2 days In Varanasi

What can be done in Banaras in 2 days. If I talk about myself, I was born in this city only spent lots of time here only. I have seen this city in many ways many times. But this time, I have come to see this city as a tourist. On this trip, I will show the famous streets of Banaras, famous Ghats & temples. A trip to Sarnath. Gangaji's Arti and some spicy Banarasi food And many more things.

Banaras Ghats

Let's go and see, how is Banaras. Right now, we are at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Banaras. We have come to se Banaras on this trip. We also know this city as Kashi & Varanasi. Varanasi's name comes from two rivers. One is Varuna & the other is Asi. Both these rivers are tributaries of Ganga. Varuna & Asi, there is a confluence of these 2 rivers in Ganga river, Varuna in the northern end and Asi in the southern end. The land between these northern & southern end, is originally called and Varanasi. It means Varuna+asi. And yes, this city is the oldest living city. The age of this city is said to be 5000 years. And it is also said that this city was built by Lord Shiva himself. And even today, this city is considered to be based on Lord Shiva's Trident.

Let's talk about transportation now. The airport is at 20 KMs distance from the city center. The easy and comfortable was is to catch a cab from here, you can book cabs in three ways. there is a prepaid counter, Ola & Uber. The fare comes to be around 600-700 Rs. I have booked my taxi and now I am going to Banaras city.

DAY - 01

This was the 1st day in my city as a tourist. At 5:00 AM, I took my scooter and went to Dashashwamedh Ghat. Where I had planned to see the sunrise. Right now we are at Dashashwamedh Ghat and we have come here to enjoy Subah-E-Banaras. If you're coming to Banaras, then you must come to the Ghats to enjoy the mornings. The ambience of ghat & sunrise is incredible.

Since we are standing at Dashashwamedh Ghat, I would like to tell you about the Dashashwamedh Ghat. The history of Dashashwamedh Ghat is roughly 250-300 years old. And in the year 1774 The queen of Indore, Ahilyabai Holkar got this renovated Which was originally built in the Maratha empire in 1724. And this ghat was named Dashashwamedh because, Lord Brahma did Ashwamedh Yagya here. 10 horses were used for the Ashwamedh yagya, that's how it got it's named Dash (10)+ashwamedh =Dashashwamedh Ghat.

After doing some photography & videography on the Ghat, we negotiated with a boatman and went for a boat ride to enjoy the ghats from the Ganges herself. That boatman charged us 400 Rs for a 30 minutes boat ride. You must always negotiate the rates for the boat ride in Ganga Ghats. On Dashashwamedh Ghat, prayers and sunrise watching and the boat ride is done.

Now I am feeling hungry, Let's go and find some Banarasi Breakfast It was the next day of the Holi festival, many shops were closed. So in the quest of my Banaras breakfast, I had to roam a lot on the streets. And, in fact, I could not go to my favorite spot, Ram Bhandar, since it was closed that day. Finally, after roaming a lot, I had reached near Bhaironath Street, where I found my favourite Kachori-Sabji. In search of Banarasi Breakfast, we have reached Bhaironath's street. and here we will have the famous Banarasi Kachori Sabji. You must try the breakfast of Kachori-Sabji It's out of this world.

Let's now talk about accommodation. Hotels, Guest Houses, Lodges Etc. Since this is a very important destination worldwide. You will get many places to stay from 200 Rs guest house to 30,000 Rs priced luxury & heritage hotels. If you ask my recommendation, then you must stay at a guest house or heritage hotel on one of the ghats. So that you can enjoy Banaras completely.

