Varanasi – A thorough amalgam of chaos, serenity and culinary delights

This trip was a long time pending. Also known as Kashi and Benaras, Varanasi is one of the most famous ancient cities in the world, having a reputation of being chaotically beautiful. On a visit to Tibet, we had met a German lady who mentioned she had visited Varanasi. When I asked how her experience was, she replied “Beauuuutiful” dragging the word for a good 5+ seconds, with utmost sense of contentment. This really hooked me on and there was a strong sense of urge to make a visit to this ancient town. We had to also immerse our father’s ashes into the Holy Ganga, so this was always running in the back of our minds. Finally, we made it in the month of December 2023. It became a wider family trip with my mother, mother-in-law, and my brother joining along with my wife and daughter. I came to realize the town was truly unique in its own chaotic way, and an enriching experience was delivered to us in this holy abode of Lord Shiva.

Expectations were bit complicated and orthogonal. On one hand, I mostly feared of being duped and taken for a ride everywhere. On the other hand, I had heard great stories of Varanasi being one of the most vibrant and colorful places on earth. On one hand, I was worried about the level of hygiene and cleanliness. On the other hand, I was eager to taste the local food, the world famous Chaats & delicacies. We booked a lodge near to the Assi Ghat (I zeroed down on this after a lot of reviews and checks). They arranged a nice 7-seater Ertiga for Rs.1500/- from the airport to the lodge. A 45 mins drive for 22 kms distance amidst the dusty and noisy streets brought us to our lodge.

We figured out that our lodge was a rather low budget one, not particularly suitable for families. However, for the good location near the Assi ghat and priced at Rs.1600 per night per room, we couldn’t complain. The hospitality though was phenomenal, they offered us welcome Chai (Tea), hot samosas and fruits. Samosas and Chai were simply brilliant. After quick freshening up, the owner requested one of his workers to take us to the Assi Ghat. It was an interesting walk along the Ganga riverbank, nice conversations with the guy who came with us. Enroute, he showed us one restaurant and mentioned this is one of the best places around to have dinner.

During the walk towards Assi Ghat, we came across a boatsman, who told us he could take us all in the morning in his rather huge boat (designed for 25+ people) for Rs.2000/-. We took his number; we thought it was a good deal. The hotel guy dropped us at the ghat and left. Once we reached the place, we found the evening Aarti was taking place in two places, next to each other. One on the left side seemed authentic, the other one on the right was mostly theatrical, with loudspeakers and recorded music. After Bhajan, we stood in the queue to collect Prasad and apply tika on the forehead. There was a nice vibe around. It was definitely a great feeling to be around the might Ganga, the legendary river.

We carefully remembered the instructions to head back to the main road, through the confusing alleys. On the route back, we saw a memorial garden, in fond memories of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. It turns out she was the daughter of Kashi.

After a nice visit to this well-maintained memorial, we managed to get out of the alleys and back to the main road. Dinner was now at “Benarasi Tadka“, the place that our hotel person had recommended. We ordered for Satthu Paratha, seemed like a local favorite here. Wow, simply brilliant stuff. Tagged along with an almost dry Potato bhaaji, this was one of the best Parathas I ever had, I would highly recommend this place.

A short walk from here and we reached our lodge. Although we went to bed by 9:30pm, there was a lot of noise coming out of the streets; with dogs barking, bikes honking, people shouting, that went on way past midnight. Eventually, we somehow slumbered into sleep. The day was over, and we had got somewhat acclimatized to our chaotic surroundings.

Noise from the alley (again, early morning this time) woke me up at 7am. We all took bath & had a nice matka chai at 8am. I must say, we enjoyed the chai here in Varanasi. Was it the milk? Was it the tea powder or the spices used? I don’t know, but it was brilliant. Normally I drink coffee at home, but here I got hooked to Chai. We booked the boat with the guy whom we met previous night, Mr. Rahul, a young man came to pick us up at 8:30am near the lodge and brought us all to Shivala Ghat. It was truly picturesque. Very few people, just Ganga and the boats.

Rahul’s father had bought this large boat 7 years back. Roughly costed him Rs.12 Lakhs. He was now building a small boat costing around 8 Lakhs. He had to pay laborers Rs.2000 every day and for their food. Good quality wood was required, to ensure it doesn’t get spoilt in water. We started the boat tour at 8:45am.

