Bharat Kala Bhavan
Founded in 1920 with Rabindranath Tagore as first chairman: Mughal and Pahari miniatures, Banarasi textiles, temple sculpture and the city's own maps and manuscripts.
Closed on weekends and university holidays.
2 hrs
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Varanasi
Kashi, Banaras, Varanasi — a river city of learning and cremation, rebuilt in stone by Maratha patrons in the eighteenth century after centuries of sacking.
Ganges
c. 1200 BC
Kashi
Settlement on the Ganges' west bank.
c. 528 BC
Sarnath sermon
The Buddha teaches nearby.
1194
Sacking
Ghurid armies raze the temples.
1780
Rebuilding
Ahilyabai Holkar raises the new Vishwanath temple.
Sarnath Museum
Built in 1910 to hold the finds from Sarnath's excavation, including the Ashokan lion capital of about 250 BC that is now India's national emblem.
Closed Fridays. Bags and phones are left at the cloakroom.
90 min
Saraswati Bhawan, Ramnagar Fort
The royal museum inside the 1750 fort of the Kashi Naresh: vintage cars, ivory palanquins, weapons and an 1852 astronomical clock.
Open daily from 10am, but check during Holi and Dussehra.
90 min