Annapurna temple Varanasi swarna darshan 2026: dates, the gold idol and getting there

Swarna darshan 2026 at Annapurna temple: if your family can come only once, come on Dhanteras, Friday 6 November 2026. Every newspaper report we have puts the gold idol out that day. No vehicle gets into the lane, so our van drops you at Godowlia and you walk the last 0.4 km. The official Kashi portal names a different day, Annakut, Tuesday 10 November, the Govardhan Puja date Drik Panchang gives for Varanasi. But Dainik Jagran's 2 October 2026 preview counts three gold idol days from Dhanteras, which would end on 8 November. So 10 November isn't certain. Outside the gold idol days you see the brass idol, and the portal lists the temple as open 05:00 to 22:30.

Most families we drive to Kashi Vishwanath stop here too, because the two temples sit side by side off the same lane. So we'll start with the ordinary-day visit and then get to the gold idol, which is why the lane fills up every autumn. We read both of the portal's Annapurna pages in October 2026 and went by them wherever other websites said something else.

Annapurna temple timings

Aarti times are harder. The portal has none, and every travel site that lists them says something different. A few even show the doors shut for a stretch after the morning and opening again later on. Want one aarti in particular? Ask a priest there a day ahead. Just coming for darshan? Go by the portal's 05:00 to 22:30, but we'd pick morning or evening. Some sites say the doors shut at midday and the portal doesn't, so ask locally before you go in the afternoon.

Swarna darshan 2026 dates

Mind the gap. Monday 9 November is Amavasya, Diwali Snan, so this year Annakut comes two days after Lakshmi Puja, not the next morning. Dainik Jagran's 2 October 2026 preview counts three gold idol days from Dhanteras on 6 November, which would end on 8 November. If that's right, Annakut falls outside the window.

Why the sources differ: every past report we have ran the window through Annakut. The Times of India gave 18 to 22 October in 2025, Dhanteras to Annakoot, and five days from 6 November reaches 10 November. The Kashi portal names Annakut too. kashitaxi.in puts 10 November inside its 2026 window, and varanasiayodhyatours.com runs its window to Annakut, which it dates around 9 to 10 November.

So what do you do? If you can only come once, come on Dhanteras, 6 November. It's the day every newspaper report we have says the idol is out. Or WhatsApp us closer to the date and we'll pass on the mahant's announcement.

The gold idol: only around Dhanteras and Annakut

The temple keeps two icons of the goddess, one gold and one brass. The brass one is what you see on a normal day. The portal says the gold one can be seen once a year, "on Annakuta day, falling after Deepavali", and it gives no exact day. Drik Panchang puts Annakut on Tuesday 10 November in 2026. On Annakut and on Diwali the temple is decorated and food is handed out as prasad. The idol holds a golden ladle and a vessel of grain, which is really the whole point of Annapurna, the goddess who feeds.

How many days is the gold idol out? The sources disagree

Hindustan explained part of the muddle in October 2025. By tradition the gold Annapurna is out for four days. It had been five for three years running, and in 2022 a solar eclipse on Diwali cut it to three. The exact days and hours come from the temple's mahant, Shankar Puri, and the local papers carry them in the days before Dhanteras. We'll update this page when he announces 2026.

Then there's the khazana, the other reason people queue. Going by the 2025 reports in the Hindustan Times, the Times of India and Dainik Jagran, it's a coin and a little lawa, puffed paddy or rice, handed out at the gold idol. Dainik Jagran's Dhanteras 2025 report put the khazana at 6.50 lakh coins. Families take the coin home for the safe or money box and keep the grain with their stores, as a blessing for the year.

What the queue is like on the gold idol days

Long, and it starts the day before. Dainik Jagran reported that in 2025, for Dhanteras, people took their places from the afternoon and spent the night on the road, so they'd be near the front when the doors opened at dawn. Amar Ujala had said as much in advance: the line would start on 17 October for an 18 October opening. Once the doors opened at 04:50, Jagran described a queue about 1 km long, from Godowlia through Bansphatak towards Gyanvapi, that lasted till the 23:30 shayan aarti.

In 2025 the line went in from the Bansphatak side past Dhundhiraj Ganesh, up temporary stairs to the first floor where the gold idol sits, and out through Kalika Gali, says the Times of India. TOI gave darshan hours of 04:00 to 23:00 for those days. Jagran wrote that the doors shut from 12:00 to 12:30 for bhog aarti. Route and hours can change in 2026, so go by the mahant's notice once it's out.

We won't promise you a waiting time. So eat first. Carry water. And decide at the hotel, not in the lane, who queues and who sits with the van.

Got a grandparent who can't stand for hours? Come on an ordinary day. You'll see the brass idol, not the gold one, but the lane is quiet. It's next door to Vishwanath, so it adds little to that visit.

Getting there: the van stops at Godowlia

You'll find it off Vishwanath Gali, next door to Kashi Vishwanath. Balaji Bajirao Peshwa built it in 1729, going by the portal. No car, auto or van goes in there. The stretch from Godowlia to Maidagin is a no-vehicle zone, so everyone gets dropped at one end and walks.

Varanasi Junction to Godowlia is 4.9 km by road. That's about 7 min when the roads are clear, and a lot longer most evenings. From Godowlia you walk 0.4 km through the gali to the temple. Our driver drops you at Godowlia, parks wherever the police allow that day, and waits for your call. Our Annapurna access page has the drop point and the walk.

Phones, bags and pairing it with Kashi Vishwanath

We haven't found a written phone or bag rule for Annapurna itself. But most people walk to it as part of their Kashi Vishwanath darshan. Phones aren't allowed inside Vishwanath, and big bags get turned away. It's easiest to leave them in the van or at the hotel. Bring your ID and a little cash for the offering, and that's it. Kashi Vishwanath timings, aartis and everything you can't carry in.

How a van day works around it

On an ordinary day we treat Annapurna as part of the Vishwanath stop. On a gold idol day we plan the whole day around the lane. That means an early drop at Godowlia, the van parked close by, and nothing booked tightly afterwards, because you won't know when you'll be out.

GST, toll and parking are extra, at actuals. Whatever you offer at the temple goes to the temple, not to us. How Annapurna fits into a full temple day.

Where else the sources disagree

Two smaller things. The portal has two pages for this temple, one called Annapurna Bhavani Temple and one called Annapurna Mandir. They don't contradict each other, but one talks about the gold and brass icons and the other about the golden ladle. Then the everyday hours: the portal says 05:00 to 22:30, while some travel sites show a midday break. We go by the portal on ordinary days, and by the mahant's notice on the gold idol days.

Planning a gold idol day, or a quiet weekday darshan instead? Send us your date and how many of you there are on WhatsApp, 9250331290. We'll reply with a pickup time and the spot where the van will wait. Book an Urbania for your temple day.