Hello my connect friends,
Hope you all are rocking as always and staying safe too!
The spirituality and rich culture of Varanasi is unquestionable nonetheless, what took me to this holy place was certainly the passion to travel somewhere new and experience something inexperienced. Not to my very surprise-, Varanasi left me tongue-tied!
Varanasi (aka Benaras/ Kashi) is considered to be one of the oldest living cities in the world as per Mark Twain, just like Athens (Greece), Beirut (Lebanon), Aleppo (Syria), and a few more. While Kashi forms the pilgrimage spot for Hindus, it is also known for the promotion of yoga, Sanskrit, Hindi, spiritualism, and mysticism. It is extensively believed that one who dies on the land of Varanasi would attain ultimate freedom from the birth/re-birth cycles. As Tahir Shah writes, “Enlightenment, and the death which comes before it, is the primary business of Varanasi”.
My travel to Varanasi
I started my travel to Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi (VNS) from Mumbai Airport (BOM) with my friend (Anomitra). After reaching Varanasi, we booked a prepaid cab to Zostel Varanasi where we spent the next 3 days. As we entered into the more interior part of Varanasi, I realized how important it is to get acclimatized to the places we visit. It may not always be those impressive scenes but it can be a rollercoaster ride too.
What all did I visit in Varanasi?
On day 1, after reaching our stay, we freshened up and had lunch (special thali) at Niyati cafe. Following which we visited few nearby places including Jantar-Mantar (nearly a replicate of Jantar Mantar at Rajasthan) and Dashashwamedh ghat near Kashi Vishwanath temple. Witnessing Ganga aarti (late evening) was truly an unforgettable experience. The flooding of ghats during our visit made it difficult for us to take a boat ride, so we chose to sit on the riverbank and participate in the arati. Later we walked towards our hostel room and tried few local food items on our way back.
On day two of our visit, we decided to visit few nearby places. It included a famous lassi shop near Manikarnika ghat- Blue lassi. It is beyond my ability to describe the experience to visit this place. Within the 15-20 minutes that we spent here, we witnessed how busy Manikarnika ghat stays throughout the day for cremation ceremonies. If one wishes to see it closely, the boat ride can be taken to see the rituals and the (24*7) burning ghat along the holy river Ganga. It certainly left a strong impact on my overall trip to Varanasi!
Later we visited the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas (the holiest of Shiva temples). If you are visiting this place, make sure you carry a minimum of handbags and valuables, as nothing is allowed inside the temple. One has to leave the valuables in the roadside lockers managed by few private agencies (or probably the locals), the shoes can be removed inside the temple though (which seems well organized). Visiting the Kashi Vishwanath temple was like gathering positivity. We ended our day by visiting the local market and roaming along the streets exploring the lanes nearby.
We had some time to roam around before we left for Mumbai on day 3. We fixed an auto tour to visit few places including Assi ghat, Ramnagar Fort (the residence of Kashi Naresh), and Sarnath (the holy Buddhist temple). Visiting this place felt so different from the interior of Varanasi, it was extremely calm, peaceful (Indeed a body and mind relaxing), and clean. While the stupas within the premises denote various events of Gautam Buddha enlightening his disciples, you will also find the Sri Digambar Jain temple near Dhamek stupa. After spending hours at Sarnath, we visited the shops outside to look at a few Benarasi sarees (one of the finest sarees in India). Later we had our delicious late lunch at Bati Chokha restaurant on our way back to Zostel.
Our trip ended with a bunch of mixed experiences. Having seen the confluence of culture and traditions closely in Varanasi, I am immensely convinced about a different world (in Varanasi) from what I have seen elsewhere.
Do let me know in the comments if this post added anything new to what you might have heard about Varanasi.
