Maha Shivaratri 2027: Dates, Where to Celebrate and Travel Tips

Maha Shivaratri 2027 is expected on Saturday 6 March 2027, the night of Magha Krishna Chaturdashi in the lunar calendar ¹. A Delhi panchang lists the midnight Nishita Kaal puja window as roughly 12:07 to 12:56 AM on 7 March 2027, and the window moves by a few minutes in other cities ¹. The same panchang gives Sunday 15 February 2026 for the previous festival and Wednesday 23 February 2028 for the next ¹.

Maha Shivaratri falls on the fourteenth night of the waning moon, in the month of Magha or Phalguna depending on which lunar calendar is used, and unlike most Hindu festivals it is celebrated at night ². Nepali press calls the same night Falgun Krishna Chaturdashi ²⁰. Because it follows the moon, the Gregorian date shifts every year: 15 February in 2026, then 6 March in 2027 ¹.

For Maha Shivaratri 2027 in Varanasi, the practical window runs from the evening of Saturday 6 March 2027 into the early hours of Sunday 7 March 2027, and the date remains expected until the temple and the district publish their own arrangements ^{1 4}.

The festival honours Shiva and is linked in several stories to his marriage to Parvati, his tandava dance and the drinking of the poison halahala that earned him the name Nilakantha ². In Varanasi the wedding story is the one that fills the streets, because the Mahant family of Kashi Vishwanath Temple performs the wedding rituals of Shiva and Parvati on this night ¹³.

• Night of the vigil: Saturday 6 March into Sunday 7 March 2027 ¹

• Previous edition: Sunday 15 February 2026 ¹

• Next edition: Wednesday 23 February 2028 ¹

Tip: Treat 6 March as the evening you arrive at the gate, not the morning; the worship happens at night ².

General darshan at Kashi Vishwanath Temple is free, and on Maha Shivaratri it is the queue that grows longest ⁶. Sugam Darshan, the queue-skipping option, was listed at 250 INR in October 2026, and one guide notes it is not available during aarti or on special days ⁶. The temple site describes Sugam Darshan as queueless darshan with a Shastri escort, a free locker and Mewaladdu prasadam ⁴.

Aarti tickets are separate from darshan tickets. In October 2026 the listed prices were 500 INR for Mangala Aarti and 300 INR each for Sandhya Aarti and Shringar Aarti, while Shayan Aarti needs no ticket ⁶. General bookings open at 11:00 AM for the next 30 days, and Tatkal bookings open at 11:00 AM for the next day ⁶. The temple site points aarti bookings to its mobile app ⁴.

Maha Shivaratri is the night when this system is most likely to change. Online darshan and puja bookings were cancelled for 15 and 16 February 2026, with tickets already issued treated as cancelled ⁷. In 2025 the temple suspended protocol darshan from 25 to 27 February so that saints and Naga sadhus could worship undisturbed ¹². Arrangements for 6 March 2027 have not been published, so check the official site a few days before ⁴.

Foreign visitors follow a separate process. Show your original passport at the Darshan Booking Desk at the head office helpdesk near Shapuri Mall, hand over photocopies of your passport and visa, and pay 600 INR for the darshan ticket, which also brings prasadam and an Ang-Vastram ⁵.

• Free: general darshan ⁶

• 250 INR: Sugam Darshan, listed October 2026 ⁶

• 500 INR: Mangala Aarti, 3:00 to 4:00 AM ⁶

• 300 INR: Sandhya Aarti and Shringar Aarti ⁶

• 600 INR: darshan ticket for foreign visitors ⁵

Note: Sparsh Darshan, which lets you touch the Shivling, cannot be booked online and depends on the temple's schedule ⁶.

Plan to walk the last 1.5 km: vehicles stop about 1.5 km before the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, and most visitors cover the rest through narrow lanes ¹⁹. Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Babatpur is about 26 km northwest of the city centre ^{18 17}. A prepaid taxi takes 45 to 60 minutes and was listed at 800 to 1,200 INR in October 2026 ¹⁸. Air-conditioned electric buses on UPSRTC routes 101 and 102 cost 40 to 140 INR and take 60 to 75 minutes ¹⁸. Babatpur railway station sits 1 to 2 km from the terminal ¹⁸.

By rail, Varanasi Junction (BSB) is the largest station, with 11 platforms and more than 360,000 passengers and 240 trains a day ¹⁷. Banaras (BSBS) is a terminal with 8 platforms, and Varanasi City (BCY) is a terminal about 4 km north-east of the Junction ¹⁷. A Vande Bharat Express has linked Delhi and Varanasi since February 2019 ¹⁷.

The city absorbs 500,000 to 600,000 people a day, and on festivals such as Mahashivratri the number can reach millions ¹⁹. Jams are frequent at Godowlia, Maidagin and Chowka Ghat, and one reporter's 5 km auto trip from the Cantonment to Godowlia took 40 to 45 minutes ¹⁹. On Maha Shivaratri 2027 in Varanasi, expect the same corridor to be slower and closed to vehicles earlier, so leave the station or airport hours before you need to be at the gate.

