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Kashi has more temples than any pilgrim could cover in one trip. This is a working shortlist — the ones visitors actually ask us about — each with its own history, darshan timings and visiting notes, written by a team that walks these lanes every week.
The heart of Kashi — Vishwanath Gali, near Lalita Ghat.
Read the full guideVaranasi's guardian deity — Vishesharganj, near the old Kotwali police post.
Read the full guideA calmer, modern Vishwanath — Banaras Hindu University campus.
Read the full guideThe lingam that's said to keep growing — Near Madanpura, close to the weavers' lanes.
Read the full guideA small slice of Kathmandu on the Ganga — Lalita Ghat.
Read the full guideVaranasi's own leaning tower — Manikarnika Ghat.
Read the full guidePrayers for health and longevity — Daranagar, on the route to Kaal Bhairav.
Read the full guideThe goddess who feeds Kashi — Right next to Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Read the full guideOne of India's Shakti Peethas — Mir Ghat.
Read the full guideRed walls, a sacred tank, and resident monkeys — Durga Kund, Bhelupur.
Read the full guideA goddess devotees turn to in hard times — Near Sindhia Ghat.
Read the full guideWhere the Ramcharitmanas was written — Near Durga Kund, Bhelupur.
Read the full guideVaranasi's best-loved Hanuman temple — Near Banaras Hindu University.
Read the full guideA temple with a map instead of a deity — Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith campus.
Read the full guideSaid to be the oldest temple in Kashi — Where the Varuna river meets the Ganga.
Read the full guideA once-grand temple, rebuilt after demolition — Near Panchganga Ghat.
Read the full guideA temple to the author of the Mahabharata — Ramnagar, across the river.
Read the full guideA piece of Kedarnath, on the Ganga — Kedar Ghat.
Read the full guideA sunken tank sacred to the sun god — Near Assi Ghat.
Read the full guidePrayed to before any new beginning — Near Kashi Vishwanath, old city lanes.
Read the full guideThe seeker's Ganesh — Near Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
Read the full guideThe first form of the goddess worshipped in Navratri — Alaipura, old city.
Read the full guideA temple that gives its name to its ghat — Trilochan Ghat.
Read the full guideKashi's own echo of the Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga — Beyond Machhodari, northern old city.
Read the full guideKashi's local Somnath — Man Mandir Ghat.
Read the full guideA temple some say predates Kashi Vishwanath itself — Near Panchganga Ghat.
Read the full guideOne of Kashi's twelve sun shrines — Old city, near the Vishnu temple circuit.
Read the full guideThe goddess who names her own ghat — Lalita Ghat.
Read the full guideKashi's stand-in for the Ujjain Jyotirlinga — Daranagar.
Read the full guideA tank dedicated to spiritual release — Pisachmochan, southern Varanasi.
Read the full guideThe gentler, younger face of Bhairav — Old city lanes, within the Bhairav circuit.
Read the full guideA quieter Bhairav shrine on the city's edge — Alaipura, north-eastern Varanasi.
Read the full guideA goddess invoked for marital harmony and wellbeing — Near Kashi Vishwanath, old city.
Read the full guideThe goddess of protection, right by the main ghat — Near Dashashwamedh Ghat.
Read the full guideKashi's local link to the Grishneshwar Jyotirlinga — Kashi Karvat.
Read the full guideKashi's stand-in for the Bheemashankar Jyotirlinga — Kashi Karvat.
Read the full guideKashi's local Nageshwar Jyotirlinga — Bhonsla Ghat.
Read the full guideKashi's local Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga — Sigra.
Read the full guideThe northern point of Kashi's sun-shrine circuit — Northern old city.
Read the full guideNamed for Samba, son of Krishna — Old city.
Read the full guideOne of the twelve suns of Kashi — Old city.
Read the full guideThe sun shrine named for dawn's first light — Old city.
Read the full guideThe elder among Kashi's twelve suns — Old city.
Read the full guideAssociated with purity and clarity — Old city.
Read the full guideWhere sun worship meets the river — Near the riverfront.
Read the full guideThe sun's association with Yama, lord of death — Old city.
Read the full guideNamed for the sun's rays — Old city.
Read the full guideCompleting Kashi's circuit of twelve suns — Old city.
Read the full guideOne of Kashi's eight guardian Bhairavas — Near Durga Kund.
