Kolkata - Bodh Gaya - Varanasi - Allahabad: The Xylo on a Spiritual Spin

Chandranath · Dec 1, 2012

Rahul, It is possible in three and half hours non stop drive. The drive into Vranasi town from Vishwa Sundari highway depending on the time and where you go will be anything plus minus half hour additional.

smooth rider · Dec 2, 2012

good t log chandra. more snaps please.

anisghos · Dec 7, 2012

Chandranath said:

Bageecha is a good joint really out of no where. NH 2 really lacks few good fooding places between Kolkata and Delhi. There are a few before the Sone bridge but they are very average and after searching we found this food joint. Did you care to taste a bit of Lassi there? It was awesome, with kheer and cherry. If not try it next time. [:)]

Chandranath said:

Pagla baba's lassi, rabri, milk and kheer are the favourites there. Though i have a aversion for milk products i did try the lassi [:)]

Hope you took the boat ride after the aarti? It is an awesome experience.

anisghos · Dec 7, 2012

Chandranath, couple of pictures from my end of the aarti and the ghat. Sorry for the intrusion [;)]

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From the river

Please continue with the narration and the pictures. Waiting for more.

Chandranath · Dec 8, 2012

smooth rider said:

Thanks Smooth Rider

anisghos said:

Thanks a ton Anish for your "intrusion" and lightning up the thread. The close up picture is particularly nice and I do not have such close ups

Chandranath · Dec 8, 2012

Day 3 - Nov 8th

Today was a complete rest day for the Xylo. So it could afford to wake up lazily.

But I wanted to have a feel of the Varanasi just waking up from its slumber. This was the view I got from the balcony outside my room.

Quickly got up and sprinted through the morning mist to Assi Ghat which was 50 meters from the Hotel. Tried to capture it through the lens. But what was more refreshing for me was what was captured through my eyes, and what was stored and retained in my soul.

Breakfast time and came back to the Hotel. The roof top cafeteria had excellent views and well done up upholstery. The service was slightly slow as the base kitchen was on the ground floor and the hotel did not have a lift.

The small but neatly maintained garden added to the decor and my son's attention. He was neither interested in the view nor his breakfast.

The lonely bird was also enjoying the sunshine

We were in a confusion as to which would be the best time to visit Baba Vishwanath Mandir. Some said early morning would be less crowded, others said late evening. The hotel advised us the afternoon. We decided to go by the hotel's word. We reached the temple complex at around 2.30 in the afternoon.

And true their word the Temple was absolutely empty. We walked through the lanes and bylanes of the Temple. Security was as if we were entering Rashtrapati Bhaban, but the security personnel were very courteous and particularly respectful to my father. They went to the extent of asking my father for forgiveness for frisking him but had to do as it was their job.

The temple was so empty at that hour that we were the only people in the main mandir and after coming out of it I asked which is the main temple and let us visit it first. Then to my surprise I was told that it was the same one from which I came out. I just went back once again to have a feel of the spirituality associated with the Baba.

Cameras are not allowed so no pictures. But the way out from the temple was through the maze of shops all stacked up with various things, but all so colourful and lively.

Once out we had some taste of the hot Kachoris and Lassi. Taste was good, nothing outstanding, but distinctive, tasty and something which I had imagined after reading numerous write ups and travel books.

We next headed for the ghats as the long awaited boat ride was about to become a reality...

Chandranath · Dec 9, 2012

Day 3 - Nov 8th (Contd..)

Almost 500 mtrs from Dasaswamedh Ghat one will find people asking you to hire their boats. It really becomes difficult to differentiate as to who is a tout and who is the actual boatman. We too faced the same situation but made it look like we are in control of the situation and knew what rate to give. The bargain started with Rs 60/- per head in shared boat. We insisted on a separate boat to which the price quoted was Rs 1500/-. Finally settled for Rs 800/- for a dedicated boat for 2 hours of Ghat darshan followed additionally by the Aarti. Whether its a good bargain or not, do not know but this is for information of future travelers.

The boat makes its way out of the traffic of "parked" (sorry anchored) boats.

Even as the still camera captures the mood, the movie captures the flow,

The boatman our guide

The Manmandir Ghat, which was built by the King of Rajasthan, and slightly resembling the Rajasthani architecture.

