Dev Diwali in Varanasi: how to see a million lamps
The busiest night of the Varanasi year, and the only one where the boat you booked matters more than the seat you paid for.
Admin Owner 2 min read
Fifteen days after Diwali, Varanasi lights every step of every ghat with clay lamps. From the water it is a continuous band of fire about six kilometres long. It is the single most photographed night of the year here, and the one where planning matters most.
The evening, hour by hour
Time | What happens | Where to be |
|---|---|---|
3:00pm | Ghats close to vehicles, lanes fill | Already in the old city |
4:30pm | Boats start loading | On board |
5:15pm | Lamps lit across all 84 ghats | On the water, mid-river |
6:00pm | Ganga aarti begins | Facing Dashashwamedh |
7:30pm | Crowds peak, river gridlocks | Heading south |
Why the boat matters more than usual
On an ordinary evening a shared seat is perfectly good. On Dev Diwali you are on the water for three to four hours, not ninety minutes, and you are stationary for much of it.
Shared seat — cheapest, but you sit where you are put and leave when the boat leaves.
Light motor boat — the Dev Diwali workhorse. Small enough to move through the crush.
Bajra — a proper deck, chairs, and room to stand up with a camera.
What to bring
A shawl or light jacket — November evenings on the water are cold.
A power bank. You will take more photographs than you think.
Cash for chai from the boats that come alongside selling it.
Photographing it
Two things ruin most Dev Diwali photographs: flash, and shooting from a moving boat at 5:30pm when the light is difficult impossible. Wait for full dark at about 6:15pm, brace the camera on the gunwale, and shoot long.
A million lamps photograph as one orange smear unless you give the sensor time. Two seconds, braced, no flash.
A note on drones
Drones are not permitted over the ghats during the festival. Police enforce this and will confiscate.
Booking
Dev Diwali boats sell out four to six weeks ahead — this is the one night of the year where book early is not sales talk. See the Dev Diwali page for this year's dates and fares.
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