Read the full guideHoused inside the Narsingeshwar Temple complex — Near Karnataka / Harishchandra Ghat.
Read the full guideA side-wall shrine inside the Kamakhya Temple — Kamakhya Temple, Kamachha.
Read the full guideA small shrine beside the well-known Batuk Bhairav Temple — Kamachha, beside Batuk Bhairav Temple.
Read the full guideOne of the lesser-visited stops on the eight-Bhairav circuit — Kashipura, near Maidagin Chauraha.
Read the full guideA small shrine beside the Dhanvantari Koop well — Mahamritunjaya Temple complex, Maidagin Chauraha.
Read the full guideThe closing stop on Kashi's eight-Bhairav pilgrimage — Gai Ghat, near Patan Darwaza.
Read the full guideA goddess shrine sharing its courtyard with a Shiva temple — Dharmeshwar Temple premises, near Meer Ghat.
Read the full guideA shrine that gives Chausatthi Ghat its name — Near Chausatthi Ghat.
Read the full guideA neighbourhood shrine to the 'ever-beautiful' goddess — Amethi locality.
Read the full guideA temple honouring a language as a goddess — Baralalpur.
Read the full guideA Vishnu shrine on Kashi's most sacred cremation ghat — Manikarnika Ghat.
Read the full guideAn ancient Shivling linked to a story about cows from Golok — Old city.
Read the full guideA temple to the legendary king who once ruled Kashi — Chowk.
Read the full guideA two-part riverside shrine the Kashi Khand says can grant great spiritual power — Sankatha Ghat.
Read the full guideA Kashi Khand goddess worshipped alongside Vishwanath and Annapurna — Dharam Koop, near Vishalakshi Temple.
Read the full guideThe first stop of the Nau Gauri Yatra, reached by boat or rickshaw to Gai Ghat — Gai Ghat, inside the Hanumanji temple complex.
Read the full guideA Gauri shrine standing between the Kali and Jagannath shrines in the Ram Mandir annexe — Near Annapurna Devi Temple.
Read the full guideThe ninth and closing shrine of the Nau Gauri Yatra, beside the sacred Lakshmi Kund — Lakshmi Kund, near Luxa.
Read the full guideA Nau Gauri shrine the Kashi Khand links to marital fortune and seniority in life — Sapt Sagar, near Maidagin.
Read the full guideA Nau Gauri shrine worshipped both near Gyanvapi and within the Vishwanath temple premises — Near the Gyanvapi complex / Bansphatak.
Read the full guideA Gauri shrine reached through the Chowk flower market, worshipped just before Shringar Gauri — Ck 38/8, near Adi Vishwanath Temple.
Read the full guideA boar-form Vishnu shrine standing by the Swarleeneshwar Shiva temple — Panch Agni Akhada Ghat.
Read the full guideA Narasimha shrine tucked beside the steps of Kedar Ghat — Kedar Ghat, beside Kedareshwar temple.
Read the full guideA Narasimha shrine at the ghat named for the avatar's most famous devotee — Prahlad Ghat.
Read the full guideA twin-sited Vishnu image, one viewable only through a window — Chowk, near Atma Veereshwar.
Read the full guideA dwarf-avatar Vishnu shrine in the Trilochaneshwar temple neighbourhood — Trilochan.
Read the full guideA Vishnu shrine named for his heavenly abode, near Scindia Ghat — Scindia Ghat, near Harishchandreshwar.
Read the full guideThe cosmic three-stride form of Vishnu, worshipped within a major Shiva temple — Trilochaneshwar Temple, Trilochan.
Read the full guideA Vishnu shrine at Bandi Devi, just back from Kashi's busiest ghat — Bandi Devi, Dashashwamedh Ghat.
Read the full guideA copper-toned Varaha image on a sloping old-city lane — Neelkanth Mohalla.
Read the full guideA 'white' Vishnu image facing the main idol inside Mir Ghat's Hanuman temple — Mir Ghat, inside the Big Hanuman Temple.
Read the full guideA Ganesha shrine inside a Shiva temple, right by Kashi's busiest ghat — Dasaswamedh Ghat, inside Shooltankeshwar temple.
Read the full guideA Ganesha shrine beside Kashi's famous sun-worship tank — Near Lolark Kund.
