Jyotirlinga Guide
काशी विश्वनाथ

Kashi Vishwanath Jyotirlinga, Varanasi

No. 7 in the stotram list, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. City temple, open all year.
Stotram list
No. 7
Season
Oct to Mar
Railhead
Varanasi Jn
about 5.5 km
Airport
Varanasi
about 25 km
Stay
Trust guest houses at Dashashwamedh and in the corridor, ghat guest houses, Cantonment and city hotels

Official website: Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust (shrikashivishwanath.org)

The emblem here is our own drawing. The logo belongs to the trust, so we leave it on their site and keep this independent guide from being mistaken for it.

The map loads when it scrolls into view.

© OpenFreeMap ©OpenStreetMap
Map centre: town, not the gateOpen in Google Maps
Drawing of the walk from the Ganga: boats on the river, wide ghat steps, a sandstone gateway and the gold temple spire behind it
The walk in one picture: from the river, up the ghat steps, through the Ganga Dwar gate to the gold spire. Illustration, not a photo.

The story of Kashi Vishwanath

In Varanasi on the Ganga, the Vishweshwara jyotirlinga and the temple that holds the city's devotional focus.

The legend

The Varanasi district page reads the city as the point where the first jyotirlinga, the fiery pillar of light, broke through the earth and rose towards the sky.

What it is known for

The temple's own site records the tradition that the merit earned by the darshan of the other jyotirlingas accrues from a single visit here, and names the saints who have come: Adi Shankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Tulsidas, Dayanand Saraswati and Guru Nanak.

Where this came from
What a jyotirlinga is, and the traditional order →

Darshan at Kashi Vishwanath

Kashi Vishwanath is an active temple with a daily ritual schedule, not a monument. The free queue is the default: it costs nothing and on a normal weekday it moves well. Paid darshan, if the trust offers one, buys a shorter line rather than a different view of the linga. On festival days the paid line is often suspended entirely.

Aarti is the part worth planning around. Slots are limited, some are booked days ahead, and walk-ins are turned away once the hall is full.

The temple opens at 2:30 AM and closes at 11:00 PM, and darshan runs in the gaps between the five aartis.

Source: shrikashivishwanath.org.

Booking and darshan optionsTrain, flight and road
The queue on a normal day

The temple opens early for the Mangala aarti and runs the day in darshan windows with the aartis in between. The corridor has widened the approach, but the queue inside the sanctum area is the part that takes the time.

What changes at peak

Shravan, Mahashivratri and the Kashi festival calendar are the heavy periods, and the temple posts changes to its own darshan windows at those times.

Where this came from

When the crowds arrive

February to March, Mahashivratri

Online darshan and puja bookings were suspended for the two days of Mahashivratri 2026, and the queue ran through barricades end to end. The trust CEO expected eight to ten lakh visitors in 2026; an official count for 2025 was over 11 lakh.

July to August, Shravan Mondays

Each Shravan Monday the deity gets a different shringar, and the crowd starts queuing the night before. In 2025 protocol darshan was stopped for the whole month, the free baggage counters were shut, and bags, phones and pens had to stay at the hotel. Entry from Lalita Ghat can close when the river rises.

Late December to early January, New Year

Winter holidays bring some of the heaviest days of the year. For New Year 2026 the trust stopped VIP, protocol and touch darshan, leaving only darshan from a distance, and news reports put the daily count at 2 to 2.5 lakh in early January.

Rangbhari Ekadashi, Diwali, the Kartik month and each monthly Shivratri

The trust lists these as its major festivals, on top of Mahashivratri. Expect a longer queue and changed aarti times on those days.

Where this came from
What Mahashivratri changes at all twelve →

Where to stay

Three ways people stay at Kashi Vishwanath, cheapest and closest first.

Trust guest houses and dharamshalasThe cheapest rooms with the shortest walk. Usually booked by phone or at the counter on the day, and the ones that take online bookings are listed on the stay page.
Hotels and lodges in townTrust guest houses at Dashashwamedh and in the corridor, ghat guest houses, Cantonment and city hotels. Price bands and the walk time to the gate are on the stay page, with the booking links.
Staying outside and driving inUseful when the town fills up: the nearest city with a wider choice of rooms, and what that adds to the morning.
All stay options near Kashi Vishwanath →

What is around Kashi Vishwanath

The corridor links the temple to the Ganga. Most visitors give the temple a few hours and leave the same day, which is a miss: the places worth half a day sit within a short drive, and going early or late avoids the crowd that arrives with the coaches.

  • Maa Annapurna Temple
  • Sankatha Temple
  • Kaal Bhairav Temple
  • The ghats
Everything around Kashi Vishwanath, with the sources →
Rows of wooden boats on the Ganga in front of the crowded ghat steps and old buildings
Boats gathering at Dashashwamedh Ghat in the evening. Photo: Sujay25, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Rules and practicalities

Phones, cameras and bags

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.

Dress code

The trust says there is no dress code for darshan, and asks devotees to wear decent clothes.

Accessibility and the walk

Most visitors walk in from Godowlia, and Gate 4 is the main entrance from the town side. From the river, the corridor climbs from Lalita Ghat to Gate 1, the Ganga Dwar, open 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM and shut when the Ganga runs high. Shoes come off at stands outside, then phones and bags go into the free lockers, which the trust says are limited, and the queue passes a security check. Inside, the corridor and courtyards are paved; the darshan at the sanctum lasts a few seconds. E-carts carry disabled devotees through the no vehicle zone.

Festival days

Kashi Vishwanath on Mahashivratri and during Shravan runs on a different schedule with far longer queues. See the festival pages for what changes.

Other notices
  • 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.
On-ground detail came from

Sources for this temple: shrikashivishwanath.org, utsav.gov.in, enquiry.indianrail.gov.in, shrikashivishwanath.org, shrikashivishwanath.org, shrikashivishwanath.org, shrikashivishwanath.org. What each one covers, and the date it was read, is on the darshan and booking page.

Common questions about Kashi Vishwanath

What are the Kashi Vishwanath temple timings?
The temple opens at 2:30 AM and closes at 11:00 PM, and darshan runs in the gaps between the five aartis. The full day schedule, with the source it was read from and the date, sits on the booking page.
How do I reach Kashi Vishwanath?
The nearest railhead is Varanasi Jn, about 5.5 km, and the nearest airport is Varanasi, about 25 km. The how to reach page covers the last mile as well: which transport runs from the station, what it costs and how long it takes.
Where should I stay near Kashi Vishwanath?
Trust guest houses at Dashashwamedh and in the corridor, ghat guest houses, Cantonment and city hotels. The stay page lists the options by walking distance and price band, including the trust rooms and dharamshalas.
When is the best time to visit Kashi Vishwanath?
Oct to Mar. Open all year. The corridor links the temple to the Ganga.

Also in the North group

The other temples in the North group, the himalaya and the ganga plain.

KedarnathRudraprayag, Uttarakhand
The North group: stations, airports and links to the other groups →

Plan Kashi Vishwanath

How to reachVaranasi Jn and VaranasiWhere to stayTrust guest houses at Dashashwamedh and in the corridor, ghat guest houses, Cantonment and city hotelsDarshan and bookingFree queue, paid options, aarti slots