Varanasi Magic

06/03/2024

We're thrilled to receive such heartwarming feedback from one of our recent guests! Thank you for having us to be a part of your journey through Varanasi, Odisha, and Kolkata.

26/01/2024

Dawn Boat ride on the Ganges, yesterday. To book our dawn tour, please whatsapp +919867707414 or email [email protected]

21/01/2024

A Siberian gull greets us on the river Ganga. Thousands of gulls migrate here in winter, from northern and central Asia.

Boatmen in Varanasi are happy when the gulls arrive, because more tourists opt for boat rides to see the birds at close quarters and feed them. Little balls of dough and fritters are thrown, attracting the birds to the boats.

11/01/2023

Claudia is studying Vedic Astrology and her journey has brought her to Banaras. We are happy to help her find meaningful interactions in Varanasi. A visit to Jnanapravaha research centre and their craft revival atelier, temples, ghats, and a meeting with a well known astrologer, these are all part of her trip. She will go to Prayagraj also to see the Triveni Sangam.

23/12/2022

The stupa was in a state of neglect when the British came across it.

Buddhist stupa at Sarnath, Benaras - 1864
Painting by British artist: William Simpson

Simpson, William (1823-1899). Painter and lithographer. Simpson was apprenticed to a lithographer in Glasgow and in 1851 came to London where he made views of the Great Exhibition. He became well known for his paintings with commissions by Queen Victoria to paint various important events in her reign. In 1859 the publishers, Day and Son, commissioned him to make drawings of India. On his return he produced "India, ancient and modern" (London, 1867), a series of illustrations of the country and its people. Later in 1876, he accompanied the Prince of Wales to India and published "Shikare and Tomasha, a souvenir of the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to India (London, 1876).

Image and text credit: © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

02/12/2022

15/09/2022

Coming up! Our Dev Deepawali tour from Nov 6 to 9 showcases the best of Banaras festivals, bazaars, monuments, crafts and textiles. And of course, Banarasi food!

09/07/2022

Making of Banarsi saree

22/04/2022

Beautiful

A pilgrimage map of Kashi - 1800
Painted on cloth
Rajasthan

Source: https://bit.ly/3OsSgEe

14/04/2022

A little known ghat in Varanasi

Batsarajghat, Benares - 1905

Batsaraj Ghat on the holy River Ganges at Varanasi, from the Kitchener of Khartoum Collection: 'Views of Benares. Presented by the Maharaja of Benares' by Madho Prasad, c. 1905. Batsaraj Ghat has two Jain temples. Varanasi, founded in the sixth century BC is one of the seven sacred cities of the Hindus but is also holy for the Jains. According to Jain traditions it is the birthplace of four tirthankaras and is counted among Jain sacred tirthas.

Image and text credit:
Copyright © The British Library Board

28/02/2022

Mahashivratri is a busy time in Varanasi, the festival is tomorrow

Processions of sadhus make their way for a dip in the Ganges a day prior

https://www.indiatvnews.com/photos/maha-shivratri-festival-in-varanasi-1204.1186/2

11/02/2022

Bring out the bubbly! India has revised guidelines for international arrivals with effect from Monday, February 14. The government has removed the category of 'at risk' countries. It has removed the 7- day quarantine as well.

To visit India, you need to either be fully vaccinated, or provide an RTPCR negative report tested 72hrs prior to arrival. Please go through the official announcement to understand the current requirements fully. Or write to us.

You can reach us at [email protected] or by WhatsApp at +919867707414

https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/GuidelinesforInternationalarrivalsupdatedon10thFebruary2022.pdf?fbclid=IwAR26VSw6ntXVKy4WHgFtcgLsVYciazxs2_JGTs571ZwIcv577YF2SYaAmo8

29/01/2022

This is an old stamp commemorating the mystic poet, Sant Kabir (1410-1518). He stayed in the city of Varanasi and was known to shout out his views, controversial ones, to passers-by. The spot where he used to hold forth is referred to as Kabir Chaurah crossroads)

Kabir would hold forth on the double standards of people. He eschewed all rituals and complex rules, he urged that people open their eyes and see that god resides in all life.

Instead of spending time on repeating prayer before an idol, recognise the gods around and treat them well; instead of being pious in front of the gods while indulging in bad conduct with other creatures.

His words provoke thought to this day.

In his lifetime though, many people taunted and rejected him

There are numerous legends about Sant Kabir. One that stands out is about a time he was making rotis. A hungry stray dog entered his hut and tried to eat one. Kabir happened to turn at that moment. The dog panicked and scooted out.

