Some photos from our visits to Ram Nagar - the palace of the Maharaja (King) of Kashi (Varanasi) and the site of a fort... and most importantly to locals, the site of the most famous and delicious sweet lassis (a thin yogurt treat). Inside the palace is a museum, mainly filled with the vehicles of Maharajas past - vehicles means carriages that would have been horse-drawn, automobiles (including old Fords and others from Detroit, Michigan), and palanquins (I was never sure what these were, in my readings of Indian stories, but now I know - they are human-carried carriages. Some of the palanquins were silver, gold, and ruby studded. Inside the museum were old articles of clothing, cooking ware, chandaliers, childrens toys, all kept in terrible, dusty, moth-eaten condition. They are old, and they look it. There were also weapons from many generations - from ivory encrusted swords to rifles. And some very scary looking weapons indeed - swords and knives that look like they kill on the way out rather than on the way in! It turns out the current Maharaj actually still lives here, above the areas we are allowed to puruse. The palace was full of school children while we were there... staring at us unabashadly and grinning back only when we smiled first.Also, photos from Sarnath - a village that is 6km away from Varanasi (but an hour drive by car or auto-rickshaw because of traffic). This is the site where the Buddha came after his Self-realization to give the first teachings. There are relics of the Buddha here, as well as a large excavation site that has revealed what was most likely a very large monastary from the time of the Buddha. Also a
museum, as well as temples installed by Buddhist organizations from Tibet, Thailand, China, and Japan.
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