Dev Deepawali 2026 in Varanasi: the date, the ghats, and how to see it

When is Dev Deepawali in 2026?

Dev Deepawali is celebrated on Kartik Purnima, the full-moon day of the Hindu month of Kartik. In 2026 it falls on Tuesday, 24 November. Drik Panchang, calculating for Varanasi, gives the Purnima tithi as beginning at 11:42 PM on 23 November and ending at 8:23 PM on 24 November, and the pradosh-kaal muhurat - the dusk window in which the lamps are lit - as 5:08 PM to 7:47 PM on the 24th.

The practical reading is simple: the lamps go up at dusk on the 24th, and that is the evening to be on or beside the river. Many pilgrims also take a holy dip in the Ganga on the morning of Kartik Purnima, so the ghats are busy from first light.

What happens on the evening

As the light goes, the steps of the riverfront ghats - from Ravidas Ghat at the southern end to Rajghat in the north - are lined with earthen lamps; Wikipedia puts the count at more than a million diyas. The gods are believed to descend to bathe in the Ganga on this night, and the festival also marks Shiva's victory over the demon Tripurasura. Hence the name: the Diwali of the gods.

At Dashashwamedh Ghat the evening Ganga Aarti is performed on its grandest scale of the year. Police and armed-forces officers lay wreaths at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at Dashashwamedh and the adjoining Rajendra Prasad Ghat, and the Last Post is played. The lamp-lighting in its present form is younger than most visitors assume: it was first started at Dashashwamedh Ghat in 1991 by Pandit Kishori Raman Dubey, known as Babu Maharaj.

Dev Deepawali also closes the Ganga Mahotsav, a five-day cultural festival that runs from Prabodhini Ekadashi to Kartik Purnima.

River or ghat: where to watch from

There are two ways to see it, and they are different evenings. From a boat you see the whole crescent of lit ghats at once - the view in every photograph. From the steps you are inside the festival, close to the aarti and the lamps, but you see one stretch rather than the sweep.

• A boat is the better view and the harder booking. Operators price this one night far above ordinary fares, and boats sell out. Book well ahead, and agree the fare, the boarding ghat, the route and life jackets in writing before you pay.
• The Varanasi Municipal Corporation fixed everyday boat fares in January 2025 and displays the lists at the major ghats. Fare complaints go to the help desk at the Kashi Integrated Command and Control Centre on toll-free 1533.
• On the ghats, arrive well before dusk. The main ghats fill early and the lanes behind them turn into slow rivers of people.
• Agree a meeting point with your group before you walk down. In that crowd you will not find each other by phone.

Getting there from Shivpur

Hotel Vagmi is about 6 km by road from Dashashwamedh Ghat. On an ordinary evening that is a short drive. On Dev Deepawali, vehicle movement around the old city is restricted and the last stretch to the river is on foot, so leave early - by mid-afternoon if you want a place on the steps, earlier still if your boat boards before dusk.

The hotel's travel desk arranges cabs and will book a boat for guests. For this night, ask when you book your room rather than the evening before: boats for Dev Deepawali are gone long before the week itself.

Festival dates follow the lunar calendar and are given here as calculated by Drik Panchang for Varanasi. Road closures, ghat arrangements and boat rules for 2026 are announced by the district administration closer to the day - the front desk will tell you what has been announced when you arrive.

Planning the stay

Dev Deepawali is the busiest night of Varanasi's year, and rooms across the city go weeks ahead. If you are coming for the evening of 24 November, arrive on the 23rd: it gives you the morning of the 24th for a dip or a quiet boat at dawn, and keeps you out of festival-day traffic from the station or the airport.

• Arrive 23 November, leave 25 November - two nights around the festival evening.
• Book the boat when you book the room.
• Carry a small bag only. The crowd is dense and your hands are better free.