Read the full guideA Ganesha shrine for hope and wishes, beside Vishalakshi Temple — Mir Ghat, inside the Bare Hanuman Temple.
Read the full guideA Ganesha form tied to 'Avimukta,' the ancient name for Kashi's holiest core — Vishwanath temple premises / Gyanvapi area.
Read the full guideA Vinayak shrine on the outer Panchkosi pilgrimage road — Panchkosi route, outskirts of Varanasi.
Read the full guideA four-tusked Ganesha form on Nai Sarak's school premises — Sanatan Dharm School, Nai Sarak.
Read the full guideA Ganesha shrine for dissolving worry, beside an old city tank — East of Ishwar Gangi Talab, Babu Bazar.
Read the full guideA Shiva linga named for the legendary Magadha king Jarasandha — Mir Ghat, near Bare Hanuman Temple.
Read the full guideA 'thousand-eyed' Shiva linga near Varanasi City railway station — Marhia Ghat, near the Shailputri temple.
Read the full guideAn 'ocean lord' Shiva shrine on Bansphatak's busy main road — Bansphatak, on the main road.
Read the full guideA Shiva shrine named for Sati, on the road near Mrityunjay Mahadev — Near Vridhha Kaleshwar / Mrityunjeshwar, Bisheshwarganj.
Read the full guideA 'mountain lord' Shiva linga sharing its address with Sahasraksheshwar — Marhia Ghat, near the Shailputri temple.
Read the full guideOne of nine lingas at the Vishwanath temple's southern door, linked to Saturn — Inside Kashi Vishwanath Temple, southern door.
Read the full guideAn underground Shiva shrine tucked into Thatheri Bazar's metalworking lanes — Thatheri Bazar, underground.
Read the full guideThe Shiva temple on Dasaswamedh Ghat's steps that also houses Abhay Vinayak — Dasaswamedh Ghat.
Read the full guideA 'lord of scripture' Shiva linga near the leaning Ratneshwar temple — Near Ratneshwar, Bisheshwarganj.
Read the full guideA Shiva linga glimpsed only through a window in a lane behind Vishwanath — Kalika Galli.
Read the full guideA Shiva linga sharing its Lohatia compound with a well-known 'Bara Ganesh' — Lohatia, within the Bara Ganeshji premises.
Read the full guideA 'subtle' Shiva form beside the Dhoomavati Devi temple — Dhoop Chandi, at the Dhoomavati Devi temple.
Read the full guideA Shiva linga at the 'five fires' akhada near Rajghat — Naya Mahadev, Panchagni Akhada, Rajghat.
Read the full guideA 'gateway to heaven' Shiva linga affected by the Vishwanath Corridor expansion — Brahmanal.
Read the full guideA Shiva linga by the main gate of the well-visited Durga Devi temple — Durga Kund, near the Durga Devi temple's main entrance.
Read the full guideA 'three-eyed' Shiva linga also known as 'lord of the three worlds' — Hauj Katora.
Read the full guideA 'three daily prayer times' Shiva linga now inside the Vishwanath Corridor, by the river — Lahouri Tola, Phoote Ganesh — now within the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.
Read the full guideA peace-associated Shiva linga at Bhosala Ghat — Patani Tola, Bhosala Ghat.
Read the full guideA Shiva linga at Sankata Ghat representing one of the five classical faces of Shiva — Sankata Ghat.
Read the full guideA Shiva linga marking the sacred confluence that gives Varanasi its name — Rajghat Fort, at the Adi Keshav temple.
Read the full guideA water-god-linked Shiva linga near the Abhay Sanyas Ashram — Gomat, west of Jyoti Rupeshwar.
Read the full guideA Shiva linga honouring the sage Vashishtha, sharing Vamadeveshwar's ghat — Sankata Ghat.
Read the full guideA serpent-king-linked Shiva linga near Scindia Ghat's leaning temple — Scindia Ghat, near Brihaspateshwar.
Read the full guideA 'lord of the Vedas' Shiva linga at the historic Adi Keshav compound — Rajghat Fort, at the Adi Keshav temple, near Nakshatreshwar.
Read the full guideA sage-linked Shiva linga sharing its neighbourhood with the leaning Tilbhandeshwar temple — Til Bhandeshwar, Pandey Haveli.
