Darshan and booking at Kashi Vishwanath
- Default
- Free queue
- Paid option
- Shorter line
- Aarti
- Morning to night
- Phones
- Not in the sanctum
- Best season
- Oct to Mar
Free queue and paid darshan
Costs nothing, and on a normal weekday it moves well. You share the line with everyone else, and a festival can turn a short wait into hours. This is the option to plan around unless there is a reason not to.
This buys a shorter line, not a closer look. You still reach the same linga, still at the same moment of the queue, just with fewer people between you and it. Where the trust caps the lounge for an aarti, paid entry is also the way into that slot.
General darshan is what the day schedule above calls darshan: no ticket, in the gaps between aartis.
Aarti places and the Sugam Darshan ticket are bought on the trust site, shrikashivishwanath.org, or at the temple counter. The trust publishes the help desk number as +91 6393 131 608.
Any paid darshan at Kashi Vishwanath is bought from the temple trust's own counter or its own official site, and nowhere else. No shop, agent, hotel desk or online reseller can sell you a shortcut into the temple.
The day at Kashi Vishwanath
The temple opens at 2:30 AM and closes at 11:00 PM, and darshan runs in the gaps between the five aartis.
| 02:30 AM | Temple opens |
| 03:00 AM to 04:00 AM | Mangala aarti, Rs 500, on normal days only |
| 04:00 AM to 11:00 AM | General darshan |
| 11:15 AM to 12:20 PM | Bhog aarti, Rs 300 |
| 12:20 PM to 07:00 PM | Darshan |
| 07:00 PM to 08:15 PM | Sapta Rishi aarti, Rs 300 |
| 08:15 PM to 09:00 PM | Darshan |
| 09:00 PM to 10:15 PM | Shringar bhog aarti, Rs 300 |
| 10:30 PM to 11:00 PM | Shayan aarti, free |
| 11:00 PM | Temple closes |
| 06:00 AM to 06:00 PM | Sugam Darshan ticket window |
The Mangala aarti runs on normal days only and is left out on festival days, and a valid ticket is needed at the gate. Timings can change on Purnima, eclipses and other special days. The trust posts two prices for the Sugam Darshan ticket, Rs 250 on the schedule page and Rs 300 on the pooja list and in its FAQ, so treat the counter price as the one to check.
What the trust charges at Kashi Vishwanath
The charges below are the ones the temple trust itself publishes. Anything quoted by a shop, an agent or a hotel desk for the same ritual is not the trust's price.
| Mangala aartiNormal days only | Rs 500 |
| Bhog aarti, midday | Rs 300 |
| Sapta Rishi aarti | Rs 300 |
| Shringar bhog aarti | Rs 300 |
| Shayan aarti | Free |
| RudrabhishekOne shastri | Rs 450 |
| RudrabhishekFive shastris | Rs 1,380 |
| RudrabhishekEleven shastris | Rs 2,600 |
What is worth booking ahead
Where the temple lounge has a fixed number of places, the aarti is the one thing that sells out. Book it from the trust before the trip, not at the gate.
On Mahashivratri and through Shravan the paid line is often suspended and the free queue runs for hours. Book transport and a bed first, then decide about darshan.
Rites such as a rudrabhishek or a named puja are booked with the trust or the temple priest in advance, and they come with their own slot rather than the general queue.
Ordinary darshan on a normal weekday needs no booking at all. Turn up, join the free queue, and keep the day loose.
Dress code and what you cannot take in
The trust says there is no dress code for darshan, and asks devotees to wear decent clothes.
Mobile phones, smart watches, electronic keys, cameras and other recording devices are not allowed in the temple premises, and the trust FAQ adds pens and other gadgets. The trust runs free lockers, but says they are limited, so leave the phone and bags at the hotel if you can.
Shoes come off at stands outside the entrance, before the security check. Keep the token.
- Godowlia to Maidagin is a no vehicle zone. The trust runs e-carts for disabled devotees.
- Entry from the river is through Gate 1, the Ganga Dwar, from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM, and the trust closes it when the Ganga runs high.
- For the Mangala aarti, report at Gate 1 by 2:30 AM with the ticket. The other aartis can be entered from any gate.
- Entry is free. Sugam Darshan takes you to the sanctum with a shastri, without the queue, and includes a box of prasad and a locker.
- Help desks sit near Gate 4, at Shankaracharya Chowk, Saraswati Fatak, in the temple courtyard and at Bhairav Ghat.
- The trust has two guest houses: Ganga Darshanam near Dashashwamedh Ghat, booked on gangadarshanam.com, and Southern Grand Kashi (Bhimashankar Guest House) inside the corridor, booked on southerngrandkashi.com, with super deluxe rooms and dormitory beds. Neither site prints a tariff, so the price shows only when you search your dates. Where to stay.
The exact dress notice and the list of banned items are posted at each gate.
What a first-time visitor can skip
- Skipping the paid line on a normal weekday. The free queue moves, and the money is better spent on the trip.
- Skipping every shop outside the gate. Almost everything sold there can be bought in any town, and much of it is bought on the way out.
- Skipping the rush hour at the tank or the wells. They are calm an hour after the main queue thins out.
How the day usually runs
- For the Mangala aarti, report at Gate 1 by 2:30 AM with the ticket; the aarti runs 3:00 to 4:00 AM.
- Leave the phone, smart watch and bags at the hotel. If you must bring them, the trust lockers are free but few.
- General darshan opens at 4:00 AM. Early on a weekday, Tuesday to Friday, is the quieter time; Mondays are heavy.
- Darshan pauses for the Bhog aarti, 11:15 AM to 12:20 PM. Use the gap for the Annapurna temple next door or the ghats.
- Afternoon rest, then the Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat around sunset; the steps fill well before it starts.
- Evening darshan runs between the Sapta Rishi aarti at 7:00 PM and the Shringar aarti at 9:00 PM; the Shayan aarti, 10:30 to 11:00 PM, closes the day.
Timings for each step depend on the season and the queue on the day.