Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second prime minister of India and much-loved politician may be the real unsung part of UP. He is best known for his honesty, simplicity, and sincerity. His village Ramnagar, on the other shore of Ganga at Varanasi, has a small memorial dedicated to him. At the house or hut where he was born and spent his early days.
I remember during school days when we had to write an essay on him, we read that he swam 3 Kms across Ganga to reach his school on the other shore. As I stood on the balcony of Ramnagar palace, with Ganga flowing gently on the surface past Varanasi’s moon-shaped ghats, the visual of a small boy crossing the wide river flashed across. It tells me about the character of the boy. Who would do so much hard work to get himself educated?
Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial at Ramnagar
Ancestral House
Shastri Ji’s ancestral house today is full of only his pictures that too sponsored by a bank. It may look small to you, but let me tell you this house is much bigger than the original house of the Shastris. The original house was just one room. And that too was made with mud – basically a kuchcha house. The rest of the structure has been built later. Is it not ironic that a memorial gets a bigger space than the person whose memorial it is?
National Leader’s simplest memorial
This is the simplest memorial that you would see of a national leader. There is a picture of him with his extended family. And another one in which both he and his wife are working on board an aircraft when he was the PM.
The humble statue on the road leading to the memorial may be a gentle reminder to the visitors of the grand palace. That there is another worthy son of the soil, and you may want to see his house.
How you wish Karmath people like Shastri Ji got their due, encouraging others who would want to take his path.
Another museum dedicated to him is in New Delhi. This was his home while in office and is now a museum. I remember visiting this as a kid and also meeting his wife Lalita Ji. However, I was too young to register the importance of that meeting.
You can read more about Shastri Ji at this website
Read more travel blogs on places to visit in Varanasi.
Evening Arti at ghats of Ganga
A memorable read. Thanks for sharing this for those who haven’t visited this place like me
Uma, I happened to visit it by chance. Almost no one visits it unfortunately.
It’s not about no one visiting the memorial Anuradha, it is about the fact that no one remembers him on his Birthday because it is overshadowed by Mahatma Gandhi
Anu, did you write about this house earlier on your blog? I remember reading about it, just after I returned from my Varanasi trip, and wishing that I had known it then so I could have visited. Its so sad that someone like him is almost completely forgotten…
Anu, I must have mentioned it in my First Impressions. Detailed post was done now only – actually planned to post it on 2nd Oct.
True Swati, but they have not done anything to maintain his memorial or even make it a place to visit – not just on 2nd Oct but rest of the year as well.
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Sadly, his legacy has been forgotten by most people. Thank you for highlighting this; will make it a part of my trip when I visit Varanasi.
It’s sad that nation forget to pay homage to Shastri ji each year. He is one such unsung hero, who lived his principles throughout, and abided by that. I salute this great man. – Indian
its not “Rampur”….its “Ramnagar”
Thanks for correcting – updating it soon.
Only Karnataka State remembered the Former PM Lal Bhadur Shastri his name a beautiful statue erect At Lal Bhadur Shastri Sagar Dam across Krishna River and a beautiful garden in his name. Jai Jawan Jai Kisan was his slogan
That’s a nice fact to know. I think the IAS academy in Mussoorie is also named after Shastri Ji.