Varanasi - 2023

Varanasi - 2023 - A business leisure trip 

What is a business leisure trip? When you travel for business but end up making a leisure trip out of it. 

Varanasi happened because of IIT-BHU hiring as part of my workplace. Stars had to align for this one because we do not typically visit BHU for hiring, this was happening for the first time as part of our campus expansion. Next, I was slated for a different campus but because the other campus was to happen over a weekend when I was not available, I was re-assigned and lo and behold, I am going to Varanasi - hometown of my better half and out of nowhere, we had a trip at our hands. 

Day 0 - Thu - Flight to Varanasi.

We flew on Thu because I wanted to attend some meetings on Fri, virtually. Thu 2nd half flight meant landing in Varanasi just in time for dinner. Kanishka in her last trip had showed pics of Baati Chokha and it had been in my list since then. We wasted no time and started dinner at Baati Chokha restaurant. I liked the food overall, also the ambience. 

Varanasi in July/Aug timeframe is hot and humid - kind of the worst season to travel. To top this, we are from Bengaluru where we are spoilt from weather point of view. Plus, this was Saavan season in Varanasi when crowds throng this holy city. So, it was people people everywhere. All this combination would have meant that I stay in my AC hotel room and do not venture out but then it is Varanasi. Even in its best of seasons, crowd goes down only by hairline :) So, the only way to enjoy the city is to embrace it, embrace the weather (wear antiwick shirts :) ) and then go out there. 

Day 1 - Friday. S

Day 1 started by visiting to Assi ghat to witness Subah-e-benares. Subah-e-benares is a morning 5 am Aarti at the Assi ghat. We woke up at 4 am to reach the ghats at 430 am. There is a daily morning ritual which includes Aarti, classical music, Yoga session and some prayers. We attended the Aarti and then took a boat ride. 

Our companions were two colleageus from workplace - Gnanavel who was with me at IIT-Bombay hiring event previous year and Bhagya, alumni of IIT BHU, acting as a campus ambassdor this year. For whatever reason, they were ok to trust the trip itinerary in my hands, and that meant in Kanishka's hands since it was her 'gadh', her backyard. But even Kanishka had not attended Subah-e-benares yet. While she discovered this event, I can claim credit for the event, atleast 50%. 

Subah-e-beanres was very good. The morning sunrise, the spiritual Aarti, bhajans in the morning, lesser crowds, all of it makes it a really good experience. Place was clean too. We followed the Aarti by taking a boat ride seeing all Ghats. Ganga level was quiet high so only motor boats were allowed. We were lucky since sometimes boat rides do not happen in monsoon season. 

What is Benares without the morning breakfast of Kachodis. While returning back from the boat-ride, a thela guy had already setup his breakfast joint and Kanishka had to try it. I too ate it and it was pretty good. Kachodis are small, stuffed with alus with a kala-chana gravy (for protein you know :) ) and some chutney on top with some more crunchy triangle namkeen. A good taste overall. 

I slept after this morning excursion to wake up to Bedmi Poodi and alu for breakfast. Kanishka had went out and got it packed along with famous lassi of Benaras. A perfect bedtime breakfast. We were staying at Vijaigarh Kothi - a recommeded place at a walking distance from Assi ghat. Room was really spacious with AC working :)  

Post breakfast, I attended my calls virtually and then travelled to BHU campus. The e-rickshaw guy dropped me just outside the Vishwanath temple and I had to walk at noon to the guest house 1.2 kms away, in that sun/humid condition. I was drenched. But I did stop at the Samosa place next to temple and had that INR 7 samosa, a highlight of this trip. They are really good. Rest of the evening went in campus hiring and work. Our dinner was at Cafe ROma which I felt was a much over-hyped place. 

Day 2 - Sat. Travel starts

Day 2 started by us changing accommodation from Vijaigarh Kothi to Shree Ganesha place at Girja Ghar. The morning plan was to take the offered candidates out for lunch. We took them to Taj Ganges a 5-star place where we were the only guests. Taj's service was really slow, food was also ok. On the way back we hit traffic and then asked us to be dropped down at the Bharat Mata ka Mandir. 

Bharat Mata ka mandir, as the name suggests, a temple dedicated to motherland India. It has a marble-made map of India in a temple like setting. It is an interesting concept but it needs something more to be made into a good place. Rest of the evening was planned - Kanishka had helped hire a local guide for us to do sightseeing. 

