We will be on a visit to Varanasi next month for about 14 days. I would like any inputs about Ayodhya, Naimisharanya and Chitrakoot. Has anyone been in Varanasi on Diwali day, and if so, is it possible to have darshan of Goddess Annapurna Devi on that day as I hear that there will be lots of crowds. Kindly let me know. Thank you in advance. I am taking the help of travel forums also for information. Regards, Kiran82
Hi Leelaji, I am in India-at Hyderabad. Thank you for the first reply. Have you been to Varanasi? Regards, Kiran82
Hi...During Diwali..Varanasi normally see huge rush...but yes..lots of police personnel are around Lord Vishwanath Temple...so one can have darshans of the Lord and Maa Annapurna... Regarding Ayodhya ji...Naimisharanya..and Chitrakoot...since that time is the holy Kaartika month...so it is very very auspicious ti visit these places....
Kiran82, you r visiting Varanasi nd other places at an auspicious time. Be prepared for a huge crowd at every place you go. There'll b heavy security. Don't carry valuables. Mobiles, cameras to b deposited before entering every temple. Lord Viswanath, MA Annapoorna, MA Visalakshi temples r nearby only. Beware of pickpockets. In Ayodhya, you can view only from a long distance. Fully under army control. Plan well & hav good dharshan.
Thank you rai and curve for your replies. We plan to be in Varanasi from 18th to 31st of October. I suppose the rush will be only on the Diwali day. Thank you for your kind wishes. Regards,
Hi friends, We are back home from our Varanasi trip. Both of us went along with two other couples, all retired and in 60s, except myself and another lady. We performed the necessary rituals at Allahabad, Varanasi and Gaya. We also visited Chitrakoot, Naimisharanya and Ayodhya. Everything went on as per our plan and we all are very happy. It is the longest trip we have ever undertaken-from Oct.14th to Nov.1st.We were very fortunate to have darshan of Ma Annapurna Devi on 29th and 30th inspite of very long queues. We stood for 6hours on the 29th. It takes so long as there are many unscrupulous persons who just cut the line in between and nobody to check this. Some pay extra to the pandas who take them in a special way. We have to put up with all this as our main aim is to have darshan. On 31st it was impossible to get a darshan. There was a special decoration with plenty of sweets. We were however fortunate to witness something similar in the Viswanathji mandir. The entire temple is filled and decorated with plenty of varieties of sweets. These sweets are all distributed the next day on producing a slip/receipt. We missed that event as our train was on 31st evening. On the whole a trip to cherish-daily bath in the Ganges and darshan of KasiViswanathji and Ma Annapurna. The flip side was the filthy lanes but we learnt not to mind them. Regards,
