Kashi Vishwanath Rudrabhishek (Online Puja)

About this puja

Rudrabhishek in Kashi is the Shiva puja families turn to when something weighs on them: a health worry, a long-pending wish, a dosha pointed out by an astrologer, or the simple longing to have one’s name spoken in the city of Vishwanath. The Shivalinga is bathed with panchamrit and Ganga jal while the Rudra path of the Yajurveda is chanted. This online version is for yatris who cannot come to Varanasi, especially elderly parents and families abroad.

Kashi is believed to rest on the trident of Shiva, and Shri Kashi Vishwanath is counted among the twelve Jyotirlingas. The temple stands near Dashashwamedh and Manikarnika ghats on the Ganga, within the new Vishwanath Dham corridor that links the sanctum to the river. Shravan, Mahashivratri and Mondays draw enormous crowds, and the temple trust itself now offers rudrabhishek, aarti and darshan bookings online.

How our online puja works: you send the names, gotra and intention. On the chosen date our Kashi priest takes the sankalp in your name, performs the Rudrabhishek with full samagri and Rudra path at a Shiva shrine in the Vishwanath area, then offers your names at Vishwanath darshan. You receive a video of the puja and a live link if you want one, and prasad from Kashi is couriered to your address.

Who performs it

The puja is performed by Varanasi priests of Shaiva tradition whom we work with regularly. We are a Dehradun yatra company, not the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, and we claim no official status. The temple trust has its own official rudrabhishek service, booked on its website or app, in which temple-appointed Shastris perform the puja; if you want that official booking in your name, we can make it for you and pass on the temple’s charge as it is.

Good to know before you book

• Electronic gadgets, including mobile phones and cameras, are not allowed inside Kashi Vishwanath temple premises. For that reason our filmed Rudrabhishek is performed at a Shiva shrine in the Vishwanath area, and your names are then offered inside the temple at darshan without video.
• The temple trust’s official rudrabhishek is booked on shrikashivishwanath.org or its official app and is performed by the trust’s Shastris between early morning and evening; the trust’s rules say those bookings cannot be cancelled or re-dated and the money is treated as a donation.
• On Mondays in Shravan, Mahashivratri and Dev Deepawali the city is extremely crowded and official slots sell out early; book well in advance for those dates.
• Prasad courier within India is included. Abroad is at extra cost and limited to dry items.
• Send the names and gotra in writing and check the spellings before the puja day.