The famous Manikarnika Ghat, where they say the fire never stopped since ages. Mythology has it that Shiv and Parvati were bathing in this ghat when Parvati lost her ear ring and despite a thorough search they could not find it. Since then the Ghat has been cursed that no one from then on will ever bathe in that Ghat and it will only be lit with fire. But the positive side of it was that anyone who gets cremated in this Ghat receives eternal liberty and need NOT go through the process of rebirth again. That is why cremation of dead bodies in this Ghat is said to be of utmost importance. (The above information was told to me by my boatman and not any researched data. Any deviation anyone may please feel free to add or modify details)

The construction around the Ghat bore the brunt of the fumes and flames of the crematorium for ages and got blackened, the water flowing by the Ghat got littered, but all of them withstood the test of time

Two hotels / guest house stand side by side. The one on the left looked more upmarket than the right but was told that the highest priced room on the right side hotel was more than the left. Before coming I had enquired in both hotels but the problem was none had space to accommodate the Xylo.

Once again we cross Dasaswamedh Ghat, our destination being upto the Raja Harishchandra Ghat.

The Munshi Ghat appeared very neat and clean and the silk factory adjoining the ghat is where a whole lot of workers (was told mostly Muslims) create marvels working tirelessly for their daily living.

The Darbhanga Ghat, built by the ruler from Magadh (Bihar) was immortalised by the great Satyajit Ray when he shot "Joy Baba Felunath" the detective slick from the Feluda (played by Soumitra Chatterjee) series.

Shivers ran down my spine as I recollected the scenes of the Vajra (the big boat) and imagined the villain (played by Utpal Dutt) coming down from it in the climax scene. Too bad that for me what was missing was Begum Akhtar's voice which Ray used so melodiously in such a serious scene.

On the sail to Raja Harishchandra Ghat we crossed a whole lot of other ghats but the Sun having already gone down the camera went into hibernation. But some Ghats which created a space in me were the Kedar Ghat which housed the Kedar and Badri style temples and is said that a visit here will save you the effort of going to Kedar Badri, the Chandal Ghat which was the house of the Chandal (supposedly Yamraja himself in disguise) who had employed Raja Harishchandra as his crematorium security guard and the Harishchandra Ghat iteslf which was the place where Harishchandra worked as the crematorium guard while on exile from Ayodhya. This is where his wife had come to perform the last rites of their son who died of a snake bite. But the dutiful Harishchandra didn't allow it till his wife paid for performing the rites.

Mythology may yet be an not proved story but in my younger days had read all these details in the Amar Chitra Katha series but standing in front of them they all seemed so very real.

We returned to Dasaswamedh Ghat in time for the Arati which again was a mind blowing experience. Made a poor attempt to capture the mood which was rich in spirituality and very low on mundaneness...

Returned to the Hotel in an auto rickshaw quite mesmerised with what Varanasi had on offer for us throughout the day. Had a quick dinner to rest our tired limbs for the next day.

After its rendezvous with the Ganga, the next day the Xylo had its date with the Yamuna....

rahul4640 · Dec 11, 2012

Nice pictures and good narration, Chandranath. Please continue with it. Eagerly waiting to see more of it.
BTW, wish you a happy birthday! [thumbsup]

Chandranath · Dec 11, 2012

rahul4640 said:

Thank you very much Rahul,

Will continue with the Allahabad leg of the story

Akash · Dec 11, 2012

Chandranath said:

Excellent pictures buddy, feels like re-visiting the place again [clap]

. BTW i regret not extending my stay at Varanasi. I would be re-doing this trip very soon.

Waiting for the Allahabad pics now [:)]

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anisghos · Dec 11, 2012

Chandranath said:

Indeed one needs to bargain big here. We took the boat ride after the Aarti in the evening. We took the motor boat and they quoted Rs 2000/- and we bargained for Rs 550/- for 45 minutes. It was a great ride and moreover it was a near full moon night and you can imagine how beautiful was it sailing there. [:)]

Chandranath · Dec 16, 2012

Day 4 - Nov 9th

I wanted to visit Allahabad and the Chunar Fort. While Chunar was important to me for Historical purposes, Allahabad was important for mythological and religious purposes. After a careful thought process chose religion over History, but would once again go back to Varanasi to explore the Chunar Fort.

We left the Hotel at 9.10 n the morning. Varanasi to Allahabad as clocked by the Xylo was 143 km. Made our way through the Varanasi morning traffic and reached the Highway by 9.40. From then on once again the highway was as smooth as butter and the Xylo started gliding.

But had to halt as the Xylo needed to be filled up. FE a cool 12.5k/ltr with full ac and tonnes of load.

Reached this point on the entry point of Allahabad by 11.30 am.
(The below pix belongs to Akash and has been uploaded here with his due approval. I had not taken this snap but was important to showcase for the continuity of the story. Thanks Akash)

The sign and people around me were contradicting each other. While the sign board (and a similar one was there 1 km upfront also) clearly states to take the right exit out of the highway and take the overbridge to re cross the highway for Allahabad, a shopkeeper told me to go straight and take the bypass and take a left turn after almost 25 km on the bypass. I was in 2 minds but then decided to go by verbal advice.

For the first 10 km I was convinced that my decision was wrong. The road was of concrete and absolutely empty and not a single soul stood anywhere whom I could check with. To make matters worse NOT a single milestone showed any direction for Varanasi, but was showing Kanpur and Fatehpur only. Finally found a lone person out of nowhere and asked him. Was relieved when he said we are on the right track and there will come an exit to the left to enter Allahabad and straight away drive to the Sangam.

I still was slightly worried as to whether any indication for the exit will be found or I need to do any trial and error all such exits. But soon enough found a big board.

From here on it was almost 35 km to the Sangam through good city roads and by 12.15 in the afternoon the Xylo checked in at the Sangam in front of the imposing Allahabad fort which looked hugely appealing.

Vendors selling food items for birds and fish were all over the place. We bought a couple of cans to carry back the Holy waters of the Sangam.

The bargain was very hard again and we paid Rs 1200/- for a boat only upto the Sangam and back. We were given company by the migratory birds and my son also got very interested in them.

Some people were getting out of the boat and bathing on the shallow waters of the Sangam. We never brought any change with us so it was out of question for us to try any heroics. While the Yamuna was full to the brink, Ganga was dry. The boats are available on the Yamuna and they sail to the sangam.

We stayed put at the Sangam for about 5 minutes and filled the cans with the Holy water.

While returning the boat was taken a little adrift to check on the majestic Allahabad Fort which rose right from the banks of the Yamuna.

The Fort was built by Akbar. Some recent studies credit the builder to be Ashoka, but local people going by what their ancestors have passed on take it to be Emperor Akbar.

It is said that Lord Rama had performed the last rites of his father Dasharath here. The huge tree that can be seen rising from inside the fort is where he did the rights and a leaf from the tree is considered to be very sacred.

Beside the ancient marvel of architecture stood a modern beauty too. The Allahabad bridge built on the Yamuna has been built by the same builders who built the Vidyasagar Setu (2nd Howrah Bridge) of Kolkata and resembles it fully. Apologies for the picture quality, but even at noon the haze on the Yamuna was too strong.

Akash · Dec 16, 2012

Fantastic pics once again. I had to miss Sangam due to heavy water logging, however, your pics have given me a nice tour of the area. Waiting for more.

Chandranath · Dec 16, 2012

Akash said:

Thanks Akash,

Yes I did find Sangam missing from your Allahabad visit. For me Prayag Sangam was the biggest attraction of Allahabad, so I rushed back to Varanasi after visiting it and never took time out to check the city. I also wanted to explore the lanes of Varanasi for one more time as this was my last day of the tour.

Akash · Dec 17, 2012

Chandranath said:

I had been to Allahabad just to visit Sangam, however due to rains i had to content myself with visit to some Museums and parks [;)]

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Kolkata - Bodh Gaya - Varanasi - Allahabad: The Xylo on a Spiritual Spin

Chandranath

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smooth rider

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anisghos

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anisghos

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Chandranath

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Chandranath

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Chandranath

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rahul4640

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Chandranath

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Akash

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anisghos

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Chandranath

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Akash

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Chandranath

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Akash

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