Do believe me and blindly follow my list of best places to visit in Varanasi and you will love it and thank me later. Varanasi is India’s heart with the most beautiful ghats and river Ganges.
1.Aarti at Dasaswamedh Ghat- Be on time so that you could witness the lavish, the extraordinary aarti happening at Dashashwamedh Ghat around 6.30 in the evening. Make sure you be there at 6.00 pm so that you get a good place to sit and watch this closer. Those king-sized brass lamps, the priests with identical kurta-dhotis and the charismatic flawless rhythm in their performance during Aarti will make you feel out of the World. You may find the ghat overcrowded with dozens of groups and more than thousands of people standing and even many of them watching Aarti from the floating boats. Definately, this is one of the best things to do in Varanasi.
2.Blue Lassi- Just located behind Kashi Vishwanath temple, you have to struggle a bit through tiny lanes to get here. This Lassiwala is the most epic and oldest in Varanasi. Besides the taste, the thickness and quality of lassi is a big plus point. Chacha runs this shop since ages and never allows to take pictures from the menu card as they are unique. Banana, mango, peach, pomegranate, chocolate and various other fusion flavors are available here. The walls of shop are decorated with the autographs and pictures of tourists who have visited here and loved their lassi. We loved chocolate banana and mango, do give it a try. The making of lassi is in a very traditional and rural manner and everything served is fresh in front of your eyes.
3.Hanuman Mandir- This temple is dedicated to Hindu God Hanuman which is very famous in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Situated on the banks of Assi river and founded by Tulsidas in 16th century. A huge number of crowd gathers on tuesdays and saturdays and offer prayers to Lord Hanuman. They say offering prayers will give a person relief from all his problems and one gets success, wealth and immense progress in life. If you are visiting in april then you may be lucky to attend the special sangeet samaroh where musicians and performers across India take part. The timings are morning 5.00 am till 10.00 pm night. You can also spot some monkeys as it is also called a Monkey Temple.
4.Holy Bath in Ganges and a Boat ride – Just jump twice/thrice or multiple times in this beautiful holy river and receive the warmest blessings. After so many years finally you will se a lot of improvement in terms of cleanliness in river Ganges. They also say 7-10 dips in this holy river may wash off your sins. I don’t know its true but everything in this world has a story. Meanwhile, a boat ride is what you should definately go for. The ride will cost you around 100-200 bucks per person for 1-2 hours. You can see all the beautiful ghats around with a killer sunrise. The living of people, some may bath or some may wash their clothes at the corner of the river or a gang of children running here and there. The natural beauty of people, the normal yet rural styled dressing, the body language and the innocence on people’s face here is a sure thing to watch out for. You are definately going to love this, I bet.
5.Banarasi Paan- U heard Amitabh Bachchan singing ” Khaike Paan Banaras Waala, Khul jaye band akkal ka Taala”. A trip to Benaras and you don’t have a paan then you are dumb. We visited Keshav Tambul Bhandar paanwala and it was just awesome. The fresh ingredients stuffed into the betel leaves with a pinch of Banarasi tadka is happiness. They have chocolate, kesar and other flavors but I stuck to the basic meetha paan. Trust me, it was made in an authentic manner with a standard taste. The paan will cost you around 10-20 rupees and these guys are selling paan since more than a half-century. Banarasi paan has won hearts of million people.
