Sarod Maestro
• Bhagwan Das, Bharat Ratna
• Prashanti Singh, basketball player
• Pandit Birju Maharaj
• Girija Devi, Padma Bhushan
• Ritwik Sanyal, Dhrupad
• Sitara Devi, Padma Shri
• Rai Krishnadasa., Padma Vibhushan
• Gopinath Kaviraj, Padma Vibhushan
• K.L. Shrimali, Padma Vibhushan
• Uday Shankar, Padma Vibhushan
• Rani Lakshmibai
• Kabir Das
• Tulsi Das
• Ravidas
• Bharatendu Harishchandra
• Vagish Shastri, Sanskrit scholar, Tantric, Linguist and Grammarian
• Shamta Prasad (Gudai Maharaj) Tabla player, Padma Shri
• Jaishankar Prasad
• Kashi Naresh, last king of Varanasi
• Devendra Nath Dwivedi, politician and the Governor designate of Gujarat
• Kamalapati Tripathi, writer, journalist, editor and freedom fighter
• Baldev Upadhyaya, Hindi, Sanskrit scholar, literary historian, essayist and critic, Padma Bhushan
• Devaki Nandan Khatri, writer