01Dashashwamedh Ghat (Ganga Aarti)
Varanasi's busiest ghat, where every evening priests in maroon and cream swing tiered brass lamps to drums and conch shells before thousands seated on the steps.
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Sunrise on the Ganges, firelight at every ghat
Varanasi
Varanasi wakes before you do. By six the rowboats are out, oars knocking against the current while pilgrims step into the Ganges below eighty-four stone ghats. By evening those same steps fill with smoke, bells and brass lamps as the Ganga Aarti begins, and the whole riverfront turns to fire and chanting.
Best timeOctober to March, when mornings are cool and dry for boat rides; Dev Deepawali in November lights the ghats with thousands of lamps.
Ideal duration2-3 days
Great forPilgrims, culture seekers, photographers and first-time India travellers
Trip highlights
Sunrise boat ride on the GangesEvening Ganga Aarti at DashashwamedhDarshan at Kashi VishwanathDay trip to SarnathBanarasi silk and street food
Top places in Varanasi
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02Sunrise Boat Ride on the Ganges
Push off at first light and row past the full sweep of the ghats, bathers, wrestlers and temple spires, with the sun coming up over the water.
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03Kashi Vishwanath Temple
Shiva's most revered shrine and one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, crowned by a gold-plated spire. The new riverside corridor now links it straight to the Ganges.
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04Manikarnika Ghat
The city's main cremation ghat, where fires have burned without pause for centuries. Hindus believe last rites here release the soul from rebirth. Watch respectfully.
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05Sarnath (Dhamek Stupa)
Ten kilometres out, the deer park where the Buddha gave his first sermon. The massive brick Dhamek Stupa still rises over the excavated monastery ruins.
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