Kashi Day 2 Evening

4 April 2026

*Day 2 * Kashi Evening A fun adventure 😃

On this day as per itinerary there was a lecture scheduled but I didn’t want to waste my time holed up in an auditorium. I stepped out of the hotel and took an auto instead. 

I requested the auto driver to take me around Varanasi. 

First to the Tulsi Manas mandir. It was the whole reason I had come to Varanasi. After my Baba’s passing away my mentor had guided me to start reading RamCharitManas. I have been doing parayan for last 4 years. It had created a longing in me to visit the birthplace of RamCharitManas. 

It is in this mandir that the original manuscript of Tulsi RamCharitManas is preserved. Tulsidas the saint from 1500s wrote it in this very place. In his honor this mandir is built. It’s a huge marble building inaugurated in 1964. On the ground floor resides Shree Ram Laxman Sita in the center. On the left is Devi Annapoorna and on the right SatyaNarayan.

On the first floor is a statue of Goswami Tulsidas in the central location. There is a gallery of various print copies of RamCharitManas. On this floor along the walls is a museum with animated dioramas showing scenes from the Ramayan. It is delightful to watch these. Some are moving puppets. Zoom on the pictures to enjoy the scenes. 

I enjoyed visiting this Manas mandir for its cleanliness. The lovely puppetry and its importance as the place of creation of RamCharitManas!

Next on my wish list was the Darshan of my favourite Maruti Rai ❣️ at Sankatmochan Hanuman mandir which is on the same road but just a little ahead. 

It was a Saturday evening and as expected there was a huge crowd for Darshan of the abolisher of problems. I saw some mithai shops along the way. However in crowded mandirs carrying offerings puts you off-guard. So I decided I will buy Prasad after Darshan which I did.

 I asked the seller what is Sankatmochan’s favourite mithai? He said the Besan laddoo are the most favourite चढ़ावा ! So that is what I chose.

After this Darshan I told the autowalla to take me to a good Chaat shop. There are many famous ones but he said  Gopi chaat is convenient as the taste is decent and mainly it isn’t overcrowded. Also the best part is they have seating available. 

I asked the Owner cum server to recommend what is his best? Ofcourse it matched with Tamatar chaat on my wishlist of things to do and try in Banaras. If you want a review of it I may post it on my food blog AnnaParabrahma. Good idea ?

My second choice and on his recommendation was Dahi ke golgappe or what we call Dahi puri in Mumbai. These were way better! 

He obliged by being my photographer too. yay 🙌🏽 

That’s the whole proof of my adventures in Banaras ! 

Hummm it did not end there. I came back to the Hotel rested then went down for dinner.

There was Batti chokha, Dal khichadi with papad and moong dal ka halwa. I will not critique it because on getting bored with Punjabi dishes for 3 meals I had requested the restaurant manager बनारस का खाना खिला दो ! 

Tadah !