Day 51 and 52 – Allahabad

Day 51 – Monday, 16th Dec 2013
Day 52 – Tuesday, 17th Dec 2013

It’s 8:30 am Monday morning, our train has just pulled into Manikpur station. The train is running 2 hours late and our expected time of arrival in Allahabad is 10:30 am. Khyati and I eat some dry snacks and sweets.
We have some time at hand so both of us work on sorting our pictures. So far, we have taken over 5000 pictures and we need to go through the incredible lot and delete some unnecessary ones. It’s 10:15 am, the train is about to pull into Allahabad, our eyes haven’t wavered much from sorting our pictures and we are down to dealing with 3000 pictures now. Yea! good work…

Train route to Allahabad

My cousin put it aptly, we had arrived in Amitabh Bachchan land and the place of the confluence of India’s three most beloved rivers – Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati.

Allahabad Jn

We take an auto rickshaw from the station to our Jain Dharamshala in Bai ka Bagh area. It was few kms from the station but the ride was very dusty. Khyati and I cover our noses with handkerchiefs to save us from possible allergies.

It’s 12 pm, we have checked into our room and we grab some lunch at a local restaurant.

Jain temple, Allahabad

Sharing rickshaws are common in Allahabad and at every nook and corner, you can find rickshaw drivers calling out for destinations. You hop into the rickshaw you want and they charge a nominal 10 or 15 Rs. Our first stop for the day is Allahabad fort. We were not aware but visitors are allowed in only a limited section of the fort. Most of the fort is occupied by the Indian army and you need permit from army folks to enter the main area. It’s usually hard to obtain so don’t go through the hassle would be my opinion.

We visit the Hanuman temple near the fort. It’s 3:45 pm and we walk down towards the Ghat (a series of steps leading down to the river). There are several boats parked there and many offer a ride to Triveni Sangam (meeting place of the three rivers). In Hindu mythology, these three rivers are goddesses and people consider themselves lucky to have a holy dip at the confluence point. We take a shared boat ride from the Yamuna river. There are 4 other people with us. The boat charges a nominal 60 Rs per person. Private boats are available but they go in the range of 400 – 600 Rs (depends on your bargaining abilities).

Boat ride

It’s a sad state but locals and tourists hardly respect and maintain the sanctity of any place. We observed people spitting Paan, washing clothes, bathing cattle, having a bath to taking a holy dip all at the confluence point. This is the confluence point of three rivers, people say – they can see the different water color from the Ganga and Yamuna. We could not tell the difference.

Triveni Sangam

As we set out on the return journey, we could see the absolutely gorgeous sunset.

beautiful sunset

On our way back, we head to a Gujarati restaurant and have some sumptuous dinner. Enroute, we visit the Iskcon temple.

We call it a night around 10:30 pm.

It’s Tuesday morning 9 am, we are having some breakfast and Khyati googles for some destinations to visit for the day. If you check out the map of Allahabad, there is an area known as Civil Lines. the roads are well laid out and looks like a modern town to us. Our Dharamshala was in the old part of the town where zigzag roads were aplenty. We decide to check out this new part of the town.

Close up of Allahabad and Civil Lines area

Civil Lines area is worth a visit, Shopping malls, some fine restaurants, Allahabad High court and All Saints Cathedral are present here. We walk through the lanes and spend our morning here. It’s 1 pm and we are craving some lunch. Earlier on, our eyes had stumbled upon a restaurant – Dosa Plaza which claims to make over 140 types of Dosas and have trademarked over 35 types of Dosas. The food is good here.

Cone dosa topped with a cherry

It’s 2 pm and we head to Anand Bhavan. It was the residence of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and his family and was extensively used in India’s freedom struggle. This place has been converted into a nice museum. We enjoy our visit here.

Anand Bhavan

Next to Anand Bhavan is Swaraj Bhavan, the residence of India’s lady prime minister – Indira Gandhi. There is also a planetarium in the complex and we enjoy a show of the mysterious universe.

It’s 6:30 pm, we head back to our Dharamshala and relax for the evening.

Hope you enjoyed our Allahabad experience. Please let us know by leaving a comment.

Tomorrow, we head to Varanasi, the religious capital of India.

Best wishes,
Paras

21. December 2013 by Paras Mamania
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