Kashi- The City of Ghats & Holiness.

VARANASI or KASHI you may call with any name but after all in simple word it is a spiritual, religious & ancient city situated on the banks of Holy river GANGA .

I have hobby of travelling and visiting various places with views of Geographical , Historical, Religious etc. I therefore wished to visit every tourist place in India in my life time and always pray god to bless me in my endeavor.

I recently got an opportunity to visit Kashi , one of the most trusted religious place for Hindus. I decided to seize this opportunity even in (Corona) Pandemic situation and also to visit Uttar Pradesh first time. It was heard that Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are not safe for tourist but the experience was absolute different. A group of people contacted me to arrange and lead a trip to Varanasi, Prayag and I accepted the challenge. It was very short time to plan, organise, ticketing and booking for our stay. But could manage perfectly, as usual, with due precautions as mask and social distancing.

I ultimately decided to travel from Mumbai and boarded the train at Kalyan , at 2300 hrs. which will reach Varanasi at 0200 hrs.a on 3^rd day i.e. long travel of 27 hours. A journey was also good to observe different places, culture, taste variety of food and railway administration at various stages, like Itarasi, Jabalpur, Katni, the major railway junctions. At last, reached Varansai as per schedule time and decided to halt till morning at waiting hall of the Station. Varanasi is also the busiest station, connected to various city across India and hence did not feel of loneliness.

Day 1.Local Sightseeing-

As was planned, our transporter rang my number at 7.00 am and we all boarded the bus to reach out the tourist places. Varanasi/ Kashi is famous for its Temples and Ganga Ghats. It was Sunday and more crowd as compare to other days. We have visited local temples, like Kalbhairav, Mahamrutyunjay, Durga Mata Mandir. One important thing to remember, that No mobile, camera, big bags, Haversacks etc. are allowed in Kashi Mandirs. But there are many shops, where you can hire lockers and keep your luggage at free of cost, only thing is you need to buy some prasad items from their shop. Later we proceeded to Benaras Hindu University- founded in 1916. All the sightseeing went well. Post lunch decided to take rest at hotel. Later in the evening we decided to attend the Ganga Arti as Dashaswhamedh Ghat. We headed there, and luckily got to seat in the first few rows. The Arti begins as the sun sets, and is almost 30-40 mins. Kind of auspicious program, well managed, organized. The whole atmosphere turned into Holiness. No words to describe, but one feels that, the whole atmosphere turned like spiritual heaven. It was Immense pleasure to attend the Arti. The Day spent well and felt blessed.

Day 2- I moved ahead for the Darshan and get blessings of Kashi Vishwanath Mandir, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas o Lord Shiva. Being Monday it was much crowded, I managed for VIP Darshan at Mandir, but still it took an one and half hour for Darshan. After the Darshan we had local lunch at nearby restaurant. There are many variety of chats, kachori, mithai Balushai, gulab jamuns to name the few. But was mouth watering and must try during visit to Kashi. I planned for a Boat ride in the evening, just during the Sunset time. The 30 mins. Boat tour started from Dashaswhamedh Ghat , the driver or captain of the Boat guided us about the various Ghats. It was a nice experience to have a sightseeing on board a small boat. As the sun sets, many Ghats have illuminated lights, which enlighten the Ghats as its own identity. Mankarnika Ghat, Assi Ghat, Raja Ghat and many more as there are almost 80 plus Ghats.

It is in the ghats of Varanasi that you can see the cycle of life and death being repeated everyday! I feel that one should definitely visit this Holy city at least once in a lifetime. Please have a look on some pics below-