Varanasi Activities: Aarti, Boats and Food

October 18, 2026

Varanasi, also called Banaras and Kashi, is a pilgrimage city on the Ganga where most of the day happens on the riverside steps, in the lanes behind them and in the temples. The UK government lists no travel warning for Varanasi, and the usual India cautions apply: crowds, touts and quoted prices that need agreeing in advance. Prices below are in Indian rupees (INR, roughly 95 to the US dollar) and are approximate, so check before you go.

Evening Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat

The nightly fire ceremony lasts about 45 minutes and is organised by Ganga Seva Nidhi. Watching from the steps is free. It is tied to sunset, so it runs at around 5:45 to 6:00 pm from October to March and 6:45 to 7:00 pm from April to September, and the time shifts daily. Arrive 30 to 45 minutes early for a place on the steps. A boat seat gives a view from the water and costs extra. Assi Ghat holds a smaller evening aarti if the main ghat is too crowded. There is no aarti at Manikarnika.

Subah-e-Banaras at Assi Ghat

This free dawn programme starts before sunrise, roughly 45 minutes ahead of it, so the clock time moves with the season. It runs about two hours and includes Vedic chanting, a morning aarti, a fire ritual, classical raga music and open-air yoga. See the official Subah-e-Banaras site for the format.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple

The temple is open 03:00 to 23:00, and general entry is free. Mobile phones, cameras, other gadgets and pens are not allowed inside, and free lockers are provided at the entrances. There is no formal dress code, but cover shoulders and knees. Sugam Darshan, the queue-skip option, costs INR 300 per person and should be booked only on the trust’s own site, because fake booking sites exist. Foreign visitors with a valid passport can buy a darshan ticket for INR 600 at the head-office help desk, showing the original passport. Staff at the gate decide who enters the sanctum, so follow their directions. The temple trust FAQ lists timings and the aarti tickets.

Sunrise boat on the Ganga

A rowboat between Assi and Dashashwamedh is the classic morning outing. Quotes range widely, from a few hundred rupees to about INR 1,500 an hour, so agree the total, whether it is per boat or per head, the route and the duration before you board. Stay out of the river and do not drink the water, as it is polluted. Do not photograph the burning ghats from the boat or anywhere else. July to September is flood season, when the district suspends boats at short notice, most recently in September 2026, so check that boats are running.

Two working cremation grounds

Manikarnika and Harishchandra are working cremation grounds where families are mourning. Keep away, keep quiet and keep cameras down. Decline anyone who offers to take you to a rooftop to look, because the offer usually ends in a demand for “wood money”. Manikarnika is under a restoration project, so access and conditions there can change; make no plans around it.

Street food and silk

Kachori Gali serves kachori with sabzi for breakfast, tamatar chaat is a local specialty, and lassi is a standard stop in the lanes near Dashashwamedh. Malaiyo, a milk foam sweet, appears only from November to February. Banarasi brocade is woven in Madanpura, Alaipura and Lallapura, so buy from a weaver and not from a shop a driver brings you to.

When to go

October to March is the comfortable season. April to June is very hot, so keep sightseeing to early morning and evening. Dev Deepawali falls on 24 November 2026, and rooms sell out well ahead. For boat and walk tickets, browse Varanasi aarti boat tours and confirm the route and the price per person.