Varanasi · Festivals

Festivals in Varanasi

What Varanasi keeps, and when. Dates move with the lunar calendar, so each one is given by its month rather than by a date that would be wrong most years.

Maha Shivratri in Varanasi — the queue outside Kashi Vishwanath before dawn, marigolds and water vessels

Phalguna — February or March

Maha Shivratri महाशिवरात्रि

The night Varanasi belongs most completely to Shiva.

Dev Deepawali — earthen lamps in rows down the ghat steps at dusk, the river dark beyond

Kartik Purnima — November, a fortnight after Diwali

Dev Deepawali देव दीपावली

Every step of every ghat carries a lamp.

Ganga Mahotsav — a classical music performance on a lit stage above the ghat steps at night

The days leading to Kartik Purnima — November

Ganga Mahotsav गंगा महोत्सव

Four evenings of classical music on the river steps.

Masan Holi — ash thrown in the air above the cremation ghat, figures silhouetted against smoke

Around Holi, after Rangbhari Ekadashi — March

Masan Holi मसान होली

Holi played with ash, at the burning ghats.

Ramnagar Ramlila — an open-air performance lit by lanterns, the audience seated on the ground around it

Bhadrapad to Kartik — a month, September to October

Ramnagar Ramlila रामनगर रामलीला

A month-long Ramayana staged across a whole town.

Nag Nathaiya at Tulsi Ghat — a kadamba branch over the river, boats crowded below

Kartik — November

Nag Nathaiya नाग नथैया

Krishna subdues the serpent, from a branch over the river.

Stays

Where to stay in Varanasi

All houses

Pratham, Varanasi: double bed with an ochre runner facing a leaded-glass window, wooden ceiling with a fan, air conditioning and a door open to the screened verandah

PrathamOur first house: amber light, a wooden ceiling and a balcony full of flowers

Minimilist, Varanasi: white bedroom with a double bed under a yellow-and-white block-print spread, saffron curtains at a barred window, two wall sconces and a marble floor with an inlaid border

MinimilistWhite walls, marigold accents and room to think

Boutique, Varanasi: teal bedroom with gold wall mouldings, dark tufted headboard, blue cushions and runner, upholstered bench at the foot of the bed

BoutiqueThree rooms, three moods: blue and gold, rose, and emerald

Santorini, Varanasi: white room with a teak bed, blue cushions and runner, blue shutters open to the balcony and a blue console table opposite

SantoriniWhitewash, cobalt and jali windows framing the Varanasi sky

Gardenia, Varanasi: double bed with a yellow headboard and bedspread, rolled towels laid out, mustard wardrobes either side of a white arched niche, marble floor

GardeniaSunlit yellow rooms that open onto a shaded garden lawn