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. The trust site itself posts two prices for the Sugam Darshan ticket, Rs 250 on the schedule page and Rs 300 on the pooja list, so treat the counter price as the one to check.
Source: shrikashivishwanath.org, read 19 Oct 2026.
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 |
Source: shrikashivishwanath.org, read 19 Oct 2026.
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
Covered shoulders and knees is the safe default at all twelve. Loose clothing is easier to sit in on stone floors, and footwear you can take off and carry matters more than style.
Not allowed inside the sanctum area at any of the twelve. Lockers and deposit counters sit at or near the gate, and the security check is at the queue entrance.
Large bags slow the queue and are usually refused. Offerings are bought outside, and nothing beyond a simple one is needed.
The temple counter is the only place this page trusts for anything paid inside the premises. Local shops sell items to carry in, but not a place in the queue.
The exact dress notice and the list of banned items are posted at each gate.Data check pending
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
- Arrive a little early and leave your shoes and bags at the stand or locker near the gate. Keep the slip.
- Join the free queue, or the paid line if you booked one. Expect a security check at the entrance.
- Darshan at the linga. It is brief; keep moving so the queue behind you keeps moving.
- Offerings are bought outside the temple. Nothing costly is needed, and the priests at the counter take what the temple provides.
- Sit for the aarti if the timing lines up, otherwise walk the temple at your own pace.
- See the rest of the temple complex: the tank, the wells or the corridor, depending on the temple.
- Eat outside the gate and leave, or hold the evening for the last aarti.
Timings for each step depend on the season and the queue on the day.Data check pending
What this page was checked against
Every figure on this page comes from a source this site read, listed here with the date it was read, so you can open the same page.
- Day schedule, darshan windows and Sugam Darshan hoursshrikashivishwanath.org/general/daily_scheduleRead 19 Oct 2026
- Aarti names, aarti charges and rudrabhishek chargesshrikashivishwanath.org/general/aartiRead 19 Oct 2026 · The trust helps desk is +91 6393 131 608 and +91 7080292930, given as 9 AM to 6 PM. The trust site has no railhead or airport distance, so that stays unchecked.