Darshan and booking at Somnath
- 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.
Entry is free. The trust does not run a paid darshan line, so the free queue is the only queue.
There is nothing to buy for darshan. Trust guest house rooms and puja vidhis are booked online on somnath.org, most pujas with 3 days notice. The trust takes bookings only there or at its offices, never by phone, WhatsApp or private UPI.
Any paid darshan at Somnath 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 Somnath
The temple is open for darshan from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM, with aarti at 7:00 AM, 12:00 noon and 7:00 PM.
| 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM | Darshan, all day |
| 7:00 AM | Morning aarti |
| 12:00 noon | Midday aarti |
| 7:00 PM | Evening aarti |
| 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM | Jay Somnath sound and light show, not in the monsoon |
The trust prints one schedule for the year. Festival days follow the temple calendar, so check on the day.
Source: somnath.org.
What the trust charges at Somnath
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.
| Rudrabhishek3 days notice | Rs 200 |
| Gangajal abhishek3 days notice | Rs 200 |
| Bilva pooja3 days notice | Rs 300 |
| Maha pooja3 days notice | Rs 3,100 |
| Mahadugdh abhishek3 days notice | Rs 3,100 |
| Laghurudra3 days notice | Rs 5,100 |
| Someshwar MahapoojaDevotee must be present. Hourly slots 8 to 11 AM and 3 to 6 PM | Rs 5,100 |
| Kalsarpa yog nivaran vidhi3 days notice | Rs 5,500 |
| Silk dhvajarohan3 days notice | Rs 11,000 |
| Maharudra (path)3 days notice | Rs 15,000 |
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
Sarees, dhotis, trousers, t-shirts and skirts are allowed. Avoid mini skirts and what the trust calls disrespectful dress. Smoking is not allowed anywhere in the temple area.
Mobiles, cameras, smartwatches, laptops, tablets and calculators are not allowed inside. All of it goes in the cloak room lockers, which are free.
Footwear comes off before entry. The shoe house next to the cloak room is free.
Wheelchairs and a golf cart are available at the main gate, and there is a lift inside the temple.
- The Jay Somnath sound and light show runs from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM, and not in the monsoon.
- A Tirth Darshan bus leaves the main gate at 8:30 AM and 3:30 PM for the temples around Somnath, at a charge the trust does not publish.
- The trust runs a free bhojanalay.
- Lilavati and Maheshwari Samaj Atithi Gruh: Rs 750 non-AC and Rs 950 AC for two. Hari-Har Dham family rooms: Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,500. Dormitory beds: Rs 90 non-AC and Rs 200 AC. GST is extra. Sagar Darshan is the sea-facing guest house next to the temple; its page prints two different tariffs, so check the price when you book. Book on somnath.org or at the trust office only. 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
- Be at the gate before the 7:00 AM aarti. Phones, cameras and smartwatches go in the free cloak room lockers and shoes in the free shoe house next to it, before the security check.
- Morning aarti at 7:00 AM, then darshan. Entry is free and there is no paid line: the trust has warned that anyone selling a VIP darshan pass is running a scam.
- The trust's Tirth Darshan bus leaves the main gate at 8:30 AM for the temples around Somnath, such as Bhalka Tirth and Dehotsarg Tirth. An auto works too.
- Back for the 12:00 noon aarti, or lunch at the trust's free bhojanalay.
- Afternoon at a seafront hotel or on the shore by the temple. The 3:30 PM Tirth Darshan bus is the second chance at the nearby temples.
- Evening aarti at 7:00 PM, then the Jay Somnath sound and light show from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM, which does not run in the monsoon.
Timings for each step depend on the season and the queue on the day.
- Trust FAQ, schedule, lockers and bus, temple trust
- Free Press Journal, trust warns of fake VIP darshan, news report
- ETV Bharat Gujarati, fake VIP darshan warning, news report
- Tripadvisor forum, Veraval to Somnath autos, visitor reports
- Goibibo Q&A, Veraval to Somnath autos, visitor reports
- DeshGujarat, Jetpur to Somnath four-lane, news report
- Gulf News (IANS), Jetpur to Somnath four-lane, news report
What this page was checked against
Every figure on this page comes from a source this site read, listed here so you can open the same page.
- Station codes SMNH (Somnath, closed) and VRL (Veraval)enquiry.indianrail.gov.in/mntes/javascripts/station_data.js
- Darshan and aarti times, dress and locker rules, rail and air distances, guest house namessomnath.org/faq/The trust gives Somnath station at 0.5 km and Veraval at 7 km, and Diu at 85 km, Rajkot 200 km, Ahmedabad 390 km.
- Somnath station closed for rebuilding, so the railhead is Veravalwr.indianrailways.gov.in/view_detail.jsp?lang=0&id=0,4,268&dcd=6779&did=1670578002554E05756777431A91B91C22D5316CF7BA6Western Railway closed Somnath station on 1 September 2022 to rebuild it. Its later train notices name Veraval as the end of the line, and no notice of Somnath reopening was found.
- Guest house tariffs, dormitory rates, booking contactssomnath.org/pilgrim-facilitiesThe same page gives Diu at 95 km, Ahmedabad at 425 km and 465 km, and the sound and light show at 7:45 PM, against the FAQ. It also prints two different tariff tables for Sagar Darshan, so that price band is left out. The FAQ figures are kept.
- Puja vidhi list, rates and notice periodssomnath.org/online-donation/Online payment adds about 2% plus GST. The trust says room booking, puja and donations are taken only on somnath.org or at its offices, never by phone, WhatsApp or private UPI.