• Arriving by air: taxi or e-bus to the city, then a drop point near Godaulia ^{18 19}

• Arriving by rail: Varanasi Junction, then an auto toward the old city ¹⁷

• Last stretch: on foot through the lanes, about 1.5 km ¹⁹

• Leaving: walk back to the same drop point before you book a ride ¹⁹

Tip: Shoes you can slip off, one small bag you can deposit, and a pin saved for your drop point make the walk easy.

The Maha Shivaratri vigil is called jagarana, and temples divide the night into four quarters, each with its own worship and chanting ². Devotees fast until the evening worship; some keep a strict water-free fast, others take only fruit and milk, and rice, wheat and pulses are avoided in favour of rock salt ². The lingam is bathed with water, milk, yogurt, honey and ghee, and bilva leaves are the offering most associated with Shiva ².

The oldest story behind the leaves is the hunter Lubdhaka, who spent a night in a bilva tree dropping leaves on a lingam below and was rewarded by Shiva ². In Kashi the night follows the same pattern, with one change that surprises first-timers: there is no Shayan Aarti on the festival night, because devotees stay awake all night ¹³. Mangala Aarti still runs from 3:00 to 4:00 AM, after which darshan stays continuous ¹³.

Recent editions show how the queue behaves. In 2025 the temple opened to devotees at 3:30 AM after Mangala Aarti, and about 2,000 police were deployed across the temple and the surrounding streets ¹². In 2026 one devotee who arrived at midnight reached darshan between 4:30 and 5:00 AM ⁹. In 2025 the temple counted 11.69 lakh visitors on the festival, while an ordinary February sees five to six lakh ¹⁰. For 2026, reports expected 1 to 1.5 million devotees at Kashi Vishwanath ⁸.

Akhara processions add their own blocks of time. In 2025 saints and akhara members worshipped from 6 to 9 AM, and a 30-minute akhara slot was set for 2 PM ¹¹. General darshan lines stay separate for the public at the ghats and at Saraswati Phatak ¹¹.

• Quarter by quarter: four watches of worship and chanting ²

• 3:00 to 4:00 AM: Mangala Aarti ¹³

• No Shayan Aarti: the night stays open for devotees ¹³

• Fast: fruit and milk, rock salt, no rice, wheat or pulses ²

Tip: Eat before the queue and carry water you can finish before the gate, because bags are deposited at the entrance ⁶.

The Shiv Barat in Kashi re-enacts the wedding of Shiva and Parvati, with two devotees dressed as the couple and the crowd dancing behind them ¹³. Tableaux appear from the morning, joined by saffron-clad sadhus and Naga saints ¹³. A morning procession runs from Tilbhandeshwar temple to Gauri Kedareshwar temple, where the Shiva and Parvati idols are installed a day before ¹³. The evening procession starts at Mrityunjay Mahadev Temple in Daranagar and ends at Godaulia ¹³.

The wedding itself belongs to the Mahant family of Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Tilak takes place on Vasant Panchami, haldi a day before Maha Shivaratri, and the marriage on Maha Shivaratri, all performed on a silver idol of Shiva with five heads and Parvati beside him ¹³.

Dates inside the festival can move. In 2025 the Shiv Barat was first planned for the day after Maha Shivaratri, then, after a dispute, the committee agreed to start it at 8 PM on the festival night itself ^{11 12}. In 2025 the akhara procession set off at 5:30 PM from Hanuman Ghat and Harishchandra Ghat toward Godowlia, then entered the temple through Gate No. 4 for a visit of two to two and a half hours ¹¹.

Maha Shivaratri 2027 in Varanasi will most likely follow this shape, but the exact hour and the exact route are announced locally close to the day. Some participants dance after drinking bhang, a milk-based drink that contains cannabis, so keep children and older relatives at the edge of the crowd ¹³.

• Morning: Tilbhandeshwar to Gauri Kedareshwar ¹³

• Evening: Mrityunjay Mahadev Temple, Daranagar, to Godaulia ¹³

• Wedding rituals: Mahant family, silver idol of Shiva with five heads ¹³

• Where to stand: the side lanes near Godaulia, away from the dancing core ¹³

Note: The Shiv Barat is a procession, not a ticketed event, so there is no gate or fee for watching from the street ¹³.

Mobile phones, cameras, other electronic gadgets and pens are not allowed inside Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and bags and personal belongings must be deposited before the queue ⁶. Leather items can cause trouble at security, so leave belts and wallets in your room ⁶. A guide advises 30 to 45 minutes of buffer for security and lockers before a paid darshan or aarti ⁶.

The Kashi Vishwanath Corridor changed how this works. The temple was rebuilt nearby by Ahilyabai Holkar in 1780, and the corridor linking it with the Ganga was inaugurated on 13 December 2021 ¹⁵. About 1,400 residents and businesses were relocated for the project, and more than 40 old temples were found and restored ¹⁵. Its gateway on the river is called Ganga Dwara ¹⁵. The temple averaged about 45,000 pilgrims a day in 2023 ¹⁵.

