A Company house that became a royal guest house
Our guides like to point out the irony. The Company that once fought the rajas of Banaras built this house, and the rajas ended up owning it and using it to entertain the British. Varanasi has a way of absorbing everyone who arrives, and Nadesar is a small proof of it.
The first house: Nadesar was built for officials of the East India Company, who had made Benares one of their key stations on the Ganga. Accounts give dates from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century.
- First built
- For East India Company officials
- Date
- Sources differ, late 18th to early 19th century
- Acquired by
- Maharaja Prabhu Narayan Singh of Benares
- Used as
- The royal guest house for visitors of state
- Restored by
- Taj, reopened in the 2000s
- The style: a bungalow-palace of the period, with verandas, high ceilings, tall windows and deep shade, designed to catch every breath of air in a hot city.
- The Maharaja's house: in the late nineteenth century it was acquired by Maharaja Prabhu Narayan Singh of Benares, whose family ruled from Ramnagar Fort across the river.
- A house for guests: the Maharajas used Nadesar to receive visitors of state, which spared them the long crossing of the river to Ramnagar.
- Back to life: in the 2000s Taj restored the house and reopened it as a small palace hotel, keeping its scale, its gardens and its sense of a private residence.
The Maharajas of Banaras and their visitors
Who they were: the house of Banaras rose in the eighteenth century and ruled from Ramnagar Fort on the eastern bank of the Ganga. The family remains deeply woven into the city's religious life.
The Ramlila link: the Maharajas have long been patrons of the Ramlila of Ramnagar, performed over about a month each autumn and recognised by UNESCO as intangible heritage.
- Royal guests: the Prince and Princess of Wales, later King George V and Queen Mary, are said to have stayed during their Indian tour of 1905 and 1906.
- Later visitors: accounts of the house list a long line of royal and political guests through the twentieth century. We tell their stories on the lawns, but we don't vouch for every name in them.
- What survives: the feeling of a house built for receiving people, with formal rooms, wide verandas and gardens laid out to be walked in the cool of the evening.
Behind the garden walls
Space: in a city where you can touch both walls of a lane, Nadesar has lawns, flower beds and old trees. It is the main reason to choose it.
Silence: no loudspeakers before dawn, no festival music under your window. Light sleepers sleep here.
- Area
- The cantonment, inland from the river
- Grounds
- Large old gardens, shared with Taj Ganges
- To the ghats
- About 30 minutes, longer at festivals
- To Sarnath
- A short drive north
- Car access
- To the door, on level ground
- Easy access: cars come to the door, and the grounds are level. That matters for older guests and families.
- The trade-off: the river is not outside your window. Every visit to the ghats is a drive of about half an hour, and the final stretch is on foot or by boat.
- Convenient for Sarnath: the deer park where the Buddha first taught lies a short drive north, easier from here than from the ghats.
What a stay here feels like
Arrival: through the gate and along the drive into the gardens. After the airport road, it feels like stepping into a private estate, which it once was.
The scale: only a handful of suites, so the house never feels busy. Staff learn your name and your habits quickly.
- Mornings: an early start for the dawn boat, then back for a long breakfast. The rhythm of the house allows for that.
- Afternoons: the hours belong to the gardens, a nap, a book on the veranda or tea on the lawns.
- Evenings: out again for the aarti, then home to dinner in a quiet house. It is the contrast that makes Varanasi bearable for many travellers.
- The mood: a private residence with Taj service, not a busy city hotel. Grand in its rooms, gentle in its pace.
Choosing your suite
Ask for the garden side: the pleasure of Nadesar is looking out on lawns and trees, and garden-facing suites make the most of it.
Expect period character: high ceilings, tall windows, heritage furniture and the proportions of a colonial-era house.
- Book early: with only a handful of suites, the house fills quickly in the winter season and for Dev Deepawali.
- Families: the house is calm and safe for children, but suites are limited. For larger families we often combine a suite here with rooms at Taj Ganges in the same grounds.
- Accessibility: tell us early about any mobility needs. Level grounds and car access help, but old houses can still have steps inside.
