Vrindavan - Varanasi Yatra (Concluding Day)

The last day of our yatra started like any other day. It was Dwadashi day and breaking the fast (Paranai) is as important as the fasting itself. After morning ablutions and prayers, I stepped out while Lalitha & Skanda were still to get ready. I automatically started walking towards the Vishweshwar temple. On the way, I had a quick breakfast at a road side stall - it comprised of fresh idlis with chutney. Idlis were priced at Rs. 10 each and I had three.

Dundi Ganapathi

I first had the darshan of Dundi Ganapathi, followed by Annapoorna Mata and then went inside the VIshweshwar temple. It was about 8 a.m. and there were very few devotees present in the temple at that time. There were hardly 5-6 devotees in the queue - separate queues at each of the four doorways. I had a nice darshan and then rushed out to a nearby shop to buy some pooja articles - milk mixed with water, a garland, Bilwa leaves, vibhooti and some sweets. I went back to the temple and made my offerings to the Lord. They had installed a bronze container into which one can pour the milk etc. and it flows directly on the Lingam. We can also throw the garland / Bilwa leaves on the Lord from the doorway or give it to the priest to place it on the Lingam. I had 5-6 darshans to my hearts content and returned to my hotel.

As Lalitha & Skanda were ready by then, I told them about the easy darshan and they also wanted to avail it. So, we went back to the temple. The crowd had increased by now but still we got our darshan after a short wait of about 5 minutes. After multiple darshans, we went around the temple and saw all the new deities installed - Badrinarayan, Satyanarayan & Mahalakshmi, Ma Annapoorna, Ma Ganga and Hanuman ji. We also had darshan of the pracheen (ancient Nandi) which is facing the mosque where the original Jyotirlingam was situated. We then visited the Mata Annapoorna and the Vishalakshi temples. 

 Vishweshwar Temple, Kashi

After this, we returned back to the hotel and checked out of the room before leaving for our brunch at around 11.30 a.m. at a restaurant called Keshari. The food was very good and the service quite fast. After this, we came back to the hotel where we had booked a car to take us to the airport. Luckily, tas he car was available at the hotel entrance we did not have to use the cycle rickshaw to get to it. The ride to the airport and the subsequent flight back to Mumbai were uneventful. We reached home by 8 p.m. and were happy to have successfully completed a short but fruitful yatra. 

Kashi is a place where one needs to plan for a 4-5 days stay to be able to cover all the main temples leisurely. Also, there is so much to see in the nearby areas that one should plan for another 4-5 days for that. We hope we could do all this in our next yatra. If anyone needs any clarification about Kashi yatra, feel free to reach out and I will try to assist / connect you with people who can assist you.

Thanks for reading this blog !