Varanasi: Where Eternity Meets the Ganges

🏙️ Kolkata Prelude India's third-largest city (after Delhi/Mumbai) surprises with:British-era textiles legacy 🏭 (now hipster galleries in old mills)Tagore & Mother Teresa's hometown - visit their museums!Un-Indian cleanliness (tree-lined avenues vs typical chaos) 🌅 Dasaswamedh Ghat: Dawn of Souls 5AM ritual: Hindus bathe in ice-cold Ganges to break rebirth cycles ❄️Boat tip: Pay ₹500-800 for sunrise rides (watch bodies cremated openly) 7PM Ganga Aarti:14 Brahmin boys choreograph fire lamps 🪔 to Vedic chants Aftermath: Floating milk pots & marigold candles 🛕 Vishwanath Temple (Golden) 📌Secret: 3,500-year-old shrine with hidden tunnels to other ghats✨Forbidden: Non-Hindus see only its gold spire (800kg bullion!) 🦌 Sarnath: Buddhism's First Sermon 40min from Varanasi: Where Buddha taught the Dharma Chakra Sacred quartet: Completes the circuit with:1️⃣ Bodh Gaya (enlightenment)2️⃣ Kushinagar (death)3️⃣ Lumbini (birth) #Varanasi#Sarnath#Vishwanath Temple#India#travel guide#India guide#Sarnath Museum