Lonely Planet got lost in Varanasi

Lonely Planet referrs to Varanasi as the second best place to get lost in. After Venice.

Lets's see what it says about Varanasi.
"You could throw yourself into Varanasi’s dark maze of streets a hundred times over and still come out at a different point. Discover temples, sweet shops and silk bargains in its back alleys." - quite right!

"Get found: Countless bicycle rickshaw drivers will be only too happy to take you home – for a price that’s in range of just about every budget." - absolutely wrong!

In fact, there are no rickshaws in the Old city of Varanasi - and we are speaking exactly abou the Old city, since that's the place where tourists wander. Just because it's streets are two narrow for a rickshaw - sometimes it's so narrow that only 1 person can pass at a time. So there's no escape on a rickshaw. The best way out of the Old city (if you can't get yourself back on the road with rickshaws) is to walk down the streets to the river. There you could consult your map and find out where you are - the names of the ghats are everywhere. And from there you can take a boat to where you want to go.
Otherwise you just trust some local to get you out of the labyrinth. Just believe that he actually is a good a person and he will surely help you out )

The upside is - no one has ever failed to find the way out of the Old city )

Dussehra Ganga festival in Varanasi

Ganga Dusshera is a holy festival celebrated on the tenth day of the month of Jayeshta. The festival is devoted to the worship of holy river Ganga.

It is believed that the ‘Gangavataran’ (the descent of the Ganga) took place at this time. On this day, places such as Varanasi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Garhmukteswar, Prayag etc. hold special significance.

A huge number of devotees flock to numerous ghats located on the west bank of the river Ganga to bathe in water and carry the river clay home to venerate. A bath in the Ganga is believed to purify the soul and clean it of 10 sins. In Varanasi the special aarti sounds bounce across the city, and in Haridwar aartis and meditation are also performed by a large number of devotees on the river banks.

Ganga water is stored in sealed pots in homes and is used on sacred days.

Ganga moving away from Varanasi ghats

The river of faith, Ganga, is changing course and appears to be moving away from the historic ghats of Varanasi, the abode of Kashi Vishwanath. The river is now flowing 7-10 feet away from the banks. Though the media make it look like some extraordinary event, our local friends there admit, that it's the casual annual decrease in Ganga's waters. Soon with the monsoon, the Ganga will gain strength again.

At the famous Dasaswamegh Ghat, close to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, the river is flowing 9 feet away from the ghat steps. At Rajendra Prasad Ghat, Rajghat and Assi Ghat the river is seven, four and five feet away respectively from the ghats’ steps.

According to scientists associated with the Ganga Action Plan, the river is changing course due to massive pollution and lack of proper cleaning of the banks of the river.

Acharya Jitendra of the Ganga Mahasabha says that the administration is not working towards cleaning the Ganga; instead more and more pollutants are being pushed into it.

Moreover, the dams and barrages that have been built upstream are diverting increasing amounts of water for farming and other purposes. For example, around nine percent of Ganga’s waters are diverted to canals at the Bhimgouda barrage.

As per a report, the government has spent Rs 36,448 crore on cleaning the Ganga, yet at Varanasi the river is little more than a deadly cocktail of groundwater, sewage discharge and spillage from tributaries like the Yamuna and the Betwa.

Varanasi Graffiti Contest

GoVaranasi is proud to announce the graffiti contest for the ancient Varanasi.

The graffiti project “Moscow VS Varanasi. Tags of two realities” is designed to make a jump out of established boxes in our mind — about Russia, India, graffiti, creativity and cities’ environment… whatever boxes are about.

The idea of the contest is to find the best sketch for the famous Indian city Varanasi.
The contest is open for everyone from any country, the participation is free.

If you have a desire to create something really cool, to explore the depth of India, and if you don’t hold any ideologic and hygenic prejudice against Varanasi, you are welcome to send in the sketch to us!

The jury board consisting of talented and authoritative Russian pro’s in graffiti and design will choose the winner. The winner will go on a trip to Varanasi absolutely free of charge to make the painting on the wall of the Varanasi’s Main ghat.


