The feeling of separation
Varanasi has a captivating aura to it. In two days, we had got so much attached to the place that a weird feeling of separation engulfed us on our final day. We had till evening to do some final exploration before boarding the trains to our respective hometowns. Until the last day, the only delicacy that we could savor was the famous lassi of Varanasi at the Blue Lassi shop on Day 1. Few others remained, and we definitely had to try out the famous ‘Kachori and Sabji along with Jalebi’ for breakfast. With this in mind we got ourselves two plates of Kachori and 100gms of Jalebi, a sweetmeat, from a popular local shop nearby that cost us INR 50 in total. It tasted fantastic and would highly recommend visitors to give it a try. We are sure you will like it.
Ramnagar Fort
The fort is located in the Ramnagar area of Varanasi, which happens to be on the other side of Ganges. We took a shared rickshaw from Tulsi Ghat that dropped us at Lanka BHU Gate. Cost was INR 10 per person. From there, we hopped on again on a shared rickshaw that took us across the river over a narrow bridge and into Ramnagar for INR 15 per person. Overall, the sharing arrangement saved us 50% over a full rickshaw booking.
Ramnagar boasts of two things. First, the iconic Ramnagar Fort of the Maharaja of Benaras is located there and the second one but closer in history, the house of a popular prime minister of India, Late Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri is also there. We visited the fort and the museum in it.
The rickshaw had dropped us bang opposite to the entrance of the fort. We clicked a few pictures from the outside and then moved inside. The main gate opens up into a big courtyard with old buildings on all four sides.
Few buildings at a glance looked exquisite. Apart from the two old cannons placed along a wall, and the general beauty of the place, there is nothing worth loitering about so we headed towards the museum.
Ramnagar Fort Museum
Tickets and rules
The tickets cost us INR 75 per person for entry. Note that photography is prohibited inside the museum.
What to expect inside the Museum?
Stepping into the museum, the first section was a collection of old vintage cars and buggies. Of special interest was the vintage eight cylinder car and a cadillac on display.
The next section brought different varieties of ‘houdas’ (elephant harnesses) before us. Some were specially made for hunting expeditions while others were built to be used during rains, war or reserved for special ceremonies. Of them, some were heavily decorated with ivory and had beautiful carvings. Others were studded with jewelry. Ornaments crafted for elephants were on display and were amusing.
In the next section apparels and tapestry used in old times was on display. After that came the weaponry section with a wide range of arms on display, from daggers to cannons and everything in between. One of the Maharajas of Banaras possessed the unique skill of shooting tossed coins mid-air. These coins with bullet holes are on display at the museum and are quite interesting.
After a close inspection of these ancient relics and antiques, we came out into another open courtyard.
Ganga ghat
The palace portion of the fort was off limits to the public and guarded so we went towards “Ganga Ghat”. A tunnel leads from the courtyard towards the ghat and opens into the riverfront.
The River flows edge to edge here with no sand banks like on the opposite side of the main ghats at Varanasi. Though the ghat is cordoned off for the public, we could get a glimpse of it from high above. There were two temples, one dedicated to Shiva.
The view of Ganges and the city of Varanasi along with its ghats is one of the best one could hope for. We will let the pictures do the talking.
The ticket for the museum will provide you access to virtually all of Ramnagar Fort.
Farewell from the Holy City
The fort was the last place on our list and we had successfully covered everything on our agenda in the short visit to Varanasi. It was time for a relaxed farewell lunch that we had at Sagar Ratna Restaurant in Lanka.
The rest of the day was spent at the comfort of the guest house and packing for the return journey.
Hope you enjoyed reading the blog. Om Namah Shivaya 🕉️
