Sumeru Devi Temple

Rising like a stone mountain on the quieter eastern bank of the Ganga, the Sumeru Devi Temple is one of Varanasi's most extraordinary yet least-visited monuments.

• Set at the western edge of Ramnagar and attached to the leafy Rama Bagh, roughly 2.5 kilometres from the famous Ramnagar Fort, the temple takes its name from Mount Sumeru, the mythic golden peak at the centre of the Hindu cosmos.
• Its towering shikhara climbs about thirty metres, including the raised platform on which it stands, and every one of its four faces is crowded with elaborately carved figures from the base up to a height of more than ten metres.
• Arranged in tidy rows of celestial beings, deities, sages, elephants and lions, the sculptures make the whole tower read like a stone tapestry of Hindu myth.
• A nineteenth-century observer marvelled that no expense had been spared, calling it a fair example of what Hindu genius could accomplish in the art of sculpture.
• The temple's story is bound up with the royal house of Kashi.
• Construction was begun by Maharaja Balwant Singh and completed by his son, Raja Chet Singh, around 1770; Chet Singh later added the large square tank, or pushkarni, beside it in about 1780, ringed by stone steps and small corner shrines.
• Inside the sanctum sits a marble image of Durga as Sumera Devi, plated in gold, with a five-headed form of Shiva to her right and a niche holding Krishna and Radha nearby.
• A separate small shrine to the east honours Chhinnamasta, a fierce Tantric goddess, while carved vehicles of the gods, Nandi the bull, Garuda and Durga's lion, guard the entrances.
• Because it sits away from the crowded ghats, Sumeru Devi rewards travellers who enjoy history and architecture over spectacle.
• Come during Navratri, twice a year in spring and autumn, when the shrine is dressed for celebration, or on a calm winter morning when the low sun rakes across the carvings and throws every figure into sharp relief.
• Pair it easily with Ramnagar Fort, its royal museum, and the Ved Vyas Temple to make a rewarding half-day on the far bank, well away from the tourist churn of Godowlia and Dashashwamedh.
• For vegetarian travellers, this corner of Varanasi is comfortable but sparse on standout kitchens, so it helps to plan.
• Ramnagar itself offers simple roadside stalls serving kachori-sabzi, samosas, jalebi and chai, but for a dependable pure-vegetarian sit-down meal it is best to head back across the Ramnagar bridge toward the city.
• Ksheer Sagar in Sonarpura is the closest reliable choice for thalis and sweets, while Keshari Restaurant near Godowlia and Rajbandhu in Kachori Gali are beloved century-old pure-veg institutions.
• One important caution unique to Varanasi: many lassi and thandai shops quietly serve bhang (a cannabis preparation), so always ask specifically for a plain lassi or plain thandai before ordering, especially near tourist areas.