Experience Varanasi Tour: 1 day Private Guided Tour

05:30 am - 08:00 am Morning boat ride. Visit the river at sunrise, when its banks are alive with the multitude of worshipers who come to immerse themselves honoring life’s milestones as they face the rising run. This worship form is better known as “Surya Namaskar” which translates into paying homage to the sun god. And it is not through the formal acts of ritual, but through the most ordinary gestures of riverside and marketplace that the charged, heightened drama of life in Varanasi unfolds. Witness how people take a dip early in the morning to wash away their sins, perform the rituals and worship the rising Sun. Come back to the hotel for breakfast and rest.
08:00 am - 10:00 am Breakfast and rest.
10:00 am - 01:00 pm. Sarnath Tour
: After breakfast drive to Sarnath which is around 10 Km from Varanasi. Lord Buddha preached his First Sermon here after attaining Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya. The event in the Buddhist texts is known as the dharmachakra-pravarttana, ‘Turning the Wheel of Law’ At Sarnath, Lord Buddha also laid the foundation of Sangha or the order of monks.
Sarnath remained an active center of Buddhism up to the end of the twelfth century. Centers of learning arose and many sects and sub-sects flourished here, until the Moslems plundered and raised it to the ground.
The main attractions of Sarnath are:
*The main temple which has excellent Fresco work.
* The Archaeological and excavated ruins.
* The Archaeological Museum (remains closed on Friday).
01:00 - 03:30 pm Lunch break and rest.
03:30 - 05:00 pm Walking tour : The Bengali Tola walk through the narrow alleys of Varanasi is a rich cultural walk which takes you through the heart of the residential areas in the old city where the Bengali community have been living for generations. It gives you an opportunity to acclimatize with the culture and understand how people live here for thousands of year. The walk takes you through the narrow alley ways along little shops catering to the locals and the back packers. There are some Ashrams along the way where the monks & the pilgrims stay. We visit a temple, an old private residence (which also has a Kali temple where you get an opportunity to interact with the family living there) and an Ashram
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05:00 pm - 07:00 pm Evening boat ride: At dusk, we take a local boat on what is referred to as the `River of Heaven’ immersing in daily ritual, rich with the chanting of priests, sound of temple bells and fragrance of flowers and incense. We see brahmins along the banks invoking Lord Shiva, most powerful in the Hindu trinity, with a ceremonial ritual known as Aarti. Watch the cremations going on at Manikarnika ghat as well.
Tour ends.