Varanasi Nightlife Tips by illumina

Behind Manikarnika Ghat: Musical Performance

On the way to and from our hotel we regularly passed a tiny shop hidden in the alleys threading behind Manikarnika Ghat. We saw that it had a sign outside promising a concert in the evenings, so on our second evening in Varanasi we went along. It proved to be one of the best things we did. We were alone as the audience for a short time, while the proprietor waited for his musicians to turn up, but two other couples showed up a little later, followed by a group of Japanese tourists. We were entertained first by a young woman playing sitar, who was competent but perhaps not amazing, and she was followed by a man playing harmonium. He was GOOD, and he and the tabla player had clearly been working together for years as they displayed an almost telepathic understanding of what they were about to do. The tabla player chewed paan the whole time, his mouth filling and preventing him from speaking (since he couldn't spit where he was), so I suppose the telepathy was necessary! They encouraged each other in faster and faster rhythms, almost duelling, until it all came to a crescendo and they collapsed, exhausted.

A truly wonderful evening - and incredible value: they only asked for contributions. I bought a CD, and gave a little extra for the performance, which in total came to 170r (all I had on me or I would have given more).

I apologise for the picture quality, it's a still from a video I took on my phone!

Dress Code: No dress code, but bear in mind you'll have to sit cross-legged on the floor.

Theme: Live Music