Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple

Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple

Kashi Vishwanath is the Jyotirlinga at the centre of Kashi and the reason most pilgrims are in Varanasi at all. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the most sacred of Shiva's manifestations, and the temple around which the city's ritual life is organised. Since the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor opened, the approach from the river has been rebuilt into a wide pedestrian plaza, which has changed the logistics of visiting considerably — for the better, provided you understand how the queues now work.

The defining practical fact: the temple runs an unusually long day, opening around 2:30 AM and not closing until roughly 11:00 PM. So the question is never whether you can get in — it is which of the five aartis you want to be there for, and whether you queue or pay to skip.

🕉️ The five aartis

Darshan is organised around five daily aartis, and general darshan pauses during them:

• Mangala Aarti — approximately 3:00 to 4:00 AM. The first aarti of the day, performed in brahma muhurta. ₹500, advance online booking only, with strictly limited slots — it books out earliest of anything here, so reserve ten to fifteen days ahead.
• Mid-Day Bhog Aarti — approximately 11:15 AM to 12:20 PM. Bhog is offered to the deity and the temple is closed to darshan for this window, roughly 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM. ₹300.
• Sapta Rishi Aarti — approximately 7:00 to 8:15 PM. Performed by seven Shastris from seven different gotras (lineages), a tradition held to be around 750 years old. ₹300. This is the most visually striking of the five and the one most worth planning a visit around.
• Shringar / Bhog Aarti — approximately 9:00 to 10:15 PM. The Lord is adorned for the night. ₹300.
• Shayan Aarti — approximately 10:30 to 11:00 PM. The closing ritual. The quietest, with the smallest crowd — sources disagree on whether this one carries a ₹300 charge or is free, so confirm when booking.

Timings shift during Shravan, Mahashivratri and other festivals. Check the official portal for your actual date rather than relying on any published table.

General darshan is free. No ticket, no booking — you join the public queue. The wait runs one to four hours on an ordinary day, two to five hours on Mondays, weekends and festival days, and can exceed ten hours at Mahashivratri.

The published price is genuinely inconsistent for 2026 and you should expect either figure. Several current guides give ₹300 per person; others, including a July 2026 booking guide, give ₹250, and at least one page contradicts itself between two tables on the same site. The rate appears to have risen from ₹250 to ₹300 at some point during the year. Treat shrikashivishwanath.org and the official temple app as authoritative for your date, and note that prices may increase further during Mahashivratri and Shravan.

Two details that catch people out:

⏰ When to go

Avoid Mondays if you can. Monday is Shiva's day and draws the heaviest crowds of the week.

The windows that work:

• 4:00 to 7:00 AM — the most serene period, with genuinely fewer crowds. The best choice for an unhurried darshan.
• 1:00 to 3:00 PM — hot, so fewer people stand in line and the queue moves faster. Unpleasant but efficient.
• Around 9:00 PM — the crowd thins significantly before the 11:00 PM close, and you can have a peaceful darshan.

💰 Other sevas, with official rates

• Rudrabhishek — ₹450 in person with one Shastri; ₹700 by video conference with one Shastri (performed on your sankalp if you cannot travel); ₹2,100 with five Shastris by video conference
• Akhand Deep — ₹700, an offering toward the continuously burning lamp
• Satyanarayan Katha — ₹500, booked at the temple
• Sanyasi Bhojan — ₹3,000 daily, ₹4,500 on Mondays (feeding sanyasis in the Lord's name; the Monday slot is the most sought after)
• Every Purnima Shringaar — ₹3,700
• Dainik Ratri Kalin Shringar (9 PM) — ₹5,000

🔱 Kal Bhairav first — the order debate

Local tradition holds that the worship of Lord Vishwanath is not complete without worshipping Lord Kal Bhairav, who is the Kotwal — the deified magistrate — of Kashi, and that pilgrims should seek his permission before entering the city's sacred precinct. The two temples are about ten minutes apart.

🌊 Festivals

Mahashivratri is the peak — Shiva's great night, when the general queue can exceed ten hours and the city is at its most intense. Shravan (Sawan), the monsoon month sacred to Shiva, brings sustained heavy crowds through July and August with altered timings. Dev Deepawali, the full moon fifteen days after Diwali, is when the ghats are lined with countless lamps and the riverside is at its most spectacular.

🛕 Rules and access

Footwear is removed before entry; use the designated counters and keep the token.

⚠️ Practical notes

• The corridor has changed the geography. If you are following directions written before it opened, they will be wrong.
• Pair it with the river. The Ghat Gate connects the temple to the ghats directly, which is the point of the corridor — darshan and a sunrise boat make one outing.
• Nearest rail: Varanasi Junction (Cantt, BSB) and Banaras Station (BSBS). Nearest airport: Lal Bahadur Shastri International (Babatpur, VNS).

Last verified: 2026. Timings, entry arrangements and any charges are published by the temple itself and do change - confirm them with the temple's own official website or counter before travelling rather than relying on any third-party listing.