The boat first took us to Assi Ghat, so first trivia in the morning; On one end there is the Varuna ghat (where the Varuna River joins the Ganga), on the other end there is the Assi ghat (where the Assi river joins the Ganga), the land area between these two ghats was called Varanasi. We went past the Assi ghat, Tulsi Ghat (where Tulsidas wrote the famed Ramcharita Manas), Harishchandra Ghat, and then Manikarnika ghat. This ghat is the crematorium around here, we could see a lot of dead bodies being burnt. It was quite unique experience.

In the middle of this holy river, we immersed our father’s ashes. It was quite a moment, a long pending activity finally done.

We went near to the Manikarnika ghat for a closer look. While returning, we saw a bird feeding activity, basically we can buy some Namkeen (savory fried stuff!) sold on another boat, and then we can throw it in the water, and see all the beautiful sea gulls go for it. It was an amazing experience. Although there was a reluctance to feed junk food to these wonderful creatures, the greed of watching these birds up close and personal took over.

These migrate from Siberia during the winters. The birds were coming so close to the boat, and with their presence, flutter of the wings, the continuous caws, it felt like being inside a live National Geographic program, incredible experience. Rahul finally dropped us at banks of the river leading up to the grand Kashi Vishwanath temple, what a grand entrance!

He led us along the narrow alleys, it had very vibrant shops, very colorful and lots of knick-knacks and souvenirs to buy.

He finally brought us to a footwear stand, where we could drop our footwear for “free”. In return, we had to buy some Prasad, apparently, we need to take one for Male deity, another for female deity, costing Rs.250/- each, and the “loot” had now well and truly started.

The purohit who doubled up as a guide as well took us on the lesser populated path, and we could get the Darshan of the Shiva Linga quite soon. And then he took us to a nearby Hanuman temple, and apparently, it’s a must to pay tribute, in return the Purohit would keep doing rituals for several months, he fleeced us Rs.1000/-. and then there was the Kali Maa, whose pandit was not happy with 100 bucks, we had to donate at least Rs.500/-. After the whole tour, we reached back to the footwear stand, and now the purohit started requesting to pay more than 1500 that we initially agreed upon. Although the extra was meant to be a tip, he still pushed for it. We just paid 1600 finally and came out. The entire “show” was devoid of any divinity; it’s just a business, fleecing the devotees in the name of the Lord, what a pity!

We had Malaiyyo in the alleys, a very interesting winter delicacy here.

Lassi and malai were superb; I figured out probably the buffalo milk they use here is actually the differentiator after all.

From here, we walked into pure chaos, with crazy traffic, people everywhere. Aishani was quick to judge and told this is even worse than Bangalore. Dust, noise, and all kinds of pollution. I am pretty sure the life span here is quite short, very easy to attain “Mukti“, I wondered. The noise pollution is in a league of its own, constant honking, shouts and people.

We went to the highly reviewed Laxmi tea stall, for our breakfast of Toast bread. Toast was just OK, Chai was good though, seems you cannot go wrong with Chai in Varanasi. Rs.365/- for 6 toasts and 5 chai, not a great deal. Then we walked amidst chaos to Suvidha Saree shop, a fixed price saree shop recommended by my Benarasi friend. It hosts good collection of Benarasi Sarees, we got some 12 sarees for Rs.15000; the ladies enthusiastically told it was a good deal. Then went to Luv Kush restaurant for lunch, good roti’s and daal chaawal for Rs.350. Picked the sarees and came back to the hotel to relax. The ladies had taken the e-rickshaw. I experimented with a single seated pedal rickshaw; it took more than 20 minutes for 2 kms ride. It was complete chaos, really unbelievable chaos.

No trip to Varanasi is complete without savoring the delicious chaats. We took an e-rickshaw to Deena Chaat Bhandaar, it was quite crowded. We eventually managed to get seats, and then the divine food came through. Each and everything we ordered was exquisite; Tamaatar Chaat (tomato chaat) and Chura Mutter (peas) were phenomenal.

We also tried Palak chaat, Dahi Vada and Gulab Jamun, out of this world! It was truly unbelievable experience, a must try for all foodies. A glorious second day thus ended!

Day 3 Morning, Shwetha & me decided to visit the nearby Nishad raj ghat. It was quite serene, different colored boats and a beautiful break of dawn.

We wanted to go paddle boating this time, we hired one for Rs.650/-. It was a nice 20-25 mins of boat ride.