Kabir picked up a roti and ran after the dog shouting, God came to my house for a roti, here, God, take the roti. Onlookers laughed at the mad man who referred to a dog as god.

But, that was the saint's belief.

He is believed to have spoken his views in couplets. Here's an example of one:
'mutthi baandh ke aaya jagat mein. haath pasaare jayega
karle bande apni karni, nahin to phir pachtaye ga'
Entered the world with fists tightly clenched, leave the world with palms open (like one who seeks alms). Stop carrying out wrong deeds or you will repent for it later

That was Kabir Das - Hated while he lived, revered when he died

Today, his couplets continue to feature in religious songs, contemporary music, simply because despite the centuries that lie between his lifetime and ours, his words remain immortal.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stamp_of_India_-_1952_-_Colnect_141785_-_Kabir.jpeg

25/01/2022

Recognise the place? Kashi Vishwanath with the river Ganges flowing in front of it

This is the first glimpse of the tableaux being prepared for the upcoming Republic Day Parade

https://www.outlookindia.com/national/the-final-touch-to-tableaux-for-republic-day-parade-photos-46867?photo-10

17/01/2022

Ace photographer Charu Sharma captures the spirit of Banaras

A city as old as civilization, but is still vibrant, alive and present. Home to so many Gods, people, arts and lives that its overwhelming to stop and notice. From almost all public walls covered with Gods, political figures, Kabir's dohas, scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharat to restaurants with names such as "Holy Chopsticks", the city is not subtle about its identity. But what stole my heart was the Banarasi sarees and pink minakari work that the city is famous for or I should rather say not famous enough for (though hardly any photographs of those). This album is a small attempt to document of what I saw.

25/11/2021

Fifteen days after Deepavali, the festival of lights, Dev Deepavali is celebrated by lighting up almost a million lamps along the ghats. Visitors light lamps and release them in the waters of the river

Experience a ritual of beauty that lasts in your mind for a long time to come

And yes, book the boat ride in advance

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dev_Deepavali_at_Varanasi_DSC04305_04.jpg

17/11/2021

Varanasi jaao, Kachori-Jalebi khaao

As breakfasts go, this is a combination that satisfies the edict about breakfasting like a king
The medical fraternity may not approve though
But we only live once
Oh wait, we're in Varanasi in the hope of ending the cycle of life and death
But if you eat this, you'll probably be willing to return to living
Something that the foodies will have us believe they do, for the good stuff that you get in the lanes leading to the ghats

In the early hours, when the first few visitors to the river are completing their exercise and bath, the oil is already smoking hot, piping hot kachori and jalebi is ready

A good kachori is crisp while being amenable to getting a hole poked into it. The dough is made from maida (plain flour), a little black gram flour with condiments for taste. A potato based dish is served up with it.
Then there's the jalebi, fried squiggly circles made from plain flour that jump out of the frying pan into a squelchy mass of sugar syrup

07/11/2021

Shivala Ghaut and Cheyt Singh's House near Benares
signed 'W. Daniell.'
By William Daniell, R.A. (1769-1837)

'Upon our arrival at Benares, we took up our abode near the Shewallah Gaut, the former residence of Cheit Singh, who has become memorable in the annals of British India from the insurrection which he raised against the English government during the administration of Warren Hastings, when, but for the prompt and energetic measures of the governor, the possession of India might have been lost to his country. The Shewallah Gaut is situated at the northern extremity of the city, on the very margin of the river. It is a handsome building, but by no means splendid, neither is it very capacious. It exhibits nothing of the eastern palace. There is a very large quadrangle behind it, in which are several small temples. ... The square storey upon the roof of the Shewallah Gaut was added by Sir Charles Wilkins, who occupied a portion of that building after Warren Hastings quitted Benares. In order to be as cool as possible during the hot nights, he had a sloping canopy raised upon the roof under which he slept. It was open on every side to the full influence of the atmosphere, so that from its elevation he enjoyed all the night breeze, without being exposed to the noisome visitation of those numerous reptiles which always swarm in the lower apartments of houses in India.' (The Oriental Annual, London, 1834, I, pp.141-2.)

