Varanasi is one place in India that I know of which lets us experience it the way we want to - it could be a typical pilgrimage destination or a backpacker's favourite or a gastronomic adventure - most of the times, it is a mixture of all of these! As you enter the town, a big board says "Welcome to the oldest and holiest town" - you will realise why when the trip ends! The uniqueness of Varanasi lies in its chaotic charm.
Having been here 8 years back and a trip due again, we planned our travel during the Pongal holidays in January 2024. We didn't club any other places like Gaya, Ayodhya or Prayagraj that are usually included in the itinerary when you go to Varanasi because we wanted to see Varanasi at our own pace.
 |
| Our 8 year old daughter enjoyed Varanasi as much as we did! |
Places visited -
Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh, India)
Weather - Typical North
Indian temperatures - minimum was 9 degrees while maximum was 20 degrees - the
town was foggy all through the day resulting in delays of our flights
Duration - 4 nights
& 4 days
Day 1 - Overnight train
to Bengaluru from Karur, flight to Varanasi from Bengaluru
Day 2,3 - Varanasi
Day 4 - Flight to
Bengaluru from Varanasi and overnight train to Karur from Begaluru
 |
| Bloom Hotel - an ideal option to stay near the airport |
 |
| The new T2 at BIAL will give many international terminals a run for their money! |
As I mentioned, since
Varanasi does not need a fixed itinerary to explore, I will go about listing
whatever we did but not in the same order so that you could keep your options
open as well when you plan.
Transport in the town:
To navigate around the gullies of the town, you could hire a tricycle rickshaw, e-auto (that's as narrow as a rickshaw which enables it to travel in the narrow lanes but with more seating capacity and power) and the regular autos. At times, you would have to take a combination of these to reach the last mile - but there is an abundance of them and charges are nominal.
Accommodation:
While there are plenty of options available in different parts of the town across the price band, we chose to stay near the ghat. We stayed at Via Varanasi (https://viavaranasi.com/) - this was close to Assi ghat and a very happening place that had good eateries, tea stalls at a stone's throw. Rooms were spacious enough and contemporary as well. Staying here meant there were autos/ rickshaws available round the clock and this was the starting point of the straight road that led to the temple going past all the lanes that lead to the other ghats. Being near the ghats would make you experience the real feel of the town. Also, the Ganga aarati happens in Assi ghat in addition to Dashashwamedha ghat.
 |
| Assi chowk where our hotel was located |
Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple:
All the darshans, aaratis, pooojas can be booked in advance online at https://www.shrikashivishwanath.org/. The site has an easy user interface to navigate and very simple to use / pay for the services. All the aaratis get sold out at least a week before while darshans are generally available till a day before. we booked two Sugam Darshans, one per day, that charges Rs 300 per adult.
Sugam Darshan:
1.
You could select the day
and time slot from the website
2.
Plan to reach the temple
office that is near Shapuri Mall near the gate number 4 half an hour before the
time slot - say if you have booked for 9am-10am Sugam Darshan, you should
report to the office at 8.30am
3.
The office has free
locker facility where you can drop your backpacks, handbag and smartwatches
(security checks for smartwatches when entering the temple premises) - you
could carry your mobile inside the temple where there is another free locker
facility to drop them
4.
You will be allotted a
shastri at the office and he will accompany you to the temple
5.
Footwear and mobiles to
be dropped at the facility inside the temple
6.
There is a separate
entry for Sugam Darshan that skips the queue and you just need to follow the
shastri
7.
After the darshan,
Shastri gives you the prasad, ties the sacred thread to our wrists and bids bye
(a token of Rs 100 per person is expected to be given though the darshan fee
includes his charges) and we are on our own to go around the temple
8.
Right from reporting to
the office till the shastri departs, it takes anywhere around 30-45 minutes
which, to me, is amazing turnaround time
Shayan Aarati:
While the aarati tickets were sold out for our days when we booked, there is always Shayan aarati that you could bank upon and perosnally, irrespective of darshans / other aaratis / poojas you may attend, this is a MUST VISIT.
1.
This aarati takes place
from 10.30pm - 11.00pm after which the temple is closed for the day
2.
The speciality of this
aarati is that around 50-100 localites gather before the sanctum sanctorum as
clock ticks close to 10.30pm and all of them, at their highest chords, sing
aarati in unison - it is a sight to behold and an experience to be felt - you
really get to feel the vibes of Kashi and the Lord during this - especially for
a South Indian like me who haven't seen anything like this in any of the
temples in South
3.
And the best part is -
if you reach the temple by 9.45pm-10pm, you could do multiple darshans
We were fortunate to have had 6 darshans in 2 days!