Dining in the house and on the lawns
In the house: meals are served in the palace in the style of a private residence, with Indian and international cooking. Menus change, so we confirm what is on offer when we book.
On the lawns: in the cool months, ask for tea or a long lunch in the gardens. It is one of the great quiet pleasures of Varanasi.
- Style
- Indian and international, with Banarasi dishes
- Best moment
- Tea or lunch on the lawns
- Alcohol
- Available, unlike most ghat hotels
- Dietary needs
- Tell us ahead for Jain or vegan meals
- A drink at sunset: unlike the vegetarian, alcohol-free hotels on the ghats, Nadesar can serve a glass of wine. Our page on alcohol and dry days explains the wider rules.
- Banarasi flavours: ask for dishes of the city, such as tamatar chaat, the tangy tomato dish made only in Banaras, or chooda matar in winter.
- More choice next door: Taj Ganges, in the same estate, has several restaurants of its own, useful for a longer stay or for children.
- Street food, safely: we would rather you taste malaiyo and kachori in the lanes with our guide than miss them because you stayed inland.
Spa, gardens and slow afternoons
Treatments: Taj runs wellness across the estate. We confirm current treatments and timings for your dates rather than promise a menu that may change.
The gardens: an early walk on the lawns, a yoga session under the trees or simply a chair in the shade. Space is the real therapy here.
- A pool: Taj Ganges, in the same grounds, has a pool. Ask us how guests at the palace use it during your stay.
- Rest days: we often build a gentle half-day into a Varanasi stay, with no outing at all. At Nadesar, it never feels wasted.
- After the river: the contrast of a dawn at the burning ghats and a quiet breakfast on a veranda is something guests often tell us helped them absorb what they saw.
Taj Ganges, in the same grounds
What it is: a modern Taj hotel with a pool, several restaurants and conference rooms, in the same grounds as the palace.
What it lacks: the history, the intimacy and the period rooms of Nadesar itself.
- When we use it: for families travelling in a group, for guests who want more facilities, or when the palace suites are full.
- The best of both: some guests stay at Taj Ganges and book a meal at the palace, or the other way round.
- Weddings and events: the larger hotel hosts functions in season. We check dates when we book, so your quiet garden stays quiet.
Varanasi from the garden gate
The dawn boat on the Ganga
When: leave well before sunrise, because traffic near the old city builds fast after first light.
- How: our car takes you to the edge of the old city, and you walk down to a wooden rowing boat with our guide.
- What you see: bathers, priests at prayer and the riverfront palaces turning gold.
The evening aarti at Dashashwamedh
What it is: the nightly offering of light to the river, with conch shells, bells and great brass lamps.
- From Nadesar: leave in the late afternoon, take a boat along the ghats at sunset and stay on the water for the ceremony.
- The drive home: the city empties a little after the aarti, and the garden at night is very welcome.
Sarnath
Why go: the deer park where the Buddha gave his first sermon, about ten kilometres north-east of the city.
- What to see: the Dhamek Stupa and the lion capital of Ashoka's pillar in the Sarnath Museum.
- From Nadesar: easier than from the ghats, and lovely in the late morning.
Ramnagar Fort
What it is: the eighteenth-century riverside fort of the Maharajas of Banaras, the family who once owned Nadesar.
- What to see: the museum of royal collections and the view across the Ganga.
- In autumn: the Ramlila of Ramnagar moves around the town over about a month.
The lanes and Kashi Vishwanath
- What it is: one of the twelve jyotirlingas, the holiest shrines of Shiva.
- How we visit: on foot with our guide, after reading our temple etiquette guide.
Banarasi silk
- Where: weaving families in Madanpura and nearby neighbourhoods, many on handlooms at home.
- How: only to families we know. Our shopping guide explains handloom versus powerloom.
Two days from Nadesar, the way we would spend them
Day one, arrival and the river at dusk
Midday: fly in, drive to Nadesar, lunch and a rest in the gardens.
- Late afternoon: drive to the edge of the old city and take a boat along the ghats as the light turns gold.
