Varanasi Travel Guide

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Varanasi, a city of traditional classical culture, is the microcosm of Hinduism. Blessed by a legend and revered by religion, it has always lured a large number of pilgrims and worshippers from times immemorial.

Travel to Varanasi and experience the journey of Self discovery. A travel that encompass an ethereal oneness of the body and soul. To every visitor, Varanasi offers a enchanting experience. The rays of the dawn shimmering across the Ganges the high -banks, the temples and shrines, the ashrams and pavilions along the banks bathed in a golden hue soul -stirring hymns and mantras along with the fragrance of incense filling the air… and, the refreshing dip in the holy waters gently splashing at the Ghats.

Varanasi, the land where experience and discovery reach the ultimate bliss. Varanasi is also famous for its rich tapestry of music, arts, crafts and education. Some of the world- known exponents India has produced in these fields were schooled in the Varanasi tradition and origins.

The Legacy of the Varanasi
The legend of Varanasi dates ages back. The city of Varanasi finds mention in the great dauntless of Mahabharata and Ramayana. Varanasi was a prosperous trade center when Buddha came to Sarnath, about 10 kilometers away, to preach his first sermon in 500 BC. The famous American novelist Mark Twain once wrote, "Benaras is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend and looks twice as old as all of them put together."

Climate
Situated in the northern India, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi experiences a warm weather throughout the summer with temperature reaching excess of 40 'C. The winters are quiet warm with temperature dropping to around 7 'C. the best time to visit Varanasi is during the months of October to April.

Getting There

By Air
Varanasi is a well connected city boosting several Indian Airlines routes, including the popular daily tourist shuttle Delhi/Agra/Khajuraho/Varanasi and back. There are flights from Lucknow, Jaipur, Bhubaneshwar and Kathmandu also. The airport is about km away from the city, and the Indian Airlines shuttle bus service runs from there to the city.

By Train
There are not many trains running from Delhi or Calcutta to Varanasi, but most Delhi-Calcutta trains do pass through Mughalsarai, km south of Varanasi. Varanasi is connected by train to Mumbai, Allahabad, Patna, Jaipur, Gorakhpur and Khajuraho.

By Road
There are buses running from Varanasi to Jaunpur, Allahabad, Lucknow, Faizabad, and Gorakhpur. No direct buses run to Khajuraho

The Myriad Destinations of Varanasi

The Ghats of Varanasi
Varanasi's major tourist attraction are the long stretch of ghats, which line the west bank of the Ganges. Ghats are the steps which lead down to the river. There are around ghats in Varanasi, each with its own significance. Most Indians believe that anyone dying on the banks of the river, in Varanasi, attains instant 'moksha' or enlightenment.

ManiKarnika Ghat
Manicarnika ghat is one of the major ghats of Varanasi, known for creamtion. As it is Varanasi is the most active cremation ground too. Shivaits consider this entire world as a vast cremation ground where all of us are burning in one sort of fire or another - fire of desire, jealously, envy, etc. Varanasi is the perfect place to be cremated in this vast complex as at least if you burn here, all that burns are your karmic bonds and eventually you are freed. Perhaps appropriately, the holy city is mainly situated between the two most famous burning ghats of Kashi, ManiKarnika ghat and the Harishchandra ghat.

Bachraj Ghat in Varanasi
The Bachraj Ghat is the ghats for Jains and endorse three Jain Temples on the bank of river. Many of ghats are known by Maharajas or other princely rulers, such as the very fine Shivala Ghat owned by the maharaja of Varanasi.

Harishchandra Ghat
The Harishchandra Smashan Ghat, is a burning ghat, second to Manikarnica Ghat. It is one of the oldest ghats in city, and is named after mythological king Harishchandra, who once worked the cremation ground found here for preservance of truth and charity but at the end , God rewarded him and restored his lost throne and his dead son to him. This is one of the two cremation ghats, and some times known as Adi Manikarnika (the original cremation ground);still there exist Adi Manikarnika Teerth.

Dasaswamedh Ghat in Varanasi
One of the premium ghats of Varanasi is the 'Dasashvamedh Ghat' or the 'ghat of ten sacrificed horses'. It is believed that the sacrifices were made by Lord Brahma to pave path for the return of Shiva after the period of eviction. Surprisingly, the beauty of this ghat has remained unchanged, even after ages of harsh treatment it has undergone and till date attracts tourists.

Temples of Varanasi

Kashi Vishwanath Temple
Devoted to Shiva or Vishveswara (Vishwanath) is the Golden Temple, the main temple of Varanasi. The original temple of Vishveshwara was destroyed by Aurangzeb and was located across the road. Aurangzeb tried to who had built a mosque over it. The present temple was constructed by Ahalya Bai of Indore. The Mosque of Aurangzeb, has been built using columns from the original temple razed by Aurangzeb. This mosque has minarets towering metres above the Ganges.

Tulsi Manas Temple
South of the Durga Temple lies the modern marble sikhara-style Tulsi Manas Temple, constructed in 1964. Its walls are adorned with verses and scenes from the Ram Charit Manas, the Hindi version of great epic - the Ramayana. Its author, poet Tulsi Das, lived here while writing it. You can also watch figures performing scenes from Hindu mythology on the 2nd floor for Rs 1. The temple is open from 5.30 am to noon and 3.30 to 9 pm

Jateshwar Temple
The Jateshwar temple, in Karnaghata, houses a black stone statue of Shiva and has tantric overtones. Local belief has it that a devotee must offer his prayers here before going to Vishwanath temple.

Kedareshvara Temple
This is one of the most important Shiva temple of the city. Significantly, there is some mysterious legend attached to. It is believed that the stone linga (symbol of Shiva) emerged on its own. Legend has it that a pure hearted devotee of Shiva prayed for a chance to visit the known Kedareshvara Shiva temple in the Himalayas with such ardent devotion that Shiva blessed him with the linga.

Maha Mritunjaya Temple located in Dara Nagar is a temple dedicated to the God of Death. Imprtantly the devotees are not allowed to touch the Shivalinga here.Chhinmastica Temple, this temple is said to be a tantric centre and is 16 km from the railway station city. The temple houses a headless statue of the deity Jagadamba

Excursions

Sarnath
Situated 10 kms north east of Varanasi, Sarnath is also known as the Mrigadava or the deer park. Sarnath is considered one of the revered destination in terms of Buddhists pilgrimages. It is here that Buddha came, after attaining enlightment at Bodhgaya and gave his first sermon or preached, 'Maha-Dharma-Chakra Pravartan', which in Buddhist termonology literally means, “set the 'wheel of dharma' or law rolling”, more than 2,500 years ago. In this sermon, he taught the doctrine of Buddhism, by revealing to the world the middle way (the way of life of a monk on the path to enlightenment), the four noble truths and his Eight fold path - the path to end sorrow, achieve inner peace, enlightenment and greatest Nirvana.

Ram Nagar Fort
The Ram Nagar Fort was once the home of the Maharaja of Varanasi. Ramnagar Fort over looks the Ganges not far south of the Asi Ghat. You can also observe the fortifications - especially imposive in late afternoon - are to be had from the other side of the river, which is reached by a road heading south from the BHU area and over a rickety pontoon bridge. During the monsoon the bridge is dismantled and replaced by a ferry, still preferable to the long main road that crosses the main Malaviya bridge in the north before heading down the eastern bank of the river.

Allahabad
Counted amongst the largest cities in Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad Hindu mythology has it that for the Prakrishta Yaina, Lord Brahma, the creator God of the Trinity, chose a land on earth, on which the three rivers would flow in to a quiet confluence. Brahma also known as `Tirth Raj’ or the `king of all pilgrimage centres’.

Kaushambhi
Situated on the northern bank of the Yamuna, Kaushambhi lies some 60 kms from Allahabad. Ancient Jain scriptures displays that there had been 16 Mahajanpadas in the 6th century B.C. Vats Desh was one such Mahajanpada whose capital was Kaushambi. With the end of the legendary Hastinapur Kingdom that is said to have been flooded and destroyed by the river Ganges, the Chandravanshi kings made Kaushambi their capital, 22 of their descendants are said to have ruled from here.

Kaimoor Wildlife Sanctuary (Varanasi)
At a distance of 130 kms from Varanasi ,spread over an area of 500 sq. km, the sanctuary has a variety of wildlife. The Mukha waterfall is a tourist attraction

Chunar Fort
Located on the in the Vindhya range, Chunar Fort lies at a distance of 42 kms. Its district headquarters Mirzapur which is a popular for its natural beauty, Historical events, Handicrafts & other Industrial setups and from the Religious aspects as well. This fort was made by Samrat Vikramaditya. The fort, which also has a Turkish bath tub, speaks volumes about the ancient architecture.

Fairs and Festivals

Bharat Milap (Oct - Nov), at Nati Imli
Celebrating Lord Ram's return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and His reunion with His brother Bharat, the festival is held one day following Dussehra. Attended by the Kashi Naresh resplendent in regal finery, the festival attracts at least a million devotees

The Dhrupad Mela
In the month of March a five day long music festival is organised on the Tulsi Ghats. during the five days renowned artists from all over the country perform Dhrupad here. This festival is one of the major tourist attraction of Varanasi.

Hanuman Jayanti Janmotsav
Hanuman Jayanti Janmotsav of Lord Hanuman is celebrated at Sankat Mochan Temple for 5 days with cultural and musical programmes by artistes from all over India. It is based on Saraswati, Ram and Krishna Lila and Hanuman Charitra.

Panch Koshi Parikrama
The procession has got the name because it passes through five places. These five places are Kardmeshwar, Bhimchandi, Rameshwar, Shivpur and Kapildhara. The parikrama has special importance in the ancient parikramas of India. The procession starts and ends at Manikarnika Ghat.

Nakkatyya
This festival again is based on the Ramayana. The episode in the epic where the sister of Ravana tries to influence Lakshmana to marry her but instead Lakshman chops off her nose. On hearing this Ravana vows revenge against the brothers. This incidence in the epic is one of the reasons why Sita was abducted by Ravana. The festival is held in Chetganj with much fan fair.