Varanasi City Guide – Varanasi Travel Attractions

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Varanasi City Guide – Varanasi Travel Attractions

Varanasi often called as the city of temples is situated on the west bank of the River Ganges in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city is also called as Banaras and Kashi and is regarded as a holy placce by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains. This city is one of the most adored cultural and religious centers of India. It said to be one of the oldest and continually inhabited cities of the world. The city has extremely hot summers and severely cold winters. Temperature varies from 7 °C during the winter seasons to about 45° C in summer seasons. Some of the places worth seeing in the city of Varanasi are given below with a brief intro.

Shri Kashi Vishwanath Mandir

Shri Kashi Vishwanath Mandir also known as Golden temple is the highlight of the city. The presiding deity of the temple is Shiva of the Hindu trinity known by the name Vishwanatha, which means the Ruler of the universe. The temple has a golden spire, which measures 15.5 m high. Although the original temple had existed for thousands of years according to old scriptures, the present temple is believed to be built by Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore in 1780. The temple complex has many other small temples that include Kal bhairo, Dhandapani, Avimukteshwara, Vishnu, Vinayaka, Sanishwara, Virupaksha, and Virupaksh Gauri. It is believed that a visit to the temple and a bath in the River Ganges will lead to Moksha. This is why Hindus from all over the country make an effort to visit the place at least once in their life time.

Barat Kala Bhawan

Barat Kala Bhawan is a museum started by the Banaras Hindu University in the year 1950. It is very popular for its unique collection of miniature paintings. The huge collection of Rajasthani, Pichhawai, Pahari paintings, Nepalese and Tibetan Thankas, paintings of contemporary artists, and some pages of Humza-nama are some of the valuable possessions of the museum.

Banaras Hindu University

The B.H.U. is a world class educational institution located in the city of Varanasi. It is one of the largest residential universities of Asia. The foundation of the university was laid in the year 1916 by Lord Hardinge, thanks to the efforts of Annie Besant and Madan Mohan Malaviya. Spread over an area of 1,300 acres the university has 3 Institutes namely Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS), Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), and Institute of Technology (IT-BHU). Besides these the campus has 55 student hostels, a Birla Mandir popularly known as VT, an air strip and a flying club, a library with more than 1.3 million books, Bharat Kala Bhavan, a huge hospital, and a printing press.

Other attractions of the holy city are as follows: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Ramnagar Fort, Kashi Vidya Peeth, Museums & Arts Galleries, River Front (Ghats), New Vishwanath Mandir, Alamgir Mosque, Bharat Mata Temple, Gyanvapi Mosque, Durga Temple, Tulsi Manas Temple, and many more.

Transport and Stay

The Babatpur airport, which is 22 km away from the city of Varanasi, is the nearest airport. There are regular air services to Delhi, Agra, Khajuraho, Calcutta, Mumbai, Lucknow, and Bhuvaneshwar, operated both by government and private sectors. Varanasi is an important railway junction and is well connected to all major cities of India. This includes New Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Gwalior, Meerut, Indore, Guwahati, Allahbad, Lucknow, Dehradun, and many more. The national highways NH2 and NH7 pass through the city connecting the city from Delhi to Kanya Kumari by good all-weather roads. Private taxies, auto rickshaws, rickshaws are readily available for local transport.

As an age old pilgrimage center and tourist spot Varanasi offers a wide range of accommodation to the visitors. Some of the hotels offering star class accommodation are Hotel Taj Ganges, Hotel Clarks, Hotel Hindustan International, and Hotel Varanasi Ashok. The medium range hotels comprise Best Western Kasihka Hotel, Pallavi International Hotel, Hotel De Paris, Hotel M M Continental, Diamond Hotel, and Hotel India. Some of the hotels offering economy class stay in Varanasi are as follows: Hotel Vaughan, Hotel Praveen, Hotel Temple on Ganges, Hotel Verona, Hotel Alma, Hotel Abrader, Hotel Aria, Trimetric Guest House, Hotel Son Many, Hotel Sunrise, Hotel Buddha, Hotel Anaya, and many more.

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