A 200-year-old castle on one of the ghats of Varanasi is now a luxury hotel. The Brij Rama Palace Hotel began its journey as a fort in 1812 built by a Maratha minister. The hotel now features an amalgamation of various architectural styles: lined pillars, semicircular bastions and floral motifs from the Maratha style, Greco-Roman statuettes and carvings of Ganges river dolphins from the times of the Maharaja of Darbhanga (in modern-day Bihar), who acquired the structure in 1915. 18 years were spent by the current owners, 1589 Hotels, restoring the property to its original splendour. The Palace hotel has 32 rooms and suites, with the best view provided by the 300sqft Varuna Burj Room: a 180° panorama of the Ganga’s crescent route. Since you’re at the ghats of the sacred Ganga, it’s obvious you’d be served an exclusively vegetarian menu and no alcohol either. But that shouldn’t deter you as the hotel’s menu serves up an array of vegetarian treats at the multicuisine Darbhanga restaurant. From trips to the Aarti at ghats to a copy of Bhagvad Gita at departure and everything else in between, you get to savour Varanasi in all its sacred glory.
