Hi guys,
So today, I am going to talk to you about the "Lucknow Charbagh Railway Station". Why a post about a railway station, you'd ask me ? Well, the "Lucknow Charbagh Railway Station" is one of the many landmarks in the city of Lucknow, and it's so beautiful, it would be a shame not to talk about it.
Lucknow has two railway stations, but the "Charbagh" one is the main one, its official name is "Lucknow NR" (NR stands for Northern Railway) and its code is LKO (very useful to know when you'll check your train tickets).
In hindi, Char Bagh means four gardens, the station is located in the area of Charbagh in the south of the city. In deed, it used to be an orchard till 1867, when the first station was built. The actual railway station was built in 1926. It has an indo-saracenic architecture to match the most important sites of the city, which is also known to be "The City of Nawabs".
The "Indo-Saracenic" architecture is also called Indo-Gothic, Hindoo or Hindu-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal. It's a mix between Indo-Islamic, Indian, Gothic Revival and Neo-Classical movements. It was used by the British at the end of the nineteenth century in British India.
The building is constructed in red brick and has a frontage of long verandahs adorned with Mughal arches. Apart from the "Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Railway Station", it's my favorite train station in India. Besides, architecturally, it is considered one of the most beautiful railway stations in India and we can say that trains are kind a big of a deal in India.
From the Lucknow Station, I took the train to go to Varanasi. You can take the train there and use the following lines :
- Varanasi - Lucknow line
- Varanasi - Rae Bareli - Lucknow line
- Varanasi - Sultanpur - Lucknow line
- Lucknow - Kanpur Suburban Railway
- Barabanki - Lucknow Suburban Railway
- Lucknow - Moradabad line
- Lucknow - Gorakhpur line
Taking the train in India, is something that YOU HAVE TO DO. It's an amazing and fun experience, you'll get the chance to meet the locals and to experience travelling as an indian. It will be even better if you're travelling in an overnight train.
It can be a real pain in the ass to understand how to book a train ticket though. The Indian railway system is really complex and demanding. Among other stuff, you'll face the "Foreign Tourist Train Ticket Quota", the different classes, etc... So every time I had to take the train in India, I asked to the terrific travel agency "India Someday" to book the tickets for me. I saved so much trouble and time thanks to them !
The inside of the train station is pretty but as not pretty as its outside though. It also has Mughal arches, but the colors used are white and lilac.
And not surprising at all in India : a guy mending the train at the last minute carrying his tools in a bag of indian snack (Navratan Mixture in case you're wondering) and lying on a train berth ! I still arrived safe and sound to Varanasi so I guess the Indian way is the only way as some of my friends would say.
