Someone asked me this evening if I was done writing all that I wanted to write about Varanasi. No, I hadn’t. But then, most of the stuff I hadn’t written about were enormously touristy places.
But, a coupla hidden treasures need mention.
1/ Ustad’s house. An unassuming, old, a typically Banarasi building that was once Ustad Bismillah Khan’s house. The drawing room has those all familiar plaques on display - from Padma Shree signed by Rajendra Prasad to Bharat Ratna awarded during KR Narayan’s presidency. Unfortunately they don’t sell his music at the residence. But with all the pictures of the Ustad , the cartloads of accolades that hang from the wall and a shehnai on display, it isn’t very long before the music starts playing in your head.
2/ So, there is this place called Tateri Bazaar that is on no Lonely Planet. The shop owners busy themselves the entire day making these delicacies of rabdi, lassi and lal peda and throw the shop open by about 6PM. So an ideal thing to do for a soul-satisfying evening in Varanasi is to check out the ghat & arti scene, catch a mild dinner(optional), gulp some jal jeera to digest it and head to Tateri Bazaar by 9ish. Here is the ’soul-satifying’ bit. This knee-weakening sweet fair goes on well beyond midnight. Stay there as long as your digestive system allows you to..
9 responses so far ↓
1 Prashant // Nov 8, 2008 at 1:59 am
Noted and kept for future reference…
thanks a bunch !
2 Prashant // Nov 8, 2008 at 2:00 am
Points noted and kept for reference…
Thanks a Bunch !!!
3 sharanya // Nov 9, 2008 at 6:24 am
this is on my next visit list
4 Vi // Nov 9, 2008 at 8:44 am
Yet another place I want to visit :)
5 ravi // Nov 9, 2008 at 10:22 am
wow..thanks for the precious piece of info. i m going there :)
6 Munish // Nov 9, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Hi,
Nice pic of banarasi lassi.
http://www.varanasi-ganges.com
7 Nomadic Matt // Nov 16, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Thank you for commenting on my iceland post. Glad you enjoyed it. Hope to see you back again!
8 Ravi // Nov 18, 2008 at 3:57 pm
why do all religious places like varanasi and haridwar have rich gastronomic hubs?
9 Celine // Nov 20, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Mild dinner optional to enjoy knee-weakening local desserts..lol.
Reading your posts make me feel as if I’m listening to music in my head.;)
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