The boatsmen here are quite a proud lot, claim to be the descendants of the Nishad who ferried Lord Ram while he was banished to the woods. A lineage of Nishad clan. After the nice boat ride, we went back to the hotel and then went for breakfast. Although we were looking for shop named Ram Bhandaar, eventually we managed to find another Bhojanaalaya. Puri Sabzi was very delicious. Each plate Puri Sabzi costs Rs.30/- and along with 100 gms Jalebi, total was Rs.110/-, worth every buck.

After the breakfast, we hired Ola Taxi and went to Sarnath. There are plenty of guides waiting for you at the Circle near the Sarnath Mandir. As I didn’t plan in detail what all to see here, I decided to go with a guide, and he just quoted Rs.100/- anyways. Quick tip: When someone offers guide service for so less, remember that he is looking for something else from you. In this case, after the basic tour of the Ashoka tree, Srilankan temple and stupa, he took us to some shop selling Benaras Sarees. The Srilankan temple exteriors was very nice, the buddha idol was quite pleasant.

The Bodhi tree here was the 3rd generation Bodhi tree. First was the one where Buddha got enlightenment; Ashoka’s daughter Sanghamitra took a branch from the main tree and planted in Srilanka. Someone brought a branch from that tree in Srilanka to Sarnath and planted it here. The area around this bodhi tree indeed had some nice positive vibes.

The guide told the leaves can be kept in books for greater focus and attention. After this, we took taxi back to Kashi. The taxi driver was a proud Benarasi and went gung-ho on Modi “Sir… Modiji ka vision badaa hai, yeh Varanasi ko Amrica banaadenge” – Modi’s vision is big, he has plans for Varanasi to model on American cities. Good to see the glitter of hope and the twinkle in his eyes as he shared his thoughts.

We decided to visit Kaal Bhairav temple, it was simply chaotic, yet super colorful. Too any touts offering “fast” darshans. Although the seniors went in for darshan, it was closed and didn’t get darshan. We went back to the lodge, had some chai, went to the restaurant and then to the Nishad Raj ghat. We took boat (yes, 3rd time!) for the evening Aarti, we had some time to kill too. We again negotiated for Rs.2000/-, it seemed worth for 5 people.

Our boatsman was rather a boy of 18 years, Rahul, a very pleasant chap. Evening boat ride was good, nice wind blowing, although bit worried that we didn’t have much head scarfs. The other boatsman was Rahul’s uncle, he told he had YouTube channel, he told some stories, sung a nice song, the mood was quite special. The boat ride took along the same ghats we had done on previous two occasions, only the time was different. We went past the Manikarnika ghat, the cremations were still going on, probably round the clock.

As we closed up on the banks of river where Ganga Aarti was happening, we found there were lot of boats getting piled up. I told him that we would like to watch the Aarti from a distance, and in a position to get out and back to our place whenever we wanted. It was a good decision, watching the Aarti from far away was a calming experience.

After a while, we decided to return back to the ghat. Rahul helped to navigate through the alleys to reach our lodge. We waited till 9pm, and then took two Toto (colloquial term for e-rickshaws) to the Benaras Railway station. I was alone on one of them, along with all our luggage’s. The ladies came in the other one. Another 20 mins of dusty and noisy road. Train was on time, we got good berths and nice journey to Tundla function, onwards to our next destination, Agra. A good 2 nights/3 days Varanasi trip finally ended.

If I were to summarize the entire experience – it was mixed emotions – happy about fulfilling the main job of Ash immersion, beautiful ghats, peaceful birds and the mighty Ganga River. The chaotic and probably the noisiest streets on earth. Decibel levels are incredibly high. Would I recommend anyone to visit Varanasi? Hell Yeah! Singles and youngsters could stay in budget accommodations near ghats. For Families, I would recommend staying in better hotels. Food was absolutely incredible- Best chaats, amazing Satthu Paratha, fantastic Samosas, unbelievable Kullad Chai.

More than air pollution, the noise pollution seemed more problematic here, pretty bad on the ears, too much honking. Hygiene & cleanliness is still a concern – although ghats are in great shape now. Camera has been deployed very well, all activities are monitored, and instant penalties are levied on violators. One interesting point was how much the locals love our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, also the local MP (Member of Parliament) here. Since 2014, after he won the elections from this place, they have seen great upliftment of their lives, lot of cleanliness drives, Kashi Vishwanath Mandir & others have been elegantly rebuilt. They attribute the increase in domestic tourism to their MP, the current Kashi cha Raaja, and their beloved citizens adore him. Do pay a visit!