Gates matter because of ticket type. Gate No. 1 is the entry for general Mangala Aarti and Sandhya Aarti tickets, Gate 4B is for Tatkal tickets, and the helpdesk is near Gate No. 4 ⁶. On ordinary days the temple opens at 2:30 AM and closes at 11:00 PM ³. For help on the day, the temple helpline, which also takes WhatsApp, is +91 6393 131 608 ⁴.

There is no formal dress code, but dress modestly and wear breathable clothes, because Kashi can be hot ⁶. Avoid loud behaviour near the sanctum and follow queue instructions from temple staff ⁶.

• Not allowed: phones, cameras, gadgets, pens ⁶

• Deposit: bags and personal belongings ⁶

• Gates: Gate No. 1 general aarti tickets, Gate 4B Tatkal ⁶

• Carry: printed ticket and ID ⁶

Tip: Sugam Darshan includes a free locker, which saves the search for one in the lanes ⁴.

Early March in Varanasi is warm by day and mild at night: the 1991 to 2020 March normals show a mean daily high of 32.8°C, a mean low of 16.7°C and about 10.8 mm of rain at the city station ¹⁷. Maha Shivaratri 2027 is expected on 6 March, so a vigil that starts at dusk begins in the heat of the afternoon and runs into the cooler hours before dawn ¹.

The temple itself decides the crowd level more than the weather. On a scale of one to five, expect five from the evening until the early morning, because the festival fills the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, the courtyard and the lanes toward Godaulia ^{10 19}. A February average of five to six lakh visitors rose to 11.69 lakh on Mahashivratri 2025 ¹⁰.

For the Ganga, the evening aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat started at 5:45 PM in February and March 2026 and lasts about 45 minutes ¹⁴. The same guide says the ghat fills from about 5:00 PM in winter and advises arriving 30 to 45 minutes early ¹⁴. Dashashwamedh Ghat is the ghat closest to the Vishwanath Temple, and its aarti honours Shiva, Ganga, Surya, Agni and the universe ¹⁶.

The practical plan is to rest in the afternoon, eat a light meal before the evening and go to the gate with the sun already low. Wear light cotton, carry water you can drink before the gate and keep a thin layer for the early hours.

• Afternoon: hot, rest indoors ¹⁷

• Evening: aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat from about 5:45 PM in 2026 ¹⁴

• Night: cooler, long queue time ¹⁷

• Pack: light cotton, water, a thin layer

Tip: Visit the ghat before you join the queue, because the lanes fill and slow movement after dark ¹⁴.

The best base for Maha Shivaratri is a guesthouse in the old-city lanes near Godaulia and Dashashwamedh Ghat, because the last walk to the gates is short once vehicles stop ^{19 16}. Vehicles stop about 1.5 km before the corridor, so a room outside the zone adds that walk with luggage ¹⁹. Rooms in these lanes are small and sell out first, so book as soon as the date for 2027 is firm.

Assi Ghat is the calmer choice. It marks the traditional southern boundary of the city, is the major ghat closest to Banaras Hindu University, and has the Asisangameshwar Temple with two lingas ¹⁶. Staying near Assi means a longer trip north to the temple, but the area has more space for families and older relatives.

The Cantonment area near Varanasi Junction suits an early arrival or departure, with the old city a short but slow auto ride away; a 5 km auto trip from Cantt to Godowlia took 40 to 45 minutes ¹⁹. On a festival day the same trip can take longer.

Choose by what you will do:

• Old-city lanes: close to Godaulia, noisy through the night, small rooms ¹⁹

• Assi Ghat: calmer, further from the temple, good for families ¹⁶

• Cantonment: best for trains, slowest road to the temple ^{19 17}

• Check-in: ask the host how luggage reaches the room when lanes close

Book early, because the city expected 1 to 1.5 million devotees at Kashi Vishwanath on the 2026 festival ⁸. Ask the host about checking in on the afternoon of 6 March 2027. Carry a photocopy of your passport and visa for the foreign-visitor ticket and leave the originals in the room safe until you need them at the helpdesk ⁵.

Tip: Ask any guesthouse whether a porter can carry your bag through the lanes, because vehicles cannot reach many doors ¹⁹.

Your phone matters before the gate and after it, because Kashi Vishwanath Temple bars phones inside ⁶. The sequence on Maha Shivaratri 2027 is: confirm your ticket, walk to the gate, deposit the phone, queue for hours, collect it and find a ride ⁶. Every step except the queue depends on a working connection.

For the walk to the gate, download offline maps of the old city and save the pin for your drop point, because the lanes around Godowlia jam daily and the corridor is a no-vehicle area ¹⁹. Before you deposit the phone, switch to low-power mode and share a live location with your group. After darshan, the same crowd of 11.69 lakh people seen in 2025 would be using the same network ¹⁰.

For data on this trip, a travel eSIM lets you land at Babatpur with a connection and avoid searching for a shop before the first ride ¹⁸. Our India eSIM page lists compatible phones.

• Before the gate: offline map, saved pin, paper ticket ⁶

• At the gate: phone in the locker or at the hotel ⁶

• After darshan: share a live location, then walk to the outer road ¹⁹

• Call home: do it from the quiet side lanes, not inside the corridor

Tip: Agree a rule with your group that if a call drops, everyone walks to the last agreed landmark instead of redialling.