How to Plan a Dev Deepawali Trip: Stay, Boats, Costs

Dev Deepawali is on Tuesday 24 November 2026, according to most sources. That is the night the ghats of Varanasi are lined with lamps. If you want to be there, the order of decisions matters more than any single booking. This page is a countdown, from the first booking to the walk back.

New to the festival? Start with our Dev Deepawali 2026 guide. For the numbers, see the data story.

The short plan

Fix your dates. Plan to arrive on 23 November and stay at least until the morning of the 25th.
Book a bed first. Stays and boats filled up ahead of recent festivals.
Choose how you will watch. A boat, the ghat steps or a terrace. We compare them here.
Plan to walk. Roads near the ghats are restricted on big nights.
Check the notices. Police and district rules for the night are published close to the date.

The countdown

Four weeks out

Fix your dates, then book your stay. If you can afford to, stay within walking distance of the ghats: on the festival evening the last stretch is on foot, and a long walk back through a crowd is the part people regret. One travel guide says hotel prices double or triple on festival nights, so compare the total for your dates, not the headline rate.

Then book your train or flight. Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport is at Babatpur, roughly 26 km from the centre, according to a travel site. Trains reach Varanasi Junction and Banaras station. We have not checked 2026 fares or availability.

Two weeks out

Decide whether you want a boat. If you do, book directly with an operator and get four things in writing: the total price per person, the boarding ghat, how long the ride is and whether the boat carries life jackets. Operators’ listings for 24 November 2026 show shared boats from about ₹2,499 to ₹3,999 per person, and one gives up to ₹6,299.

If you want a seat for the Dashashwamedh aarti, read the note on seating under the money table below.

Save an offline map of the ghats, and share your plan with someone at home.

One week out

Read the notices from Varanasi Police and the district administration. In 2024 they declared a no-fly zone from 12 to 16 November, and in 2021 they barred boats from outside Varanasi from the river on the festival day. Those are past rules, but they show what to look for.
Check the forecast. November averages about 16 to 28 °C, with rain on about one day in a hundred, according to BestDateWeather’s ERA5-based summary. Cold snaps do happen: in November 2025 the minimum fell to 10.4 °C.
Pack (below).

The day before

Arrive early. Walk the route from your stay to the ghat in daylight, so you know where the lanes are and where you will leave. Eat a proper meal, charge your phone and power bank and agree a meeting point with your group in case you get separated.

The day itself

Our suggested shape, not an official programme:

Late morning to afternoon. Rest, and eat a late lunch. Keep the day light.
Early afternoon. Leave for your boat or your spot well before dusk. Hindutone gives sunset at about 5:07 pm on 24 November.
Twilight. The lamps go on along the ghats. Stay put and look.
Evening. The Dashashwamedh aarti is the fixed point. Varanasi Guru gives its winter start as about 5:45 to 6:00 pm and says it lasts around 45 minutes, so check the time locally.
After. Do not rush to leave. The crowd thins slowly, and the walk is easier an hour later.

The next morning

A dawn boat ride the day after is calmer, and you see the ghats after the night. Book it the evening before.

Getting to the ghats

Roads near the ghats are restricted on big nights. A cab operator’s guide says to be dropped at Godowlia, Lanka or Rajghat and walk the rest, and that ghat-side roads reportedly close from the afternoon of the 24th. Official rules for 2026 are not published yet, so ask your stay which lane to enter by and how long the walk is.

What it may cost

These are sellers’ and travel sites’ figures. They are indicative, not verified, and prices on the festival night are not published.

	Ordinary day	Festival night, as reported
Shared boat for the aarti, per person	₹300 to ₹800, according to a travel guide	₹2,499 to ₹3,999 in operators’ listings, up to ₹6,299 in one
Ghat-side mid-range room, per night	₹2,000 to ₹5,000, according to a travel site	“Double or triple”, according to one guide

A note on seating. Varanasi Guru says the only paid seating at the Dashashwamedh aarti is a platform run by Ganga Seva Nidhi, at ₹200 to ₹350 a seat, and that it sells out 30 to 45 minutes before the start. It also warns that touts sell “reserved seats” for ₹200 to ₹600 that do not exist. We could not confirm the price or the winter start time from an official page, so check before you go.

What to pack

Layers you can add and remove, and a warm one for the walk back.
Closed, comfortable shoes that slip off easily. You will be on steps, and sometimes asked to take them off.
A power bank, a small torch and a bag you can keep in front of you.
A copy of your ID, and the contact of your stay in your phone.
Water and a light snack. In a large crowd you may not move for a while.
A scarf for the cold, and a mask if smoke or dust bothers you.

The date moves

Dev Deepawali follows the lunar calendar, so the date changes from year to year. That is why you should confirm it before you book anything non-refundable.

The date moves by 25 days, so book the year, not the month

Day in November on which Dev Deepawali fell in Varanasi

2026 (expected)
Past years

View as table

Date of Dev Deepawali in Varanasi
Year	Date
2020	Monday, 30 November
2022	Monday, 7 November
2023	Monday, 27 November
2024	Friday, 15 November
2025	Wednesday, 5 November
2026	Tuesday, 24 November (expected)

Source: Uttar Pradesh government statements as reported by ANI, All India Radio and PTI (newsonair.gov.in, retrieved 25 October 2026). Kartik Purnima follows the lunar calendar. 2021 is left out because we could not confirm its date. Confirm the 2026 date against a Varanasi panchang before you book.

What we could not confirm

We could not confirm the official 2026 programme, the road, boat and drone rules for the night, or what boats and rooms will actually cost on 24 November. We also could not confirm whether the state’s four-day Ganga Mahotsav, held at Rajghat before the festival in 2025, will run again. Check the Uttar Pradesh government and Varanasi administration channels near the date.

Questions readers ask

How many days do I need for Dev Deepawali in Varanasi?

Three nights is a comfortable minimum in our view: one to settle in and see an ordinary evening aarti, the festival night itself, and a buffer for a dawn boat ride the next morning. That is editorial judgement, not an official figure.

When should I book?

As soon as your dates are fixed. Ahead of the 2024 festival, press reports said hotels, homestays and boats had already been booked, and one travel guide says hotel prices double or triple on festival nights.

What does a boat cost on Dev Deepawali?

Operators' listings for 24 November 2026 show shared boat rides from about ₹2,499 to ₹3,999 per person, and one listing gives ₹3,999 to ₹6,299. A travel guide puts an ordinary shared aarti boat at ₹300 to ₹800. These are sellers' figures, so agree the total price, the boarding ghat and the length of the ride before you pay.

What should I pack?

Layers, closed comfortable shoes you can slip off, a power bank, a torch and a small bag. November averages about 16 to 28 °C, but a cold snap in November 2025 took the minimum down to 10.4 °C, which Amar Ujala reported as 4.8 degrees below average.

Can I fly a drone?

Not in 2024: police declared a no-fly zone across the Varanasi commissionerate from 12 to 16 November, covering drones, kites, balloons and paragliders. Check for 2026 before you pack one.

Sources

Corrections

No corrections so far. If something is wrong, tell us below and we will fix it here with a dated note.

Plan your Dev Deepawali trip to Varanasi: a countdown checklist

The short plan