Kashi Varanasi

VARANASI – The Devotional Capital of the Universe, is in UP.

How to Reach : it is well connected by Railways & Airlines from all parts of India.

Trains – from Secunderabad – Secunderabad Patna Exps starts at Sec at 10AM and reaches Varanasi at 2.30 PM of the next day. From Vijayawada – Ganga kaveri Exps and for the people from Vizag it is convenient to go to Bhubaneswar and from there are a number of trains to Varanasi.

Where to Stay:

There are a lot of stay facilities near manasarovar & Kedarghat at Varanasi for the tourists from South expecially Andhras, particulars with Tel Nos are as below:

• Andhra Ashram – Near Manasarowar Ghat – Tel No.0542 2450418 (they talk in telugu over telephone)– Room Tarif ranging from free of cost dormitory, Rs.75 to Ac suits Rs.800/- per day. Lift facility and they provide very good Andhra pure Veg lunch & night tiffen (Palaharam) at free of cost for the persons stay there. I rank it No I for the andhra devoties.

• Kumara Swamy mutt – Near Kedar Ghat – Tel No. 0542 2454064 (talk both Telugu & Tamil over telephone)– most of the Tamilians stay here, the tarif as in par with andra Ashram. They too provide food.

• Sringeri Matt – 0542 2452768,

• Kasi Vaisya Satram – 0542 2452947

• Andhra Khatria Sang – 0542 2277477

• Kasi arya Vysya Vasavi Nitya annadana satram – 0542 2451534 – it is in Ramapura, Luxa Road.

• Some Private Lodges – Himalaya Lodge near Raja Ghat – 09369290095; Kasi annapurna satram – 09839050325; Sri Raghavendra Guest House – 08576030304 (R. Veerabadra Rao)

All the above except the one which is in Luxa Road are situated very near to Andhra Ashram are near to Kedar ghat/ Manasrovar ghat.

It is about 8 KM from Varansi Jn. Rly Stn, and any auto fellow can take there if you tell “Andhra Ashram near Keder Ghat” by charging around Rs.100/-

Near to this Andhra Ashram – Karivena Brahmana Anna dana Satram – they provide excellent veg lunch & dinner to all the Brahmin devotees (exclusively to Brahmin devotees) for 9 days on free of charge.

Near to this there are a lot of Tiffin centers where we can get Andhra Tiffin like idli, vada, dosa, Pulihora, Perugannam ect. at reasonable rates…….tea & coffee round the clock.

The Gang Ghats – Kedear Ghat, Manasrovar, Raja ghat, Narada Ghat & other Gharts are 2 minutes walk distance from the above stay places to take a holy dip in the River Ganges. Totally more than 64 Ghats.

Lord Viswanadha Temple is 20 minutes walk distance from the said stay places…..nearly 1.5 km away. One can reach the temple from there only by walk as one should walk though small lanes as no autos can go through the lanes…….

What to see in Kasi – The most important – there are more than 400 temples in Varanasi all are equally important as per their own importance.

Viswanath Temple, & Annapurna Devi Temple – darsan available from 3 am to night 11 pm.

Visalakshmi Temple (less than 1 km from the main temple. One of the Ashtadasa Shakthi peethas.

Shanidev mandir – near the main temple entrance.

Kalbhairav Temple – 2 km away from main temple;

near Kedear Ghat, Kedeareswar Mandir

Bindu madhav temple – near Pancha Ganga Ghat {it is one of the Panch Madv Temples in India – Bindu madhav(Varanasi), Veni madhav (Allahabad), Setu Madhav (Rameswaram, TN), Kunti Madhav (Pittapuram EG. Dist in AP) Sundera Madhav (Anantha Padmanabha Swamy in Kerala}…….dont miss it.

Other imp places are Tulasidas mandir, Saranath (Buddhist temples) Tilabhandeswar temple, Varaasi maa mandir (darshan between 4.30 am to 5.30 am only…..early morning only…no day time darsan) near Dasaswamedh ghat, Gavvalamma Temple, BHU, Durga Khund………..there are a lot of important places…..to visit all the places in Vranasi, one should stay there for more than a year.

One should not miss the Ganga Arathi at 6.15 pm to 7 pm in the evening at Dasaswamedh Ghat………..dont miss.

The Telugu Purohits in Varanasi – Sri Rajavarapu Viswanadha Sastry – 0542 2454218; Sri TLK Joshi – 0542 2455616/2455188