One-Day Kashi Darshan in Varanasi

We pick you up before sunrise from your Varanasi hotel, Varanasi Junction, Banaras station or Babatpur airport. Vehicles cannot enter the old city, so the last stretch to the river is a walk of about 10 to 15 minutes through the lanes. You board a rowing boat before sunrise for about an hour, drifting past the bathing ghats, the cremation ghat at Manikarnika and the leaning Ratneshwar Mahadev temple at the water's edge.

You can release a leaf-lamp on the water if you wish. Boats are not allowed when the river is in flood.

From the ghat you walk up into the Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor while queues are still short. Phones, cameras, bags and leather items are not allowed inside; the coordinator helps you with the lockers. On normal days, darshan of the Jyotirlinga is from the sanctum doorway.

Just outside are the temples of Maa Annapurna, the goddess of food, and Maa Vishalakshi, a Shakti Peeth in a lane close to Meer Ghat. Sugam Darshan and special pujas are not included; offerings and dakshina are at your own cost.

A short drive to Vishweshwarganj brings you to Kaal Bhairav, the Kotwal and guardian deity of Kashi, whom many pilgrims visit first or last. Pilgrims tie the black thread sold here for protection.

Some families prefer to visit Kaal Bhairav first, following the old custom of asking the Kotwal's permission before entering Kashi; tell us and the order can be changed. After darshan you can take breakfast at a nearby stall or a sit-down place, at your own cost.

The midday hours are kept light on purpose, to avoid the heat of the day. The coordinator takes you to a clean vegetarian restaurant for lunch, which you pay for directly; Varanasi has many good pure-vegetarian options.

Afterwards you can rest at your hotel if you have one in the city, or in the AC vehicle, before the afternoon round. Elders especially should use this break, as the evening involves ghat steps and sitting through the aarti.

Sankat Mochan Hanuman temple in Lanka is one of the most loved temples of the city; Tuesdays and Saturdays are the busiest days. A few minutes away is Tulsi Manas Mandir, built in white marble in 1964, with verses of the Ramcharitmanas inscribed on its walls.

The vehicle then drives through the wide, tree-lined Banaras Hindu University campus to the New Vishwanath temple, one of the tallest temple towers in India. Footwear is removed at each temple, so wear slip-on shoes.

On the Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith campus stands this unusual temple, which has no deity. Instead, a large marble relief map of undivided India, carved in the 1930s, is worshipped as Bharat Mata. Children especially enjoy finding rivers, mountains and pilgrim towns on the map.

It is a short, flat visit and a good place for a tea break, at your own cost, before heading back to the ghats for the evening aarti. If you would rather visit Sarnath, it can replace the Bharat Mata and BHU stops.

We reach Dashashwamedh Ghat well before the aarti, and the coordinator helps you find seating on the steps. The ceremony, with its tall brass lamps, conch shells and bells, begins soon after sunset, roughly 6 pm in winter and 7 pm in summer, and lasts around 45 minutes.

Afterwards we walk back through the lanes to the vehicle and drop you at your Varanasi hotel, station or the airport by about 8 pm. A boat to watch the aarti from the water is not included.