New Vishwanath Temple (BHU)

New Vishwanath Temple (BHU)

This is the temple to visit if you are not Hindu and you want to see a Vishwanath temple from the inside. That sentence is the whole practical reason it exists as a separate entry, and it is not a small thing: the original Kashi Vishwanath does not admit non-Hindus to its sanctum, and the New Vishwanath Temple is open to people of all religions and castes.

It is also called the Birla Temple or Birla Mandir, because it was built by the Birla family. It stands on the Banaras Hindu University campus, in white marble, and it is the second temple in Varanasi whose scale surprises visitors.

🏛️ Malaviya's idea

The temple was planned by Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, the founder of Banaras Hindu University, and constructed by the Birla family. Malaviya's intention was specific and unusual for a temple commission: he wanted a majestic temple inside a university to spread moral values and entwine the ethos of Indian value systems with modern education.

So this is not a replica built for tourism or for merit. It is part of an argument about what a modern Indian university should contain — a working place of worship at the centre of a campus devoted to secular higher learning. The Birla family built it, hence the alternate name.

📐 The tallest temple tower in the world

The temple is built entirely of white marble, with marble mosaics, in an architectural style deliberately similar to that of Sri Kashi Vishwanath — it is effectively a replica of the original.

Its shikhara stands about 252 to 253 feet high, which is claimed as the tallest temple tower in the world — taller than the Qutub Minar in Delhi (about 240 feet). The towers dominate Varanasi's skyline and are visible from a long way across the city, which is how most visitors first notice the temple exists.

Published heights vary by a foot between sources (252 and 253 both appear), which is the kind of discrepancy that matters only if you are writing about it — but the comparison to the Qutub Minar is the memorable version and is consistently reported.

🚪 Open to everyone — the difference that matters

Unlike the original Kashi Vishwanath Temple, the New Vishwanath Temple is open to people of all religions, and unlike many other temples in Varanasi it is open to all irrespective of caste or creed.

For a traveller this changes the visit completely. At the original you may be stopped at the sanctum; here you can go inside, see the marble interior, and understand what a Vishwanath temple is. Many visitors find this the more rewarding of the two precisely because they can actually enter — and because there is no queue remotely comparable to Kashi Vishwanath's one-to-four-hour wait.

It is worth being clear about what that means, though: the Jyotirlinga is at the original temple, not here. This is a replica with a genuine devotional life and a genuine purpose, and it is not a substitute for Kashi Vishwanath in religious terms. Visit it for access, architecture and the campus — not expecting the same sanctity.

🕒 Timings

Entry is free. The temple is open all year round, on all days:

• Morning: 4:00 AM to 12:00 PM
• Afternoon and evening: 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM — one source gives 8:00 PM as the closing instead, so treat the evening edge as approximate and avoid arriving near it.

There is a short closure between the two sessions around midday, consistent with the bhog-and-rest pattern followed across Varanasi's temples.

Aarti timings published for this temple — Mangala around 3:00 AM, Bhog around 11:30 AM, Sapta Rishi around 7:00 PM, Shringar around 9:00 PM and Shayan around 10:30 PM — mirror the Kashi Vishwanath schedule closely, and several fall after the stated closing time. They appear to have been copied from the original temple's timetable rather than verified for this one, so treat them as unreliable and confirm locally if a specific aarti matters to you.

Allow one to two hours, which is longer than most visitors expect — the campus setting and the marble interior both reward time.

🛕 Rules

Modest dress covering shoulders and knees, as for any active Hindu temple. Remove footwear before entering — this is enforced, and because the temple is entirely marble the floors get very hot in summer afternoons, so go early or late rather than at midday if you will be standing barefoot on it.

Photography restrictions apply inside; follow the posted signage and the attendants rather than assuming. Because the temple is on a university campus, there are additional campus rules to respect — it is a working institution, not a monument precinct.

🎓 Being on the BHU campus

The location is the reason this visit is easy to combine. Banaras Hindu University is one of India's largest residential universities, with a large, green, gated campus that is pleasant to walk in a way the old city is not. The temple's white towers are its most visible landmark.

Access is through the campus, so allow for the gate and for the walk or rickshaw ride inside. The campus is a contrast worth experiencing after the ghats: wide roads, trees, and far fewer third parties.

🌸 Festivals

As a Vishwanath temple it follows the Shaiva calendar, so Mahashivratri and the Shravan (Sawan) month of July to August are its significant periods, with decoration and heavier attendance — though crowds here never approach those at the original Kashi Vishwanath, which is part of its appeal.

⚠️ Practical notes

• Go to Kashi Vishwanath for the Jyotirlinga and come here for access and architecture. Doing both in one day is entirely feasible, since they are a few kilometres apart.
• Best light for the marble is early morning or late afternoon; midday sun flattens it and heats the floors.
• The campus is close to Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, also near the BHU road, and to Assi Ghat — the three make a natural half-day away from the old city.
• Nobody should charge you for entry. The temple is free; anyone asking for money at the gate is not authorised.
• It is sometimes confused with Birla Mandir in Jaipur and with other Birla-family temples across India, which are unrelated buildings by the same industrial house. Confirm you are being taken to the BHU temple.

Last verified: 2026. Evening closing is published as both 8:00 and 9:00 PM. The listed aarti timings are flagged as unreliable because they mirror the Kashi Vishwanath schedule and several fall after the stated closing. Tower height appears as both 252 and 253 feet.