Varanasi

Three Ghumakkars

Summer Vacation – a wonderful run through NH-2 towards Ghats of Varanasi – Part I

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We took a rickshaw and then walked for 5 minutes to reach Dasaswamedh Ghat. The Sandhya Aarati took our breathe away. We have never seen such a live performance – they were at their artistic best. Finally around 8 p.m., the journey took its toll and my son couldn’t stand anymore and we decided to return to the hotel, with a promise to come back again and spend a few days to explore the city once again.

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Kolkata->Varanasi->Allahabad->Sultanpur->Lucknow->Delhi Road Review

Kolkata->Varanasi->Allahabad->Sultanpur->Lucknow->Delhi Road Review

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Road review for this journey or rather saying road review for NH2 in one word to say is simply awesome. It is advisable to start as early as possible in the morning so as to avoid the city rush.
Starting with the Durgapur Expressway from Kolkata, this is one of the best highways in India, there is absolutely no doubt in that. If you are actually driving in this highway, the road quality is so good and the greenery around are so nice, that you will just want to keep driving on this road. A maximum speed of 150 KMPH is no big deal in this highway and you can easily maintain an avg speed of around 90-100 KMPH.
Every now and then one can find decent places to have tea and snacks, there is not limitation on any kind of meals, whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner. Shaktigarh around 100 KM from Kolkata is one such ideal place to have a good breakfast. It’s known for its famous sweets (langchas). It’s also known as “langchagarh”.

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Kolkata to Delhi drive : Part 1

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Journey from Kolkata to Delhi through the awesome Durgapur Expressway, was something I had dreamt of since the time I went to Kolkata back in August 2007. I had my plans sorted out that I will be working in Kolkata not more than 2-3 years and then when I return back to Delhi, I will do that by road. It was January 1st week, when I got an offer in hand for a job back in Delhi, and I immediately had in mind, it’s now or never.

We were all set to start on the 4th of February 2011 for Delhi from Kolkata by road in my most loveable Santro.

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Rays of Light

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We started our walk and soon saw the first of the Sarnath monument, the Chaukhandi Stupa. A beautiful, well kept garden surrounding the Stupa welcomes you with dancing butterflies and chirping birds. Chaukhandi Stupa has a square base. This stupa was built during Gupta times. And later during Islamic rule, it got the peculiar head with edges. Built in red bricks, it was an impressive site, standing tall under a blue sky, silently remembering the era by gone.
This main road of Sarnath is lined with some beautiful Buddhist temples donated and built by several east Asian Buddhist nations. It really shows their affection and devotion towards Gautam Buddha and it’s land.

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The River and the City

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The airport is located in Babatpur, a slightly funny name but when you see the airport name displayed in bold letters as Lal Bahadur Shastri aiport, suddenly it gains stature and you feel a connection, a long lost memory jogged. And you remember a story of young Lal bahadur swimming across the Ganga for his studies.

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The ghats of Benaras – a place like no other

The ghats of Benaras – a place like no other

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Numerous invaders came, ruled and left. All of them tried, in their own way, to superimpose their own ideas, their beliefs on the land they had conquered. Yet, in the end, they had to retreat, vanquished by a spiritual force that was beyond their comprehension. The all-knowing Ganga, unperturbed by such delusions of grandeur,  gently flows along these blessed ghats as she has been doing since the beginning of time.

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Sarnath, the birthplace of Buddhism

Sarnath, the birthplace of Buddhism

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Sarnath, probably a corruption of Saranganath, is the birthplace of Buddhism. It is here, 26 centuries ago, that Gautama Buddha delivered his first ever sermon after attaining enlightenment. A massive monument, the Dhameka Stupa, was erected at this spot by the Magadhan Emperor Asoka.

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Kashi – a spiritual sojourn

Kashi – a spiritual sojourn

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Kashi has temples everywhere, a dozen of which are important; hundreds of smaller ones  crop up in unexpected places: along the river bank, in cul-de-sacs,  under trees and in various nooks and corners of its byzantine lanes. The origin of some is lost in antiquity, some of them are less than a century old but the holiest of them all, the Vishwanath Temple is the cynosure of Hindu pilgrims. It is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas (manifestations of the Lord as Light) of Saivism.

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