Religious siteBhadaini
श्री संकट मोचन हनुमान मंदिर
Plan ahead
Aarti is typically held in the early morning soon after opening, around dusk in the evening, and as a night aarti before closing. Tuesdays, Saturdays and Hanuman Jayanti see the largest gatherings. Exact times vary by season, so confirm locally.
Daily about 4:30 AM – 10:30 PM
Before you go
The story
Tradition holds that Goswami Tulsidas saw Lord Hanuman on this spot. Today Sankat Mochan, the "reliever of troubles," is where Banaras comes on Tuesdays and Saturdays to chant the Hanuman Chalisa and to listen to some of India's finest classical music.
The temple sits on the Durgakund–Lanka stretch in Bhadaini, a short ride from Assi Ghat and the gates of BHU. For Banarasis it is not a place you tick off once. It is woven into weekly life: students pray here before exams, and families come before weddings and journeys.
Tradition says the saint-poet Tulsidas had a darshan of Hanuman here and founded the shrine. He lived and wrote nearby at Tulsi Ghat. He is the author of the Ramcharitmanas, and tradition also credits him with the Hanuman Chalisa.
The temple is widely credited to Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, founder of Banaras Hindu University, for renovating it into the structure seen today.
The annual music and dance festival around Hanuman Jayanti takes root. It grows into one of India's most prestigious stages, where maestros perform free of charge as an offering.
The temple's mahant, Prof. Veer Bhadra Mishra, an engineer, launches the Sankat Mochan Foundation. It campaigns for a cleaner Ganga and links the temple to environmental activism.
A bomb attack strikes the temple in March. Devotees returned to pray the very next day, and the city still remembers that response. Security has been tight ever since.
You enter through a tree-shaded compound full of monkeys, which Hanuman's devotees regard as his own. The air smells of incense and marigold. In the sanctum, the sindoor-coated murti of Hanuman faces a shrine of Lord Rama, so the devotee forever gazes at his master.
Free for all
Open daily, roughly from 4:30 AM to 10:30 PM. Hours can shift on festivals.
Modest clothing that covers shoulders and knees. Shoes are left outside.
Durgakund–Lanka road, Bhadaini, near BHU and Assi
Worth knowing
Another telling of the founding story holds that, at Tulsidas's request, Hanuman himself shaped a clay image of his own form. That image is revered as self-manifested and was later enshrined here as the temple's murti.
On Hanuman Jayanti, look out for the Shobha Yatra. The procession sets off from the Durga Temple at Durgakund, just down the road, and draws thousands of worshippers towards Sankat Mochan.
The temple marks Hanuman Jayanti with a three-day Ram Katha. Its recitations focus on Hanuman's devotion to Rama. The shrine is dressed in flowers and lights, and special pujas and aartis run through the celebration.
At Basant Panchami the temple holds a Sangeetmay Navah Path, a sung recitation of the Manas. Local students compete alongside it in singing, essay writing, painting and Ramcharitmanas-themed performances.
Ram Vivah Panchami, the wedding of Rama and Sita, brings a nine-day Navah Path with Ram Katha in the evenings. The Rama–Sita idols are dressed as bride and groom. A Bhajan Sammelan with well-known singers follows the Navah Path.
The temple is now led by Prof. Vishwambhar Nath Mishra. He carries on the work of his predecessor, the late Prof. Veer Bhadra Mishra.
Getting there
Shri Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple (श्री संकट मोचन हनुमान मंदिर) is a religious site on Tulsi Ghat in Bhadaini, Varanasi.
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