Evening Ganga and Old City Walk with Aarti Ceremony Tour

We will begin our tour on the riverfront at Dashashwamedh Ghat, heading towards Assi Ghat taking in all the sights of life along the river. Be prepared to see a lot of unusual, inspiring and amazing things!

From the ghats you’ll go up-up-up one of the many steep staircases and head into the winding alleyways to discover fascinating temples and ashrams like you’ve never seen or heard of before. Your guide will share the most interesting legends and facts to give you a better understanding of their purpose and importance. The tour will make its way through the famous Bengali Tola bazaar bustling with South Indian pilgrims, sitar shops, small temples and food and sweet shops.

Highlights include:

A visit to an Akhada - a place where men go to perform ancient Indian exercise, equivalent to a "gym" as we call it today.
Visit the cow sanctuary and learn how they care for their prized - holy - cows and the different ways they utilize almost everything that comes from the cow including milk and dung.
Kedar Ghat - Check out the colorful façade of one of Varanasi’s most famous temples and watch all the activity in and around the temple

The tour will culminate at Dashashwamedh Ghat where we will stay and watch the spectacular evening Aarti ceremony performed by students of the Vedas and Upanishads to worship the mighty Ganga River. The beautiful Hindu ritual of worship (known as puja) unfolds each night on the banks of the Ganga with brass lamps, bells, fire and incense, accompanied with chants and hundreds of candles floating on the river.

From here we will help you find a rickshaw back to your hotel.

Start: Varanasi Old City Tour office

End: Dashashwamedh Ghat

When: 3:00pm to 7:30pm (walking tour duration is approximately 3 to 3.5 hours plus 1 hour Aarti ceremony). Start time varies depending on weather, so please check with us.