2025-07-09T17:56:01Z
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I reside in India and have traveled everywhere in the nation — but it surely took me some time to go to Varanasi.
Town has a wealthy, religious historical past, however for me, it was only a spot on my bucket record.
Then, the primary time I visited, I fell in love with town’s magnificence, road meals, and historical past.
I’ve spent years touring throughout India — from getting caught in Mumbai site visitors to beach-hopping in Goa, road-tripping by the Himalayas, exploring Rajasthan’s palaces, consuming my manner by Previous Delhi, and chasing waterfalls in Meghalaya’s misty hills.But by some means, I would by no means been to Varanasi.After I lastly visited final summer season, it felt unusual to confess I used to be a first-timer. One of many world’s oldest repeatedly inhabited cities, Varanasi is hardly a secret. For a lot of Hindus, it is a sacred place to scrub away sins within the Ganges (India’s holiest of rivers) or search moksha, freedom from the cycle of rebirth.I wasn’t chasing both. I went out of curiosity, anticipating to verify just a few sights off my record and transfer on.As a substitute, town bought below my pores and skin in one of the simplest ways.
I have been throughout India, however Varanasi nonetheless felt like a very new place.
The Ganges River is huge and exquisite, but surrounded by buzzing power.
NIHARIKA KULKARNI/AFP by way of Getty Photos
I reside in India, so I am not simply fazed by crowds or chaos. In some way, although, Varanasi felt like one other dimension.I checked right into a resort close to Assi Ghat, towards the south of town, and set out on foot.The gullies, or lanes, twisted like a maze. One second, I used to be dodging scooters and cows; the subsequent, I used to be sidestepping puddles and flower petals, whereas monkeys leaped over tin roofs.Then, on the finish of a lane, I noticed the Ganges. It was huge and nonetheless, and one thing about it caught me off guard. I simply stood there for a minute, taking it in — calm and quiet, regardless that all the things else round me felt loud and intense.
I visited town’s sacred cremation grounds and was shocked that I did not really feel in any respect uneasy.
Manikarnika Ghat is one among greater than 80 ghats resulting in the Ganges.
Poonam Binayak
Later that day, I walked to Manikarnika Ghat, town’s fundamental cremation web site and one among greater than 80 ghats (or riverfront steps) lining the Ganges. I would heard about it, however being there in individual was one thing else.I watched a physique burning on a wood pyre. Simply steps away, a chai vendor was serving tea, youngsters had been taking part in, and males had been bathing within the river.It did not really feel morbid. It felt deeply human, like life and dying weren’t opposites, however a part of the identical cycle that formed town.
I anticipated spirituality, however I discovered one thing else.
Locals and vacationers alike are welcome to look at the Ganga Aarti in Varanasi.
HAPPY MUKHERJEE/Shutterstock
That night, I joined a bunch on a small boat to look at the Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat, close to Kashi Vishwanath Temple. It is a devotional ritual that makes use of hearth as an providing to the river.The banks had been packed. Monks in saffron robes waved multi-tiered lamps and incense sticks in synchrony, as cymbals clanged and chants crammed the air. Cellphone screens glowed throughout the gang.To me, it felt much less like a non secular ritual and extra like a well-rehearsed efficiency. The ceremony itself was highly effective, however due to the combination of individuals watching it — pilgrims, locals, overseas vacationers — was much more shifting.
The road meals was a number of the greatest I’ve had in India.
I am nonetheless occupied with the meal I loved at Deena Chaat Bhandar.
Poonam Binayak
Varanasi is a road meals haven, and some dishes stood out sufficient that I would return simply to eat them.Certainly one of my favourite meals concerned tamatar chaat (mashed tomato combine topped with crispy lentils, chutneys, and home spices) and palak patta chaat (deep-fried spinach leaves topped with yogurt and tamarind sauce) at Deena Chaat Bhandar, a legendary stall that is served locals for over 5 many years.I additionally loved consuming aloo kachori (a fried bread ball usually filled with potato) and jalebis (coiled, deep-fried sweets soaked in sugar syrup) on the iconic Ram Bhandar.Blue Lassi, a tiny, photo-plastered store within the previous metropolis, served the perfect saffron lassi (yogurt drink) I’ve ever had. I would typically finish the day with a paan (a betel leaf filled with areca nuts, rose jam, and slivers of coconut) from a roadside stall.
I additionally cherished taking a fast go to to Sarnath, about half-hour away.
Sarnath is simply 5 miles away from Varanasi — excellent for a day journey.
Poonam Binayak
On my second day, I took a fast journey to Sarnath, a close-by city the place the Buddha gave his first sermon.I visited the Wat Thai temple, the place I noticed an 80-foot Buddha statue. On the best way again, I finished on the Sarnath Artwork Gallery, the place I watched a person give a reside demo of how Banarasi saris are made.”Banaras is understood for 2 issues — paan and saris,” he mentioned, grinning. “The paan’s in my mouth. The sari’s on the loom.”I would at all times seen saris simply as wedding ceremony put on. Watching how a lot time and ability went into each thread gave me a brand new appreciation for them as items of art work.
I visited Varanasi simply to verify it off my record — however now, I am unable to wait to return.
I have been throughout India, however I already cannot wait to revisit Varanasi.
Poonam Binayak
I used to be touched by town’s magnificence, scrumptious meals, and contrasts — hearth and water, ritual and routine, life and dying. Varanasi was solely meant to be a fast cease, but it surely has stayed with me lengthy after my go to.
