What's on in Varanasi (Benares), India through the year

Peak crowds — Makar Sankranti, Winter break in India

• Festival

  Makar Sankranti

  13–16 JanMajor festivalCrowded

  Kites over the old city all day and a dawn dip at the ghats on 14 January, the day the sun turns north. Sesame sweets from every stall, and the one bright morning inside the fog weeks. Source ↗

Still on: Post-Diwali smog (25 Oct – 10 Feb (usually)), Winter fog (15 Dec – 31 Jan (usually))

Busy — Mahashivratri, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Mahashivratri

  10 Feb – 15 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The night of the city's own god. Queues at the Kashi Vishwanath temple run for hours and continue all night, and the lanes of the old town are impassable from the afternoon before. Source ↗

• Festival

  Holi

  25 Feb – 20 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalClosuresRisk

  Taken harder here than almost anywhere, and largely impossible to sit out. The ghats and the old town are unusable for most of the day, boats stop running, and shops stay shut into the afternoon. Source ↗

Still on: Post-Diwali smog (25 Oct – 10 Feb (usually))

Busy — Mahashivratri, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Mahashivratri (10 Feb – 15 Mar (usually)), Holi (25 Feb – 20 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Buddha Purnima at Sarnath, Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India

• Season

  Plains summer

  15 Apr – 20 Jun · usuallyExtreme heat

  The Gangetic plain at its worst: the ghats are empty between ten and five and the stone is too hot to sit on. Sunrise boats and evening aarti still work, and nothing in between does.

• Festival

  Buddha Purnima at Sarnath

  25 Apr – 25 May · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Sarnath, where the first sermon was given, takes a procession and pilgrims from across Asia on the May full moon. It is ten kilometres out of town and the one reason to leave the river in that heat. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Buddha Purnima at Sarnath, Summer vacation (north & east) in India

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Plains summer (15 Apr – 20 Jun (usually)), Buddha Purnima at Sarnath (25 Apr – 25 May (usually))

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Plains summer (15 Apr – 20 Jun (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Hazard

  Ghats under water

  25 Jul – 15 Sep · usuallyFlood seasonClosures

  In most monsoons the Ganga rises over the lower ghats, the boats are grounded by order, and the evening aarti moves to higher ground. Cremations at Manikarnika shift up the steps into the lanes. Source ↗

Quiet — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Ghats under water (25 Jul – 15 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Festival

  Ramnagar Ramlila

  5 Sep – 15 Oct · usuallyMajor festival

  A month of nightly open-air Ramlila staged across Ramnagar on the far bank, unamplified and lit by lanterns, with the audience walking between locations. It has run under the maharaja's patronage for two centuries. Source ↗

Still on: Ghats under water (25 Jul – 15 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Chhath Puja, Autumn break (Dussehra / Diwali) in India

• Festival

  Chhath Puja

  24 Oct – 22 Nov · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Four days of fasting for the sun god in Kartik, and the one festival that fills the ghats twice in a day: at sunset, then again before dawn, families standing waist-deep in the river with their offerings. Assi and Dashashwamedh take the biggest crowds. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Post-Diwali smog

  25 Oct – 10 Feb · usuallyWinter smog

  Stubble burning upwind, firecrackers and a cold air trap put the plains under a brown haze from Diwali onward. The fog weeks that follow hold it down rather than clear it. Source ↗

Still on: Ramnagar Ramlila (5 Sep – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Chhath Puja, Dev Deepawali

• Festival

  Dev Deepawali

  24 NovDiwaliCrowdedBook early

  On Kartik Purnima, a fortnight after Diwali, every step of every ghat is set with oil lamps and the whole river front is lit at once. The single busiest night of the Varanasi year; boats are booked months ahead. Source ↗

Still on: Chhath Puja (24 Oct – 22 Nov (usually)), Post-Diwali smog (25 Oct – 10 Feb (usually))

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Winter fog

  15 Dec – 31 Jan · usuallyFog seasonClosures

  Dense plains fog settles over the river for weeks and takes the flights and the trains with it, with delays measured in hours rather than minutes. The sunrise boat is a matter of luck. Source ↗

Still on: Post-Diwali smog (25 Oct – 10 Feb (usually))