Beginning of the contest – 25th of April, 2011
Deadline for entry – 20th of May, 2011
Travel & exe cu tion — October 2011

For more information about the contest click here

Fire Show on Assi Ghat

In the beginning of March, just after the big festival MahaShivaratri we witnessed a surprisingly gypsy-european, but at the same time quite fitting the spirit of Varanasi fire show at one of the most popular tourist ghats - Assi.

It was a quiet, warm and dark evening, the tourists were enjoying the atmosphere on the steps and pizza in the very decent Vaatika cafe up the stairs of the ghat, while a group of european artists performed an amazing show with fire, flying it like doing some kind of modern and ambient puja at the bank of the Ganga.

Here's the short video

Clean Ganga - joining hands on the ghats

To commemorate the World Water Day, the Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF) -- the organisation working for the cause of Ganga for three decades through Clean Ganga Campaign-- has invited local citizens to assemble on the banks of the Ganga on and form human chains along the ghats to show their support for a clean Ganga.

SMF president Veer Bhadra Mishra, who is also a member of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), said around 75 schools and other organisations had committed to join hands along the ghats, but the SMF had invited all citizens of Varanasi to extend their support.

"It is as if the theme of WWD 2011 water for cities responding to the urban challenge has been made for Varanasi. Here in Varanasi, untreated sewage from the city flows into the Ganga, endangering the health of those who bathe in it," said Mishra. 'Attending this event is a small way for the people to show their love and devotion for the Ganga and their commitment to see the holy river cleaned," he said.


via Times of India

Benares 100 years ago

Looking at the old photos we can see for our selves how the city stays the same through hundreds of years.

Varanasis, just like in the 1900s, hide from the sun in the shade of bamboo umbrellas offering prayers for the dead souls on the ghats, bathe in sacred Ganges, burn at Manikarnika.

The only thing that has changed - there were much more trees back there, and less people.

photos from oldindianphotos.blogspot.com

Varanasi boats will sail again

Varanasi boatmen called off their indefinite strike on Monday after the district administration and police agreed to withdraw the order of banning the boarding of passengers on boats from Dasaswamedh, Old Dasaswamedh and Rajendra Prasad ghats. 


The police also decided to designate selected boatmen as `special police officers '(SPOs). These officer-cum-boatmen will be expected to keep a sharp vigil on the ghats. 

The boatmen associated with Maa Ganga Nishadraj Seva Samiti had gone on indefinite strike after an order disallowing them from boarding passengers from these three ghats and keeping their boats 20-metre from the ghat steps. The order was issued as a part of security enhancement exercise started after December 7 blast on Old Dasaswamedh Ghat. The boatmen considered the move as an end to the livelihood of over 300 families. The boatmen of all the ghats decided to go on strike in support of the boatmen of those three ghats. 

Hence the pilgrims and tourists, especially foreigners, had to bear the brunt of the strike. Boating on the Ganga for enjoying the beauty of the scenic ghats is a part of the itinerary of all tourists, especially the foreigners. But, due to the strike, hundreds of tourists were deprived of this enjoyment for two days. The boatmen left the boats tied to the ghat steps for the second consecutive day on Monday and held a sit-in on Dasaswamedh Ghat. 

In the afternoon, DIG Prem Prakash met a delegation of MGNSS office-bearers at the Circuit House. During the meeting, the boatmen highlighted the problems they would face as a result of the ban. The officials also expressed security-related concerns. After a discussion, both the groups agreed to cooperate with each other. 


The DIG said the boatmen were assured that they could continue boarding passengers from those three ghats. But, passengers picked up from other ghats would not be allowed to alight at those three ghats. The boatmen also assured the officials that they would also ensure that boatmen from other ghats were not taking passengers to those three ghats. The boatmen also agreed to tie their boats at a distance of 20-metre from the ghat steps. The DIG assured them that no policeman would harass the boatmen. 

After the meeting, it was announced that the boatmen would return to work from Tuesday morning. 


from The Times of India