The view of Shivala Ghat, Benares, was taken on the Daniells' tour of northern India, 1786-91. The riverside palace was the site of the imprisonment of the last independent Raja of Benares, Chait Singh, by Warren Hastings in 1781. The Daniells were at Benares on the outward journey in early December 1788 and on their return journey to Calcutta a year later. 'A few days later they were at Benares, and a wealth of drawings exist to record their visit ... On December 4th William writes: 'The general view of Banares from the Pinnace was so very grand that I staid on Board the whole day to draw it, fearing if we let slip the present opportunity that we might never see it in a better point of view. ... A drawing of 'Shuwallah Gaut' in private hands is probably the original for William's oil painting ... owned by Eric C. Dunstan. It was done on the return journey.' (T. Sutton, The Daniells Artists and Travellers, London, 1954, p.33). For Thomas Daniell's larger variant, painted in India, see Christie's, 26 June 1981, lot 110 (as William Daniell) and M. Shellim, India and the Daniells Additional Oil paintings, London, 1988, p.14, TD38A. There is a watercolour of the same subject by William Daniell, titled 'Shuwallah-Gaut, Bernares.' in the British Library for which see M. Archer, British Drawings in The India Office Library, II, WD 1295, colour frontispiece.

William Daniell depicts the party's boat, a pinnace budgerow, flying the Union flag and moored below the ghat, and what is probably their baggage boat (patella) alongside. The small pinnace was crewed by dandies and carried the Daniells (seen here on the canopied deck) and their seven attendants from Calcutta up river to Cawnpore, reached in the last week of 1788, where the boats were paid off and from whence they continued overland. On the river is a state barge (morpunkhi) named for its winged peacock prow (for which see also The Oriental Annual, London, 1835, vol. II, p.128, The Moah-punkee at Lucnow) approaching the visitors.

THE DANIELLS IN INDIA

Thomas Daniell had gained permission from the East India Company in December 1784 to ‘proceed to Bengal to follow his profession as an engraver’ with his nephew William as his assistant and apprentice. The Daniells travelled out to India via China, reaching Whampoa on the Atlas Indiaman in August 1785. After the long voyage they spent some months on the Canton River, sketching and painting the ‘sweet romantic scenery’ before taking a coastal vessel back to Calcutta. In July 1786, just a few months after arrival in Calcutta, Thomas announced his proposal to publish twelve coloured aquatints of the city. The Twelve Views were issued in two sets of six, completed in 1788. Although not known as an engraver before his departure east, these first trials and the more accomplished great sets of aquatints (Oriental Scenery, 1795-1808) produced after their return to London following seven years in India (1786-1793), stand as their greatest achievement, bringing the British public an unrivalled view of the scenery and architecture of the Subcontinent.The exertions of the Calcutta Views had prompted the first of their trips ‘up country’, ostensibly for health reasons. It was in fact to be the first of three well-planned tours of India in which the artists managed to undertake an extensive artistic survey of the Subcontinent, more accurate and thorough in intent than anything that had gone before. On this first tour, they followed in William Hodges’s footsteps, carrying as guidebook a set of his recently published Select Views in India from his own tour in the early 1780s. If Hodges’s freely drawn theatrical and imaginative presentation of Indian scenery and antiquities, with its prejudice for the gothic and Sublime, painted India as a land of mystery – as it was only to be glimpsed in the age of the East India Company’s private dominion – the Daniells’ work was as perfectly aligned to the changing times, as they set out with camera obscura, and perambulator to take a more measured view, reflecting the imminent political change of the country from Company territory to Crown-controlled imperial possession.

Source: christies.com

26/10/2021

During monsoon, when the Ganges is in spate, the waters rise.
The ghats are submerged and with it, so are the temples that people like to visit every day
It's dangerous
Someone, tell the divers

The locals love it, they go into the water year after year. Not when it's raining heavily but, you know, when they feel it's safe. Oh, you say, it can never be safe. Strong currents run deep. Ah, they reply, we know the river. It'll take us when our time has come, not before.

India has many faces. Singh's photographs highlight 'beauty, nature, spirituality and humanism' visible in every day India.

Unlike the source of his inspiration, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Singh preferred to use colour for street photography. Black and white did not do justice to the complex landscape of the country. The grey skies, the spires of the temples stand out, can you imagine this scene in black and white? Does colour bring out the effect far more? The artist certainly thought so.

