10 km away from Varanasi lies Sarnath, the place where Buddha gave his first sermon.  At Sarnath, he also started his first Buddhist Sangha, the order of monks, that would go on to preach his message. 

Kings also left their mark on Sarnath. The site has many memorials which were built by the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka when he embraced Buddhism. 

These include the Dhamek Stupa erected at the spot where Buddha gave his first sermon of Dharma. 

The most famous structure here is the Lion Capital of Ashoka which Hiuen Tsang described as “smooth as jade and shining as mirror”. This capital is now housed in the Sarnath Museum.

The Great Mosque, also called the Alamgir Masjid was built by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It is located above the steep steps rising from the Panchganga Ghat. 

One gets a majestic view of the city of Varanasi from the top of its minarets which dominate the city. Back in the day, two even taller and more slender minarets stood alongside the three domes of the mosque.

Popularly known as the Golden Temple of Varanasi, the Kashi Vishwanath temple is one of the twelve jyotirlinga temples of Hinduism. The temple gets its name (Golden Temple) from the gold plating on its dome and shikharas. It is said that a single darshan of this Jyotirlinga is considered more auspicious than the darshan of the remaining eleven. 

It is dedicated to Lord Vishwanath, one of the incarnations of Lord Shiva and the patron deity of Varanasi. 

The present structure was built in 1780 by Rani Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore. The 800 kg gold plating on the dome and tower was supplied by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore. 

There is a small well in the temple, called the Gyanvapi or the wisdom well. Drinking its water is supposed to give spiritual merit

On the border of the Manikarnika Ghat is an interesting structure, India’s very own leaning temple. Also known as the Kashi Karvat, karvat indicating tilt, the Ratneshwar Mahadev temple leans as much as 9 degrees. 

Legend says that the temple was built by a servant of Raja Man Singh for his mother, Ratna Bai. However, when the man boasted that by building the temple, he had paid the debt to his mother, the temple started tilting. This gave the message that the debt to one’s mother can never be paid.

Other stories say that Queen Baija Bai of Gwalior began erecting a mansion and a ghat at this place. However, the heavy weight of the stone-work caused the foundations to sink and the whole structure toppled over. 

Interestingly, portions of the temple are also submerged in the river. The sanctorum of the structure stays submerged for most part of the year. During the months of the rain, the water levels rise upto the top of the temple

The Man Mandir Palace was erected by Raja Man Singh of Amber in around 1600 AD next to the Dashashwamedh Ghat.

An observatory was built at this site in 1693 by the great astronomer, Raja Jai Singh, a descendant of Man Singh. He was employed by the Mughal emperor, Muhammad Shah to correct the erroneous calendar. Some popular instruments in the observatory consist of the Samrat Yantra,  the Chakra Yantra and the Digansha Yantra.

The Durga Temple dedicated to Goddess Durga was constructed in the 18th century by Rani Bhabani of Natore, an ardent devotee of the Goddess. It is decorated with multiple shikharas and painted in red ochre. 

The temple has a kund (pond) which was earlier connected to the holy Ganga. Pilgrims would use it for bathing to attain blessings. 

According to a popular legend, the idol of Durga appeared in the temple on its own. 

Today, the Durga temple is a prime spot for the Navratri festival. However, one must be careful while visiting as there are many monkeys in the temple premises

This is the place where the Assi River empties itself into the Ganga. It is the end point of Varanasi. No more ghats or banks or temples are located beyond this point. 

Assi ghat is one of the ‘Panchtirath,’

or the five especially sacred spots in the holy river Ganga. These five spots must be visited and bathed in, on the same day, to secure merit. Visited in a particular order, the panchtirth includes:—1. Assi, 2. Dashashwamedh, 3. Barna-sangam, then back to 4. Panchganga, and 5. Manikarnika.

It is particularly frequented by pilgrims on the solar and lunar eclipse, the Makar Sankranti festival and the Probodhoni Ekadashi. 

A replica of the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, the Nepalese temple was built by the King of Nepal, Rana Bahadur Shah when he was exiled to Varanasi in the 19th century. After he died, his son completed the construction of the temple. Till date, the temple is maintained by the government of Nepal.

The structure of the temple is unique. As opposed to all the other Shiva temples in Varanasi, which are carved from stone, the Nepalese temple is made entirely of wood. The wood was brought from Nepal itself. The structure consists of a two-storey roof, a gilded top as well as beautiful wooden statues. 

Located opposite the Tulsi Ghat, this sandstone structure was built in the Mughal style of architecture by Kashi Naresh Raja Balwant Singh in 1750. The current Maharaja of Banaras continues to live in this palace. 

The palace consists of two courts for its audiences, a main hall that was once decked with crystal chandeliers, a room covered with paintings from Kalidasa’s Shakuntala, a temple dedicated to Vedvyas, and the Maharaja’s garden. Oil paintings of the various Rajas of Banares are placed on the walls in the reception room. There is a carved balcony with a marble throne from which one gets a majestic view of the city.

The museum in the palace has objects such as vintage American cars, jewelled sedan chairs, ivory works, religious manuscripts, weapons and an astrological clock.

The Manikarnika Ghat is decked with two temples, one in the north and one in the south, each built by Rani Ahilyabai Holkar  of Indore. The Manikarnika Kund nearby is also used as a bathing spot by pilgrims. It has images of gods and goddesses placed in the niches of its stairs. 

The Charan Paduka, a marble slab set into the ground and carved with the figures of two footprints on which mystic signs are engraved, is another prime spot for worship.  

Today the Manikarnika Ghat is used for cremation of dead bodies. One can also find a few sati stones here which commemorate the wives who committed sati at this ghat.