It was my last day in Varanasi. I had a packed day staring at me, a half day ceremony of my cousin and three different places to visit -The Benaras Hindu University (BHU), Ram Nagar fort and Sarnaath.
I was bit by the traveling bug and my cousin’s ceremony couldn’t contain me. Soon I sneaked out of the confines and found myself boarding the next bus to BHU. I love traveling in the local transport as it gives me a local feel of a particular place, it’s culture and the mindset of its people.
BHU
Armed with my information from the internet, I was at one of the oldest universities, which was established in 1916.
I took a walk inside the campus, which was loaded with yellow and red buildings, surrounded with trees. Soon, I started to crawl. The campus is spread in a humongous 1300 acres. You need a vehicle to be moved around. Phew!
This university has two campuses, 3 institutes, 16 faculties, 140 departments, 4 advanced centers and 4 interdisciplinary schools. Whoa! On that intellectual note I saw myself scouting for the main gate to do what I do best…TRAVEL! 😉
Reaching Ram Nagar Fort
I boarded the shared auto rickshaw for Ram Nagar fort from an auto rickshaw stand which was just next to BHU.
Advisory: The downside of the shared auto rickshaw is that one has to wait till it’s loaded with people. However, once you are on, it’s fun to hear the local dialect.
I sat behind the driver, facing my back towards him and vroom we went bumping into each other. After narrow twist and turns we came to the river bank. In front of us was lying a pantoon bridge. Probably, one of the longest that I had ever seen.
The view of the river bank was worth it. However, I missed the view straight ahead. I couldn’t see the fort’s facade which was just next to the river bank.
Advisory: Be prepared for the DUST!
The moment the auto rickshaw reached the end of the bridge and took over the land, a dust cloud engulfed me. Before I knew it, my visibility dropped to zero because my eyes were shut. LOL! ;))
Ram Nagar Fort
After covering a distance of almost 10 km from BHU, finally I reached the fort. Hmmm…by the first look, this was my expression. The main entrance gate stands tall, guarded by the two canons. I went inside the fort. It was once the residence of the king, which is now converted into a museum.
I came across old swords, guns, tattered costumes, furniture, massive gold and silver palanquins, jewellery and antique clocks. I loved the vintage cars the most but sadly all were lying in a heap of dust and photography was prohibited. Alas! That was the only thing worth clicking.
I have seen many forts but this one was not kept well. It had a different architecture though. A mix of British castle styled walls with typical jharokas. It was a pleasant sight but nothing wow about it.
On entering the gigantic door…suddenly the green geometry over powers your senses.
Honestly I was a bit dejected. It has a nice view from the balconies facing the river bank…but…not worth a crazy ride. I heard one of the guides talking about the temples inside the fort but I guess I let it pass due to my expectations weren’t met.
Disinterested, I didn’t explore the fort much as I had to visit Sarnaath.
So I quickly moved out and patiently waited for an auto rickshaw to take me back to BHU. One of the locals asked me to try a lassi from the adjoining market. It was supposedly very famous but again with all that dust around I gave it a miss.
This time around I sat facing the main road. Armed with my camera we rolled over the dust and back to the pontoon bridge. What I saw simply caught me off guard. It was the traffic. The way people were driving was insane.
It was like playing a video game. The traffic from the opposite direction really comes close before both sides of the traffic snaps away in a fraction of a second.
I reached BHU and took another auto rickshaw for Sarnaath.
My fellow cousins asked about the fort to which I said…despite not meeting my expectations there was something different about the fort. It was an unusual journey to the fort, that bridge, dust, architecture, artifacts, vintage beauties, the view of the river ganges. It was then I realized that if I had not viewed that fort from my expectations I could have seen a whole lot of things that I simply missed because I was dejected.
Aah! My expectations killed the explorer in me. However, I did return a wiser man. :p
In my next blog I will be exploring the Buddhist in Ashoka the Great! – Sarnaath