I had to cover Banaras in 2 days, time was limited, I rested for some time, and went out to cover BHU. Which is Asia's Largest residential capus. There are 27,000 students studying in the University. 12,000 students live in 60 hostels. There are 2 premier institutions as well, the Institute of Medical Sciences and IIT. Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras. The campus is really very huge, you can imagine the size of the campus by the fact that there are many faculties inside. There is a Museum and a new Vishwanath Temple built by Birla. There are students from around 48 countries in this University. This is Swantantrata Bhawan, where all the events and functions are organized. This is the new Vishwanath Temple built by Birla This is the statue of BHU's founder Pt Madan Mohan Malviya. Who founded BHU in 1916. We are in the new Vishwanath Temple in BHU. The students call this as VT. Although this is called new Vishwanath Temple, but it's not very new in itself. The foundation stone was laid in 1931 and got completed in 1961. And this was sponsored by Birla Family.

We are at Pahalwan Lassi Center at Lanka. Which is very famous here, there used to be just one Pahalwan but now there are 3 of them. I have asked him to make a nice creamy lassi. Let me taste and tell you about it. This is the original Banarasi Lassi with Rabdi & Malai.

After the day's tiredness, it was time for dinner. We had decided to taste some traditional. Bati-Chokha/ Litti Chokha is the traditional food of Eastern UP. There is a specific restaurant named Bati-Chokha in Banaras. So we went to Bati-Chokha Restaurant to have Bati-Chokha. This is raw Bati, Which is put in the fire. After it gets cooked, it's served on your table. Everything was traditional here, even the Menu card was made in Soop. The interiors were matching, food was being served on leaves' plate and water in clay-pot.

We have ordered Bati-Chokha thali for ourselves. which is coming in some time. They have served the chutneys in advance. One is made of Tomato-Onion, another is of Green Chilly, one roasted green chilly and some raw onion. There were 2 kinds of Baatis Chokha made of Potato & Brinjal. and one fired yellow daal Bati had 2 different kinds of stuffing, one was of Sattu and one was of Paneer. It was very tasty, My top pick was Tadke wali Daal. Definitely recommended, go for it.

Day – 02

My 2nd day began with me going to Sarnath. And in Sarnath, my 1st stop was Garden of Spiritual Wisdom, near Chaukhandi Stupa. Which is in existence for the last 5-6 years but I was not aware of it. Videography & Photography is not allowed in this garden, but on my special request, the caretaker allowed me to shoot inside This Garden is very well-maintained. The landscaping is very beautiful. In this garden, all the preachings of Buddha have been carved on stones and installed here. This garden is close to a very famous stupa called Chaukhandi. Sarnath is situated close to Varanasi and at a distance of 20 KMs. You can reach here very easily by taking Ola, Uber or local Auto rickshaw.


I am right now at the Buddhist Excavation site. Which is being maintained by the Archeological Survey of India. This excavation site is roughly 2000 years old, It is believed that there was civilization here in 325 BC. Then people used to live here. This is Thai Buddha Temple in Sarnath, which is made in collaboration with Indian & Thai Governments. There is an 80 Ft tall Buddha's statue here, and this beautiful temple, made in Thai architecture. There is a golden statue of Buddha inside this temple. This is Sarnath's main temple It's built near a banyan tree, under which Buddha gave preaching to his disciples. And this is that Banyan tree, under which Gautam Buddha preached his disciples. for the 1st time. The entire life history of Buddha has been painted very beautifully on the walls.

Sarnath's temple

Sarnath

We are at Assi Ghat right now. Which is one of the most important ghats in Banaras. This is the last one of the total 88 ghats and situated in southern end. According to Hindu Purans, it's a very important ghat. Because the confluence of Assi River and the Ganga River happens here. Of late, there have been major changes on this ghat. After lots of renovation and construction, this ghat has taken a very beautiful shape. This is now amongst the cleanest & most decorated ghats in Banaras. You can see a stage in the background, this is a stage of Subah-E-Banaras, where every morning a cultural show is being organized. which is done on a daily basis. at the time of the sunrise. It happens without a break on all the 7 days of the week. There is no entry ticket for this show. Whoever comes to the ghat during the morning time around sunrise can enjoy the cultural show.

