My first Solo Trip to VARANASI !

By morning I reached Manduadhi Railway station and I  headed to Hog Hostel ( Home of Gypsy). My Google Maps lost its way through the narrow lanes of Varanasi which were painted with Red stain of Paan.  An uncle came to my  rescue and I offered him to buy paan which he denied .I have always preferred staying in Hostels than Hotels because first the bunk beds are affordable ( I paid 199 per night including breakfast ) and Unlike hotel's private space , hostels offers you a Common Space to  connect with travellers around the Globe.
I set off on my first tour of the day towards the Ghats . I preferred walking wherever possible as a beginner , new in town , it offers a better vision of the place. 

Adjacent to Dashwametghat there is an observatory by the name Man Singh Mandir  , this fort perfectly gave me a glimpse of Varanasi with it's art galleries , movie  screening about orgin of river Ganga, and an  observatory on the terrace from the times of Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur. From the terrace , we  can have look at the  majestic view of River Ganga. It started raining abruptly and I sheltered myself for an hour in the fort and made some local girlfriends who were very sweet and they invite me to join them for the rest of the evening and I said a " Big Yes " .

Post Rain,  we strolled on the ghat for a while and drank tea in the lovely weather.  My local friends hunted the right price Boat as my bargaining skill sucks and in places like Varanasi my Mongoloid feature acts as a prey for them . So we sail off in a huge boat of around 15 people , our boat bhaiya started narrating us stories about different Ghats , one that I liked was the story about King Harish Chandra who once worked at the  cremation ground for the perseverance of Truth and Charity.  It is one of the two cremation Ghats of Varanasi , the other being Manikarnika Ghat. I saw dead Bodies burning, they told me it keeps burning for 24/7 as Hindus Performs the last rites here to seek Salvation " Moksha". I got goosebumps as we passed by  the Manikarnika Ghat.  By the fall of the evening , the city looks beautiful and we were in the boat ready for Ganga Aarti to begin.  Ganga Aarti brings together lot of visitors around the globe , Hindus offers prayer by sending lighted lamp in the river. I also noticed a huge ship behind our boat with some foriegners on the deck.  By the time Ganga Aarti finished it was 8:30 pm , even after a late dinner the streets were storming with people returning back to thier homes.  It was a like broad daylight at 9:30 pm and for a solo female traveler I completely felt safe and secure in UP. 
The night was followed by some good music on the hostel's terrace with some amazing backpackers around the globe.  Listening to their Travel stories, I felt how tiny is me and my problems are and the world stretch beyond infinity.

Varanasi is home for Asia's largest Residential University , with around 30,000 students residing in Banaras Hindu University . I went there to attend a  counseling session which last upto lunch time and afterwards me and Loaraine ( new French friend from hostel ) , we explored the campus which was really huge.  They have a huge museum (Bharat Kala Bhavan) , which is one of the top tourist attraction in Varanasi  and a temple ( Shri Vishwanath Temple )  in the campus which is dedicated to Lord Shiva.   We were in the museum for almost 2 hours as I was guiding  Loaraine through the history, Culture and Tradition of India. After the museum we headed off to Vishwanath Temple , I being a Buddhist and Loraine being an atheist , we were left Amazed by the two storey temple . The  architecture was magnificent filled with devotees. We covered our head with scarfs and I knew the story behind Nandi Bull being the wagon/vahana of Lord Shiva , there is tradition of talking one's wish to Nandi's ears that is then beleived to be granted.
At night I took Loaraine to an Indian Restaurant and a funny incident happened.  So it was like a Dhaba kind of popular Restaurant with huge numbers of people coming in.  Three guys Sat opposite us and while we were eating silently they started speaking Broken English like I love you , girlfriend etc among themselves.  It was a very funny situation and Loaraine told me that they are talking about her and she was getting uneasy.  I spoke to the  waiter in fluent Hindi and the boys Expression dropped ! Isko toh Hindi aati Hy , then they apologized for their behaviour and we finished our dinner in peace .

                                                                                       My last day in Varanasi, I wanted to start the day early as I had to leave for Sarnath which is  10 km away at north east of Varanasi but then it started raining cats and dogs. As I cannot waste my day , I had to commute in the rain.  I changed two autos to reach Sarnath.  My first stop was a Tibetan Monastery and I was at peace in there.  There was no monk ( attendant) , so I had the whole place to myself. I prayed for a while , went through some pages of  a prayer book , later I practiced Circumambulation around the stupas and the monastery. Circumambulation is the act of going around a object clockwise , be it Stupa or Monastery which houses holy relics of Buddha or  Sanga Masters. In Sarnath all the tourist attractions are close to each other , I checked in the tourist center and they guided me with the routes .

Sarnath is a must visit place for Buddhist as It is the home to " the deer Park " where Lord Buddha gave his first Sermon/ Dhamma to his first five disciple.  I went to the Deer Park which they have converted into a mini zoo . I spotted some deer , ducks and birds. Adjacent to Mulangandhi  kuti  monastery , there was the Bodhi tree under which Lord Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. In front of the Bodhi tree ,there  was a statue of Lord Buddha and his disciples.

Archeological Survey of India ( ASI ) have maintained the archeological excavation of colossal ruins and huge numbers of carved pillars dating back to Ashokan dynasty.  Dhamek stupa is also located in the same compound which mark the spot where the sermon took place.

Archeological musuem of Sarnath houses our National Emblem , the Ashokan Pillar from 3rd Century with it's four headed lion. The national emblem of India , showing the horse on the left and bull at the right of Ashokan Chakra in circular base on which the four_headed lion is standing . Also this museum is home to more than 6000 excavated sculptures and Artefacts.  Sadly no electronics were  allowed inside. 

Thai temple with it's impressive architecture was very attractive. Statues of lord Buddha was seated inside and outside which was 80 mt standing Buddha.

Sarnath being one of the important must visit sacred place for Buddhists around the globe , it is home to many diverse temples like Tibetan , Thai, Chinese , Japanese and Jain.
Inside the Japanese temple , lord Buddha statue was in reclining position indicating Mahaparinirvana.