It took a little help from liquor baron Vijay Mallya to fulfil music icon Sting's dream to visit Varanasi during his trip to India to play a couple of concerts.

Sting, who played two concerts at Bangalore and Delhi as part of his "Sacred Love" world tour, had expressed a strong wish to visit Varanasi during his stopover in India.

After his sell-out concert in Bangalore Friday, Sting expressed his dream of visiting Varanasi to T. Venkat Vardhan, managing director of DNA Networks, which organised the India shows, at a private dinner hosted by UB group chairman Vijay Mallya.

Mallya immediately offered his personal jet to Sting, who accepted the offer and spent a day and a half in the holy city, enjoying the sights and visiting several temples.

The 53-year-old former schoolteacher reached Delhi on the afternoon of Sunday, just in time to play a concert in the capital that was attended by over 10,000 people.

It was his first concert in Delhi since 1988, when he had performed here with Bruce Springsteen and Peter Gabriel for a special show organised by Amnesty International.

An avowed India-lover, Sting has visited the country several times in recent years. He spent New Year's eve in 2004 in Jaisalmer and recently expressed his fascination with the Hindu religion.

"In a sense, I am more a Hindu. I like the Hindu religion more than anything else at this moment," he said in an interview, noting that his favourite place in India is the temple town of Varanasi.

Sting's most recent album "Sacred Love" features Anoushka Shankar, the daughter of Ravi Shankar, on sitar on one track and, at Sunday's concert here, Sting said the title track was inspired by India's spirituality.

Before emplaning for Australia Monday, a visibly satisfied Sting declared: "I'll be back."