The beauty of Singh's photographs lies in another facet, as a viewer, you see where he trained his lens and you see every bit that surrounds it. You are forced to. The picture directs your gaze.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/11/05/561578714/photos-an-amazing-eye-for-the-colors-of-india

23/10/2021

Quiet contrast

An elder lady may prefer to spend their time with holy books or in contemplation, by the river
For some, though, life is a series of activities alone or with companions
The boats bob in the water, as though tracking the passage of time, until the next ride begins

The photo seems to hint at silence but we know, Varanasi bustles with activity

https://121clicks.com/photo-stories/varanasi-a-sacred-city-by-nilanjan-ray

29/09/2021

There is a belief that in the holy city of Varanasi:
- corpses will not smell during cremation
- eagles will not fly
- lizards do not make a sound
- cows will accept human touch
- flowers will not give a fragrance

People who have heard these beliefs have sound basis.
And that's just a part of the attraction this city holds

Maybe you could check the veracity of the beliefs when you visit :)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DASHASHWAMEDH_GHAT,_VARANASI.jpg

15/09/2021

Malaiyo - light fluffy heaven

Sweet whipped cream to which saffron is added and topped with nuts like almonds and pistachios
A much recommended aside is a plate of jalebis (made of plain flour, deep fried, soaked in thick sugar syrup)
Always to be had on winter mornings with a cup of hot tea
Considering that the temperatures may drop to 0 and below, the body easily uses up all that fat so though modern science would frown, the locals aren't leaving their favourite food in a hurry

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malaiyo_sweet.jpg

09/09/2021

Manikarnika ghat operates 24/7

There's always a queue of families awaiting their turn.
The narrow lane leading to the ghat is lined with shops selling all that is needed to conduct the rituals.

At the far left, wood is piled up for sale. Once the body is ready, the family will buy the prescribed amount.

A typical cremation takes 6 hours. All the extras that have been placed on the body, loose garments, the garland, the tiny dot of gold are removed and dropped into the river.

People are busy, tending to the rituals.
Visitors, curious to see what's going on, watch the event.
The next body is lined up, the ritual cleansing is in progress.
Children jump into the water, sometimes they pan gold from the river bottom. They let out whoops of joy as they dive in.
The boat ride for tourists takes a turn to go to the other end of the ghats.

Death casually juxtaposes with life. Everyday.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manikarnika_Cremation_Ghat,_Varanasi.jpg

01/09/2021

Wrestlers of Varanasi

It's a dedication, the life of the wrestler.
The day starts early, reach the akhada, undergo an exercise and practice regimen. Stick to a diet rich in milk and milk products. Practice sessions take the better portion of the day.

The exercise equipment includes dumbbells, neck weights (heavy tyres) and gada (mace). Rustic but effective.

Once considered to be the domain of men, more and more women are entering the wrestling arena. Though many wrestlers remain at the local competitive level, it's from these local akhadas that players who compete in the Olympics are from.

The interesting part is the ground on which practice is done. It's soft mud (multani mitti) to which clarified butter (ghee) has been added. The wrestlers till the soil, taking clumps of it and letting it fall back to the ground. They roll in the mud, take handfuls and rub it all over their bodies, it's good for the skin.

https://www.inditales.com/pahalwan-routine-tulsi-akhada-varanasi/

24/08/2021

When you visit Varanasi, we recommend a day in Sarnath. You'll see the excavated site of the original place where the Buddha held his first teachings.

The must-visit museum, where findings from the excavation site have been displayed. Highlights include the Lion Capital of Ashoka, the Ashoka Chakra, huge statues of the Boddhisatva.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sarnath_pillar_capital_Dharmachakra.jpg

17/08/2021

In the fading light of the sun
Manikarnika ghat is the main place for cremations.

Death is an everyday affair. The narrow lanes that lead to the ghat have tiny shops where you get all that's necessary to help the departed soul find freedom

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manikarnika_Ghat_(33412451120).jpg

13/08/2021

After seeing all the religion-based temples in the city, one benefactor thought to change the view of the visitor to Varanasi. He wanted to dedicate worship to the idea of the country, that's how the idea of Bharat Mata temple came about.

There is a marble relief of the country in place of idols of gods and goddesses

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bharat_Mata_Temple_map.jpg

This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the or...

06/08/2021

The dawn boat ride on the Ganges should ideally begin just before sunrise, 6 or 6.30 am. Be prepared with warm wear, if you are visiting in winter. Even in warm season, the temperatures go below 10 C sometimes.

You'll feel rather than see the sun's rays as they start to touch the air around you.

Come mist, come sun, the ghats are always busy.

In the monsoon season, when the Ganges is in spate, the boat ride with hand-rowing will not be possible.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Busy_Varanasi_Morning.jpg