After Dark at Lanka Gate: How BHU's Doorstep Became Varanasi's Liveliest Street Food Belt
Most first-time visitors to Varanasi head straight for the ghats. Locals, and anyone who has spent a term at Banaras Hindu University, will tell you there is a second Banaras that only switches on after sunset, and it begins at Lanka Gate. The great stone gateway at the university's main entrance is the landmark, but the real draw is the stretch of road running away from it. From about seven in the evening, handcarts and small shopfronts light up along both sides: tamatar chaat bubbling in heavy iron kadhais, chooda matar steaming under a cloth, jalebi coiled straight into hot syrup, kachori-sabzi served on leaf plates, and lassi thick enough to need a spoon. Pao bhaji, momos and chowmein have joined the lineup over the past decade, a quiet record of how student taste has widened the city's menu. What makes Lanka distinct from other Banarasi food pockets is its crowd. Research scholars, hostel students from across India, auto drivers finishing a shift and families out for an evening walk stand at the same counters. Prices stay student-friendly by necessity, and portions are generous. Many stalls here are run by families now in their second or third generation, and regulars are known by face rather than order. If you are planning a visit, go on foot, carry small change, and start light at one cart before committing to the next. Between eight and ten in the evening is the sweet spot. Round it off the way Banaras always does, with a paan from one of the corner shops near the gate. Lanka is not a tourist attraction. That is precisely why it is worth an evening.
Compiled by HelloBanaras from public sources:
