Airport or station pickup and hotel check-in. A gentle first evening - the regular Dashashwamedh aarti from the steps, then dinner, so you have the city in your legs before the crowds arrive.
The night a million lamps come down to the river
Dev Deepawali falls on Kartik Purnima, fifteen days after Diwali, and it is the one evening when all eighty-four ghats are lit end to end with earthen lamps. Locals say the gods come down to bathe in the Ganga that night. Whether or not you believe it, a five-kilometre curve of riverfront under a million flames is not a thing you forget.
It is also the easiest night of the year to get wrong. Boats triple in price and vanish by October, the lanes close to vehicles from mid-afternoon, and the good rooftops are booked months out. We hold boats and rooms from the previous season, which is why this package opens early and closes early.
Airport or station pickup and hotel check-in. A gentle first evening - the regular Dashashwamedh aarti from the steps, then dinner, so you have the city in your legs before the crowds arrive.
Early darshan at Kashi Vishwanath before the festival crowd builds, then Sarnath for the stupa and museum. Back by mid-afternoon; the evening is free to rest, because tomorrow runs long.
A quiet morning and an early lunch. We walk to the river by four, well before the lanes seal, and board a reserved boat as the first lamps are lit. Two hours on the water covering the whole lit riverfront, the Ganga aarti and the floating diyas, then a rooftop dinner looking down on it.
For anyone still awake, a half-day drive to Chunar Fort above the river. Otherwise a late breakfast, the silk weavers if you want them, and a drop to your train or flight.
This is how the tour usually runs, not a contract. Every itinerary is rewritten around your dates, your pace and your group — tell us what you want to change and we will rebuild it.
Already in the quoted price
Paid separately, or on the day
Your family alone on the water instead of a shared deck. Numbers are strictly limited.
From ₹24,000 per boatA local photographer who knows which ghat catches the light at which hour.
₹6,500 per eveningA room with the Ganga in the window rather than the lane behind it.
On requestThe traditional Kartik Purnima meal, served the way Banaras households eat it.
₹1,100 per person
Anything we have not covered? Message us and a planner in Varanasi will reply, usually within the hour.
Message UsNinety days is comfortable, sixty is tight, thirty is usually too late for a river-side room or a good boat position. The date moves with the lunar calendar, so ask us for the exact date of the year you are planning.
Several lakh people come to the ghats that evening. That is why we walk you in early, keep the group small and put you on the water - from a boat the crowd becomes the view rather than the problem.
Children do well; they love the lamps. For elderly travellers it depends on stamina - the walk in is about fifteen minutes and there is no vehicle access. We can arrange a closer drop point and assistance, but tell us at booking.
You will. Boats are held and paid for from the previous season, before the price runs up. If the district administration restricts boating for safety on the night, we move you to a reserved rooftop and refund the boating component.
Best Seller 2N/3D Kashi Vishwanath darshan, a sunrise boat ride, the Dashashwamedh aarti from the water and a morning at Sarnath.
2N/3D A boat to the Triveni Sangam, Bade Hanuman lying down rather than standing, and the house where the freedom movement was argued out.
Popular 4N/5D The full Kashi experience, then a morning road transfer north for Ram Janmabhoomi darshan and the Saryu aarti.
Let Kashi Experts help you plan a journey that touches your soul.