Corridor leading to the ghat:
The Kashi Vishwanath Dham (corridor) is breathtaking given how the place was before its construction. We were awestruck right from the moment we entered the gate. (You can't help but be in awe of the corridor even if you are an anti-national ;-))
- Walking along the corridor takes you to the Ganga
- The corridor is clean, has washrooms, restaurants, ice cream parlour and Geetha Press bookstore that is known for publishing slokas / spiritual literature across all the languages
- A stone-made sculpture of Bharat Mata against the symbolic backdrop of India, statues of Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar and saint Adi Shankaracharya have been installed
 |
| The golden tower is the sanctum sanctorum |
 | |
|
 |
 |
View of the Ganges as you walk along the corridor |
You could take a boat ride from this ghat - you will be charged around Rs 120 per person to share your ride in a motor boat along with 10-15 others. If you would like to rent an entire boat for yourself / your group, you need to shell out around Rs 1200 - Rs 1500 depending on the season. The ride takes you through all the ghats - every ghat is unique and has a history behind it - ride during the day time would enable you to soak up the view as you enjoy the ride. You could also feed puffed rice to the birds, many of them supposed to have been migrated from other parts of Asia.
 | |
|
 |
Manikarnika
ghat - believed to be the most auspicious place for a Hindu to be cremated |
 | |
|
 |
| Brijrama Palace - the luxury heritage hotel at the Munshi ghat |
 | |
|
 | |
|
Ganga Aarati in Alaknanda Cruise:
A new way to explore the ghats in the lights and to see Ganga Aarati is taking a ferry ride with Alaknanda Cruise (https://alaknandacruise.com/). Tickets could be bought in advance from their site.
- Their fleet has 4 ferries - Alaknanda - the higher end ferry that has AC cabin in the lower deck and non AC upper deck that has windows. Bhagirath - same as Alaknanda except that the upper deck has a rooftop and open on the sides. Vivekananda and Manekshaw are the other two ferries that have open lower and upper deck
- You will be served tea / coffee / cookies and mineral water on board while the outside food is not allowed You also have the option of buying cup noodles on board to satiate your hunger
- The cruise starts sharp at the mentioned time and there is an audio / video on board that explains the significance of important ghats as you ride along
- While you wait at the Ravidas ghat to board the ferry, you can taste Jhalmuri, Bhelpuri, Sevpuri at the river bank
- The ferry stops at Dasaswamedha ghat and then the Assi ghat for 10-15 minutes each to let you see the Ganga aarati
- We took the upper deck tickets and the view was awesome
 |
| Boarding point of Alaknanda cruise at Ravidas ghat |
Other temples visited :
While the town is dotted with temples, a few important ones that we visited were - Shree Kaal Bhairav temple, Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple, Maha Mrityunjay temple, Durga Devi temple - all these temples can be done in one go in 2.5-3 hours by hiring an e-auto. Other temples that you could visit are Kashi Annapurna temple, Shri Visalakshi Shaktipeeth temple, Tulsi Manas temple.
Temples along the ghats - Nepali temple in Lalitha ghat and Kedareshwar temple in Kedar ghat. Interestingly, the entire town is supposed to have Shivalingas burried underneath it that people who believe it do not wear footwear at all! You can find Shivalingas - small and at odd places on the sides of the road when you walk to the Kedar ghat.
 | |
|
Food :
Trip to Varanasi isn't complete without indulging in the culinary experience the town has to offer! We had half the number of meals from a place we knew - simple home cooked food that makes us feel like we have had food at the dining table back home. Apart from having breakfast at the hotel where we stayed, below are the spots from where we had food:
1. Lassi, Rabdi (taste that can be compared with Basundi but with a different consistency), Dahi (curd), Malai (cream), Malayon (a winter special milk dairy sweet almost like a pudding that's been fluffed with air) - the road from Assi ghat till the temple is dotted with food carts / small shops / make shift counters selling these round the clock. We fell in love with the rabdi and the lassi - it's like a sin if you don't have them at least any of these twice a day. Amma lassi Papa lassi (https://g.co/kgs/otXAzFx) - we felt this was the best rabdi and lassi - do not miss this shop! Pehalwan lassi (https://g.co/kgs/coVySdB) - the most hyped lassi place - their samosa & chutney is one of the bests in the town!
 |
| Go here for the best rabdi and lassi in town! |
2. Chat - Similarly, other common sight across the streets are chat shops - we visited Kashi Chat Bandhar (https://g.co/kgs/KnLpTuL), we felt this was a bit overrated but their dahi bhalla and kulfi falooda were the yummiest among whatever we tasted. We looked forwarded to their pani puri - unfortunately the batch of puris that we were served were not crispy enough. The shop is always crowded, cramped for space and not so hygienic given the footfalls but the service is quick.
 | |
|
 | |
|
3. Assi ka Diljeet Cafe (https://g.co/kgs/RB3sRQk) - We found this online when we were searching for the best vegetarian food availabe near our stay. The food, ambience, cleanliness, taste - everything was top notch. If you are looking to have authentic North Indian food, this should be on your list (though it serves chinese as well).
 | |
|
4. Kerala Cafe (https://g.co/kgs/iU25x64) - We aren't South Indians if we dont look for South Indian food even when we are in Antartica! Having visited this in our last Kasi trip too, this is undoubtedly one of the good spots to have South Indian food (they serve North Indian dishes too) that doesn't trouble your stomach.
5. Tea - Another specialty of Kashi Cafe (https://g.co/kgs/FKZdtUc) and Engineer chaiwala (https://g.co/kgs/1pJvKot) will quench your thirst for tea if you are around Assi ghat
 | |
|
The saying that 'Varanasi is to be visited when you get old' is not relevant anymore - I would say Varanasi could be enjoyed to the fullest if you visit it at the pink of your health and you shouldn't be surprised if you feel like visiting it over and again. While it may be the oldest town, the contemporary additions make it one of the places that you should add in your bucket list.