- Dusk: the aarti from the water, then home to a quiet dinner.
Day two, dawn, lanes and Sarnath
Before sunrise: the rowing boat past the bathers and the burning ghats.
- Morning: the lanes and the Vishwanath temple area with our guide, with breakfast in the lanes in season.
- Late morning: Sarnath, then lunch and the afternoon in the gardens.
- Evening: a private music recital we arrange, or the aarti from the steps.
With a third day
Morning: Ramnagar Fort and its museum across the river.
- Afternoon: a weaving family, then tea on the lawns.
- More ideas: our Varanasi itinerary has longer and shorter plans.
Who will love it, and who won't
Older travellers: level grounds, car access and quiet nights make Varanasi possible for guests who would find the ghats too much. See our accessible travel advice.
Families with young children: lawns to run on, a pool next door and calm. Children handle the city better with a sanctuary to come back to.
- Honeymooners who want privacy: a handful of suites and a private garden feel very far from the crowds.
- Anyone who finds crowds draining: you choose when to meet the city, and leave it behind at the gate.
- Not for those who want the river at the window: for that, sleep on the ghats at BrijRama Palace.
- Not for spontaneous wanderers: every outing is a planned drive. If you love stepping out of the door into the lanes, the ghats suit you better.
How Nadesar fits our journeys
Rajasthan and Varanasi: our Rajasthan and Varanasi journey ends on the Ganga. For guests who want calm, we place those nights here.
After central India: coming from Orchha and Khajuraho, Varanasi is the natural next stop. See our Rajasthan, Orchha and Khajuraho journey.
- Splitting the stay: one night on the river at BrijRama, then two in the gardens here, is a combination many of our guests love.
- From palace to palace: guests who have stayed at Rambagh Palace in Jaipur find Nadesar a smaller, quieter echo of the same Taj palace style.
- Compare the options: our luxury hotels in Varanasi guide sets out every choice.
When to stay
October to March: warm, dry days, cool nights and lawns at their greenest after the rains. The best season by far.
Winter mornings: cold and misty on the river from December to February. Bring a warm layer for the dawn boat.
- Best months
- October to March
- Coolest
- December to February, misty mornings
- Hottest
- April to June
- Monsoon
- July to September, green gardens, high river
- Book far ahead for
- Dev Deepawali in October or November
- Dev Deepawali: on the full moon of Kartik, about two weeks after Diwali, the ghats glow with clay lamps. Traffic is heavy, so we plan the drive and the boat carefully.
- April to June: very hot. A garden palace with thick walls is a good choice, but keep outings to dawn and dusk.
- Monsoon: the gardens are lush, but the river rises over the lower ghats and boats are often stopped.
- Month by month: see the best time to visit Varanasi.
Getting there
By air: most guests fly in from Delhi, or from Khajuraho when flights run. We meet you at the airport and drive you straight to the gate.
By train: the Vande Bharat Express links Delhi and Varanasi, and the cantonment is convenient for the main station.
- Nearest airport
- Lal Bahadur Shastri International (VNS), Babatpur
- From Delhi
- About an hour and a half by air
- By train
- Vande Bharat from Delhi, about eight hours
- To the ghats
- About 30 minutes by car, then on foot
- From Khajuraho by road: a long day, so we fly when we can. See Khajuraho for what comes before.
- Into the old city: cars stop at the edge of the lanes. Our driver waits while you walk or take a boat with your guide.
- Timing: we plan departures for the dawn boat with care, because traffic builds quickly after sunrise.
What we tell friends before they stay
Go to the river twice a day: dawn and dusk. A garden hotel is a reason to rest in between, not a reason to skip the ghats.
Leave early: for the dawn boat, leave earlier than feels necessary. The roads fill fast.
- Book early: a handful of suites means the house fills first in the winter season.
- Dress for temples: cover shoulders and knees, and wear shoes you can slip off.
- Never photograph the cremations: the one firm rule of the ghats.
- Keep an afternoon free: the lawns deserve at least one long, idle tea.
- Consider a split stay: one night on the ghats gives you the river at all hours; Nadesar gives you the rest.