Varanasi

Varanasi, also known as Kashi and Banaras, is among the oldest living cities in the world and the spiritual heart of Hinduism. Its ghats step down to the Ganga in an unbroken crescent, and life here moves to the rhythm of the river: dawn prayers and holy dips, the steady work of the cremation ghats, and the blaze of lamps at the evening aarti. For devotees from Hyderabad it is often a once-in-a-lifetime journey, and it rewards those who come with patience and an open heart.

Our Varanasi trips pair Kashi with Ayodhya in one gentle, well-paced journey. In Varanasi you take darshan at the expanded Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham, sit for the Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat with boat seats arranged, and glide past more than eighty ghats on a sunrise boat ride. A half-day goes to Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon, with the Dhamek Stupa and the museum's Lion Capital. Then you drive to Ayodhya for darshan of Ram Lalla at the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir, visit Hanuman Garhi and Kanak Bhawan, and join the evening aarti on the banks of the Saryu.

The journey suits families, senior citizens and devotees travelling in groups, and we plan it with hotels close to the ghats, comfortable vehicles and enough rest between darshans. The lanes of the old city are narrow and crowded, so a local guide makes a real difference. Between temples there is time to taste Banarasi chaat and lassi, and to visit a weaving workshop where the famous silk saris are still made on handlooms.