Read the full guideA 'lord of knowledge' Shiva linga in Chowk's Siddheshwari locality — Siddheshwari, Chowk.
Read the full guideA 'spotless' Shiva form known locally as Neelkant, at the ghat named for Prahlad — Naya Mahadeo, Prahlad Ghat.
Read the full guideA Shiva linga in Dara Nagar, traditionally sought out by students — Dara Nagar, near Madhyameshwar temple.
Read the full guideA main Shiva temple where a single night's worship is said to equal three crore lingas — Scindia Ghat.
Read the full guideA main Shiva temple linked to Yam Raj, where rites here are said to equal those at Gaya — Mir Ghat, reached via Dashashwamedh.
Read the full guideA sun-installed Shiva linga beside Mangala Gauri, for relief from solar afflictions — Near Mangala Gauri Temple, reached via Bhaironath or Panchganga Ghat.
Read the full guideA linga said to equal seven crore Rudra Japas, rebuilt after Aurangzeb's destruction — West of Har Tirath pond, Mrityunjay Mahadev Road, via Bishweshwarganj.
Read the full guideAn 'elder' time-lord Shiva form sharing its compound with Mrityunjay Mahadev — Within the Mrityunjay Mahadev temple premises, via Bishweshwarganj.
Read the full guideA complete directory of Kashi's fifty-six named Ganesha shrines — Spread across the old city.
Read the full guideA complete directory of Kashi's lesser-known, individually named Shiva lingas — Spread across the old city.
Read the full guideThe remaining names from Kashi's traditional set of twenty-four Vishnu forms — Spread across the old city.
Read the full guideA goddess shrine standing right outside Sankata Devi's own temple — Outside Sankata Devi Temple.
Read the full guideA boar-headed goddess shrine beside the astronomical Man Mandir observatory — Manmandir Ghat.
Read the full guideA fierce Mahavidya goddess shrine among Mir Ghat's dense cluster of temples — Mir Ghat.
Read the full guideA 'beauty of the three worlds' goddess, also known locally as Shitla Devi — Mohalla Kashmiri Mal ki Haveli, near Pita Maheshwar.
Read the full guideA Navadurga goddess temple in Jaitpura, with a separate Vageshwari shrine within the same premises — Jaitpura, near the police station.
Read the full guideA goddess of fortune and spiritual accomplishment, facing Siddhi Vinayak at Manikarnika — Manikarnika, opposite Siddhi Vinayak.
Read the full guideThe goddess who gives her name to Varanasi's most significant cremation ghat — Scindia Ghat, opposite Atma Veereshwar Temple.
Read the full guideA Navadurga goddess worshipped within the Atma Veereshwar Shiva temple — Scindia Ghat, within Atma Veereshwar Temple.
Read the full guideA separate Kamakhya shrine at Kamachha, near the well-known Batuk Bhairav temple — Kamachha, near Batuk Bhairav.
Read the full guideA fierce guardian goddess north of Lolark Kund, locally called Mahishasura Mardini — Hayagreeva Teerth, north of Lolark Kund.
Read the full guideA thousand-shouldered guardian goddess, locally called the Nav Durga Temple — Bhadaini.
Read the full guideA goddess devotees turn to for release from imprisonment and worldly bondage — Just before Dasaswamedh Ghat.
Read the full guideA sickle-bearing goddess beside Mahalakshmi Gauri at Lakshmi Kund — Kali Mutt, Lakshmi Kund.
Read the full guideA Shakti Peeth in the Cantonment area, where the priest is said to embody Kali during Saptami Aarti — Sadar Bazar, Cantonment.
Read the full guideThe fearsome seventh Navadurga form, worshipped in the lane that bears her name — Kalika Galli.
Read the full guideThe penance-and-discipline goddess, worshipped near Durga Ghat — Durga Ghat, near Brahmeshwar temple.
Read the full guideA ten-armed, lion-mounted goddess linked to clearing a devotee's record of sin — Chitra Ghanta Gulli, Chowk, opposite UCO Bank.
Read the full guideMost visitors pair temple darshan with a sunrise boat ride, a stay near the ghats, and a pooja or ritual booking for anything more involved than a quick darshan. If you'd rather not plan the route yourself, our tour packages can be built specifically around the temples on this page.
Tell us how much time you have on WhatsApp — we'll suggest a route that fits.