Bhawna from The Ghumakkads was our guide and she is really good (5/5). We covered Durga mata mandir,  Tulsi Manas Mandir, Sankat Mochan Mandir and then finally to Vishwanath temple inside BHU campus. Yes, it was a temple hopping tour :). Along the way, Bhawna shared history of each temple. Behind Durga Mata temple, due to the month of Saavn, a mela was going on and we walked through the mela as well. At Tulsi Manas Mandir, there were Jhaakis setup, a special once a year event that should be seen. 

Vishwanath temple was more peaceful. Mostly visited by students. Post the temple visit, we had the famous cold coffee and samosa from shops just outside. It did not disappoint which is a compliment. We also had Pehalwan ki lassi and then walked to Assi ghat for some coin shopping. Our plan was to see evening Aarti but that did not materialize since we were late. 

Dinner was at Deena Chat house. The pani-puri was good along with the Chats. Post dinner, we walked to a local thandai shop which serves bhaang flavored Thandai, legally. There are legal Govt. Bhaang shops as well, a unique thing about Varanasi. The bhaang thandai was shared by Kanishka, Gnan and myself. It had no effect on me, I just went to hotel and slept. 

Day 3 - Ghat walks

Day 3 morning was by another walking organizer - Mr. Aman from Varanasi Vibes. The idea was just to walk in the galis and ghats of Varanasi. This Ghat walk is an experience. It does not matter what you visit, you just have to see these galis and ghats on foot. The lanes are narrow, people going from here and there. Next to every turn is a temple, some small, some big. Walls are covered with painting, there are food-stalls on cycles, small shops, people living in their homes, hostels, guest houses, restaurants making malpuas, kachodis, and more temples, more shivlings. And then crowds, people going from here to there, on foot, on cycles, on bikes, whatever that can fit in these lanes. Then there are ghats, temples on ghats, cremation happening on ghats, there is the famous Vishwanath temple, with thousands of people standing in queue to visit the temple, there is the new corridor that govt has constructed, there is an entry to this temple that goes to the ghat, giant spaces and buildings, all newly built, sanwiched in between ghats which are centuries old. It is difficult to explain but one has to experience this. This is true Kashi - the oldest city, the holy city. 

My favorite of all places that we visited was the Nepali temple - a Shiv temple built by king of Nepal. It is situated at the river where the river turns slightly. So you get a beautiful view of the river. They have also carved out space to sit and enjoy the scenery. It had rained in the night so weather was good, bearable and enjoyable. The fact that amidst all the chaos of the city, there is a place just to enjoy the beauty is awesome. The opposite of Ganges is all trees and it makes a good sight. You could see how Tulsidas would have sat here and wrote Ramayan in Awadhi language. You could see why kings will visit this place, centuries ago and fall in love with this place. 

We saw all sort of temples - big, small, and underground. The one below was the unique of them all - The actual Shivling is down, 15 feet down and there is a hole on top to see it below. Unless you know that it is there, you will not know. Our guide knew. So bizarre of a temple.  Each temple has a caretaker, someone who lives near it, or within the premises. Temples can not be neglected. It is a full time job for them. 28,000 temples someone wrote a book too . A lot of temples are hidden, not underground, but hidden due to construction all around them. Some where purposefully hidden to prevent them from destruction years ago. 

There is no walk in Kashi without its food. We had Kachodis- both small one, the Poodi one, we had Malpuas, visited the iconic Blue lassi shop. We saw the flower market. Again, it is not the food that matters, it is the experience - having food while sitting 2 feet away where poodis are being fried. In that low roofed, small corner place. Same food brought home would be rated bad but at that time, in the middle this small gali, when the hot food is just served right from frying pan, it is lajawaab, tasty. You ask for one more serving even when you know that you are full, you do not want that another poodi, you want to immerse yourself one more time in that experience, spend more time in that den of a restaurant, on the uncomfortable chair but you have a place to sit now. 

Our walk took us to Manikarnika Ghat, to Vishwanath temple's gate that leads to the ghat, to Nepali temple, to Kedar ghat and some galis etc evenutally bring us back to our hotel. Folks were tired at the end of it. We retired to our rooms. Kanishka and I stepped out after an hr for some shopping. Our lunch was late at Kaashi chat bhandar, again walkable from our hotel. Varanasi is actually a very small city. its like HSR and Koramangala put together, maybe Domlur too :) But just like in BLR, distance is measured in time not in kms.  We had the evening flight back. 

I am not sure if I will ever go back to Varanasi. It is an experience lived but is it repeatable? I am not sure but I find the answer leaning more towards a yes than a no. It is surprising. I am not sure why is it so? Fundamentally, Kashi and its galis is the microcosm of India, you have to embrace the city just like you embrace this country. with all its positives and what nots. Who knows what future holds. Maybe there are more ghat walks.