Home / Temples / Bandi Devi Mandir
Devi TempleJust before reaching Dasaswamedh Ghat, down a narrow, winding lane, Bandi Devi is worshipped as a goddess specifically associated with freedom from bondage — the Kashi Khand links sincere worship here, combined with a ritual bath at what it calls Prayag Teerth (identified with present-day Dasaswamedh Ghat), to release from literal iron chains.
The Kashi Khand (Chapter 70, Shloka 50) makes an unusually specific promise for this shrine: that devotion here can bring about the release of a friend or relative imprisoned elsewhere, even at a distance — a devotional focus on freedom and release that sets Bandi Devi apart from the more general prosperity or protection themes found at most of Kashi's other goddess shrines.
Local tradition extends this further, with people facing the possibility of legal or jail trouble advised to fast and worship Bandi Devi specifically on Tuesdays, taking only one meal on fasting days — a devotional practice distinct from the standard daily or Navratri-focused worship seen elsewhere.
Its position just off Dasaswamedh Ghat — the city's single busiest riverside stretch — means Bandi Devi sits within easy reach of the nightly Ganga Aarti crowds, even though the shrine itself, reached through narrow lanes with help from local shopkeepers, is a world apart from that open, crowded ghat frontage.
Just before Dasaswamedh Ghat, down a narrow lane (ask local shopkeepers)
Release from imprisonment and worldly bondage
Fasting and worship on Tuesdays for those facing legal trouble
'Bandi' relates to bondage or imprisonment — the Kashi Khand specifically links worship here to release from literal and figurative bondage, including the freedom of someone imprisoned elsewhere.
Tell us your dates on WhatsApp — we'll build a route around the temples and ghats that matter most to you.