Assi ghat has an important place in Hindu religion, because the confluence of Ganga & Assi happens here. Assi river has been limited to sewer nowadays, because the local authorities have ignored this for quite a long time. And a river has been converted into a sewer. I will urge the authorities to please convert this back to a river. There is an interesting mythological story behind the name of Assi ghat. According to that story, when Goddess Durga killed Shumbha-Nishumbha named demons. she left her sword at a place after the carnage and a river was formed as a result of that sword falling on earth. That river was named Asi, since the sword is called Asi also in Sanskrit. And that Assi river meets Ganga river here, hence that ghat has been named Assi.

Assi ghat

This ghat is famous also because of the cultural events that happen here. There is a cultural event going on. Many artists have come to perform here. The preparation for Ganga Arti is going on. The sitting arrangement on this ghat is very nice. There are lots of benches here so that you would not face any difficulty in finding a place to sit. The elderly & kids can come in the evening and enjoy the Arti. We are now at the jetty of the Alaknanda river cruise. It's a novel initiative for Banaras. where a double-decker luxury cruise has been started Which gives a tour of Banaras' ghat from one end to another. Let's' go and see how is our experience in this cruise. Let me give a quick tour of this cruise. On the lower deck, complimentary tea/coffee and cookies are served. And this deck is airconditioned. There is a neat & clean bathroom on both the deck. And these stairs will take you to the open deck.

Ganga Arti

There is a food counter on this open deck where, they sell some Banarasi snacks. And this the best point of this cruise, from here you can take some awesome photographs. You can book this cruise online, from http://nordiccruiseline.com/

This is Manikarnika Ghat, and according to Hindu Puranas, if you have taken your last breath in Varanasi and your last rites are performed in Manikarnika Ghat then you will attain salvation, which means you will be free from the cycle of life & death.

Manikarnika Ghat

Manikarnika Ghat

This is Dashashwamedh Ghat, where the Ganga arti is being performed. This arti is so famous that lots of tourists come from across the world to see this And our cruise ship was stopped to watch this arti for 15-20 mins.

This is Godowlia's famous Vishwanath Gali. This connects busy Godowlia Market to Vishwanath Temple. The queue, that you are seeing on the right side of your screen, is of the devotees standing for darshan of Bholenath And many a time you will have to stand for 3-4 hours for the darshan in this queue.

In Vishwanath Gali there is a small Banarasi Chaat shop, and its name also is Vishwanath Chat bhandar. In the last few years, because of their quality and taste, they are giving tough competition to the very well known chat shops like Kashi Chat & Dina Chat bhandar. Here we tatsed Gol-gappas. and Dahi-Puri. The taste was awesome.

At Godowlia crossing, to drink Thandai. It's a very busy crossing and there are many Thandai shops here. Apart from selling traditional Banarasi Thandai, they sell Lassi also. You can try Thandai from any of these shops. In Banarasi Thandai, we mix Cashew, Almond, Saffron, Anise, Cardomom & fox nut. Pistachio, like all the dry fruits. We mash it and then boil it with Sugar and make a syrup and we make a paste separately. You make all the things here only? You don't use anything readymade? No outside item. We make everything here. If someone wants to drink Mishrambu, he can drink it at home What is the point of Banarasi Thandai then? This is the original Banarasi Thandai. Manish Ji just told you how do they make the Thandai. The taste is very different from the tase of the packaged readymade thandai like Haldiram's You must try Banarasi Thandai if you are coming to Banaras.

Kashi Chat Bhandar is Banaras' oldest and most famous Chat shop. The chat here is famous in the entire country. In Kashi Chat Bandar we tried Golgappes and Banaras' special, Tomato chaat, which you would not find elsewhere but in Banaras. If you know that, it is available elsewhere then please let me know in the comments. We had eaten Aloo Tikki apart from tomato chat. and Kulfi Falooda. Everything was A-one in taste & quality.

2 days of our trip is now end. In next blog I share my enother travel story. So keep with us and share my story.