Varanasi Travel Guide: The Ghats, Kashi Vishwanath, Sarnath and Planning Your Days

Varanasi stands on the west bank of the Ganga, between two streams that the Puranas give as its boundaries, the Varuna to the north and the Asi to the south. Its ghats line the river; the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the old city sit in the lanes behind them, and Ramnagar Fort and Sarnath are short drives away.

The ghats and a dawn boat ride

The district administration counts 88 ghats, flights of stone steps down to the river; most are used for bathing and puja, and two only for cremation. Most were rebuilt after 1700, under Maratha patrons: the Scindias, Holkars, Bhonsles and Peshwas. The best way to see them is from a rowing boat at first light, when the ceremonies of daybreak are under way on the steps; Incredible India calls the morning boat trip one of Varanasi's must-dos. Boats are stopped when the river runs high in the monsoon. Our Varanasi photo tour is built around that dawn light and the evening aarti.

Dashashwamedh Ghat and the Ganga Aarti

More people bathe at Dashashwamedh than at any other ghat, according to UP Tourism, and its stone steps were built by Bajirao Peshwa in 1735. Every evening at dusk, priests perform the Ganga Aarti here, raising lamps to bells and chanting for about 45 minutes, watched from the steps or from boats. Official sources give different start times, so check on the day and arrive an hour early for a good place. No vehicle reaches the ghat: take a taxi to Godaulia and walk the last kilometre. Our Ganga Aarti tour watches from a boat facing the ghat or from the steps.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple, dedicated to Shiva as Vishwanath, Ruler of the Universe, is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and stands near the river in the old city. Since 13 December 2021, the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham has given it a broad pathway to the banks of the Ganga in place of the congested lanes pilgrims once had to use. The temple trust allows no electronic or non-electronic gadgets inside, not even pens, and provides free lockers; it asks visitors to dress decently. Aarti is performed five times a day, and the trust publishes the darshan timings on its website.

Manikarnika Ghat

Manikarnika is one of the five principal pilgrimage ghats of Kashi and, in Incredible India's words, one of Hinduism's holiest cremation grounds. Its name comes from the Manikarnika Kund on the ghat, where, the story goes, Parvati's earring fell into the water. Bathing here has special importance at eclipses and festivals such as Makar Sankranti and Ganga Dussehra, while the cremations continue beside the steps. Visitors are welcome to watch quietly from a distance; out of respect, do not photograph the pyres or the mourners, and decline anyone who offers to take you closer.

Assi Ghat

Assi Ghat takes its name from the Asi, the stream that the Puranas give as the city's southern boundary, and it is one of the ghats Incredible India picks out for a visit. It is the base for the river's water sports, which UP Tourism lists from speed boats and jet skis to parasailing, and the lane behind it is packed with shops, cafés and restaurants. With Dashashwamedh, it is one of the two ghats where a walk along the river most often begins or ends.

Man Mahal observatory and the Virtual Experiential Museum

Beside Dashashwamedh Ghat, Man Mahal was built around 1600 by Raja Man Singh of Amber, a general of the Mughals, with stone balconies and painted ceilings. Sawai Jai Singh added an observatory around 1734, and instruments such as the Samrat Yantra survive on the roof. Inside, the Virtual Experiential Museum, opened in 2019 in this Archaeological Survey of India monument, uses screens and projections to show the ghats, classical music, sari weaving and the Ram Leela. UP Tourism gives its hours as sunrise to 9 pm.

Sankat Mochan and the Durga Temple

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, in the Lanka area, grew from an image of Hanuman that the poet Tulsidas set up under a fig tree in the late 16th century, and parts of his Ramcharitmanas are said to have been written here; its music festival has been held around Hanuman Jayanti since 1923. The Durga Temple and its stepped tank were built in the 18th century by Rani Bhawani of Natore in Bengal, and both Navratris bring large crowds. Incredible India's list of the city's temples also takes in Kaal Bhairav, Annapurna, the Nepali temple and Tulsi Manas Mandir.

Banaras Hindu University and Bharat Kala Bhavan

On the campus of Banaras Hindu University, Bharat Kala Bhavan, founded in 1920, is Varanasi's museum of art and archaeology. Its collection takes in Hindu and Buddhist sculpture, miniature paintings from the Mughal and other courts, and images that record the worship of Krishna in Kashi in the 15th and 16th centuries. The campus, in the south of the city near Lanka, makes a quieter half-day after the river.

Ramnagar Fort

On the opposite bank of the Ganga, about 14 km from the city, Ramnagar Fort is the ancestral home of the Maharaja of Banaras, built by Maharaja Balwant Singh in the 18th century. Its museum shows the royal collection, from vintage cars and palanquins to swords, old guns, ivory work and antique clocks, and the grounds hold a temple to Ved Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata. The palace is at its liveliest during Dussehra.

Sarnath

Ten kilometres north-east of Varanasi, the deer park at Sarnath is where the Buddha first taught after his enlightenment. The Dhamek Stupa stands over the site, the Chaukhandi Stupa marks where he met his first five disciples, and the excavated remains of the Dharmarajika Stupa and the Mulagandha Kuti Vihar surround the pillar Ashoka raised. Its Lion Capital, now India's national emblem, is in the Sarnath Museum, which is closed on Fridays. Our Sarnath trip takes around three hours including the drive.

October to March is the season. IMD's 1981–2010 averages for Varanasi put January days at about 23°C and nights at 9°C, and December at 25°C and 10°C, so dawn on the river is cold. Winter is also foggy: the same table counts about 18 days of fog in both December and January and nine or ten in November, enough to hide the ghats at sunrise and delay trains and flights, so pack a warm layer and leave slack in your plans. April and May average 39–40°C. The monsoon reaches Uttar Pradesh in the second half of June and withdraws by about 10 October; July and August are the wettest months, with about 299 and 264 mm, and in a flood the ghats go under water, the authorities stop the boats and the Dashashwamedh aarti has been held on rooftops. Dev Deepawali, fifteen days after Diwali, fills the ghats and the river with lamps, and Ganga Mahotsav is a five-day festival of music and dance.

By air: Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Babatpur is 22 km from the city and 30 km from Sarnath, with daily flights from Delhi and connections to other large Indian cities.

By train: Varanasi Junction, in the Cantonment, is the main station, and Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, the old Mughal Sarai, is 16 km away on the Delhi–Howrah line. Vande Bharat Express trains run to Varanasi from New Delhi, and another links Banaras with Agra Cantt, each six days a week.

By road: Prayagraj is 128 km away, Lucknow 286 km and Bodh Gaya 240 km. Our six-day Uttar Pradesh pilgrimage starts here and drives on to Ayodhya, Prayagraj and Chitrakoot, and our Golden Triangle with Varanasi flies on here after Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

The old city's lanes were not built for cars. On some routes traffic is one-way and auto-rickshaws and larger vehicles are not allowed, so expect to walk or to take an e-rickshaw or cycle rickshaw, and agree the fare before you set off, as the district administration advises. For Dashashwamedh, take a taxi to Godaulia and walk; between ghats, a boat is often the easiest way. On our tour packages, a private car and driver cover the longer runs, to Sarnath, Ramnagar and the airport. Staying near the river puts the dawn boats and the evening aarti within walking distance; hotels in the Cantonment are closer to Varanasi Junction.

At the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, leave your phone, camera and pens in the free lockers and dress decently; at other temples, cover shoulders and knees. During the aarti, the steps of Dashashwamedh are crowded, so keep valuables close.