Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple tickets and tours: which one to book

No ticket for the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple is sold online, and none is required. It is one of the busiest shrines in Varanasi, entry is free for everyone, and you simply join the flow of worshippers at the gate. Phones, cameras and bags are not allowed inside, and the temple runs its own lockers near the entrance where they can be left for a small charge. The traditional offering is a box of besan laddoos, sweet gram-flour balls bought from the stalls within the temple grounds, which are blessed and returned as prasad. The temple stands in the south of the city, close to Banaras Hindu University and about 1.5 km from Assi Ghat, so most visitors come by auto-rickshaw or cycle-rickshaw from the ghats, or walk from the Assi area.

It is a natural stop on a morning or a half-day temple circuit of southern Varanasi, which commonly includes the Durga temple, the Tulsi Manas Mandir and the new Vishwanath temple on the university campus. Guided walks of this kind usually include a car or rickshaw and a guide but no offerings or donations. Many longer Varanasi tours concentrate on the ghats, the evening aarti at Dashashwamedh and a sunrise boat ride, and skip Sankat Mochan altogether, so check the route if the temple matters to you. The page lists any GetYourGuide tours whose route passes the temple.

Visiting Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple: what to see and how to behave

The temple is dedicated to Hanuman in his form as Sankat Mochan, the one who frees devotees from trouble. It is linked with the poet-saint Tulsidas, author of the Ramcharitmanas, the Hindi retelling of the Ramayana, who is said to have had a vision of Hanuman here and founded the shrine on the spot. Tradition holds that he wrote much of his epic at this place. The stone image in the inner shrine is attributed to his time, while most of the surrounding buildings went up in the mid 20th century, as the city spread south and the university grew around it. The complex sits in a patch of semi-wild woodland, home to many monkeys, and you approach through shaded paths to the open courtyard and the shrine.

Opposite Hanuman, as is customary, is a shrine to Rama, his lord. The most moving thing to see is the devotion itself: groups reciting the Hanuman Chalisa and the Sundar Kand, the part of the epic that celebrates Hanuman, and expounders discussing the poem in the courtyard in the afternoons. Copies of the texts are handed out free. In 2006 a bomb exploded here during the evening aarti; worship resumed the next day, and a police post now guards the temple, which explains the security checks at the gate. Remove your shoes, dress modestly, keep a firm hold on any food, since the monkeys are bold, and follow the queue. Leave all electronics in the lockers.

Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

The temple opens very early, around 4.30 am, and stays open until late evening, with the doors to the shrine closed for darshan from about noon to 3 pm. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, Hanuman's days, it stays open later and the crowds are much larger. The early morning and evening aarti are the most atmospheric times. For a calmer visit, come on a weekday morning other than Tuesday or Saturday. October to March is the most comfortable season in Varanasi;

the summer is extremely hot and the monsoon humid. Hanuman Jayanti, in spring, brings all-night recitations, and around the same time the temple hosts its renowned classical music festival, when leading musicians and dancers perform through the night. The Ramlila at Tulsi Ghat, staged over the Dussehra season in autumn, is also sponsored by the temple. Allow about an hour. Combine the visit with the Durga temple nearby, the university campus and an evening at Assi Ghat.