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Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

VerifiedDocumented + legend
Deities
Hanuman
Traditions
other
Worship status
active
Address
On the banks of the Assi river, near Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Coordinates
25.282, 82.9925
Darshan hours
Daily 4:30 AM-10:30 PM, with darshan closed between 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM; open until midnight on Tuesdays and Saturdays, per Wikipedia. Confirm locally as timings can shift for festivals.
Best time to visit
Tuesdays and Saturdays draw the largest weekly crowds; the temple's April classical music festival (Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh) is a notable cultural event.
How to reach
Near Banaras Hindu University in southern Varanasi, on the banks of the Assi river, reachable by road/auto-rickshaw from the city center.
Festivals
Hanuman Jayanti (March/April), Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh (April)

Location

Open in Google Maps

Tradition holds that the 16th-century poet-saint Tulsidas — author of the Ramcharitmanas, the most widely read Hindi retelling of the Ramayana — established this temple at the site of a vision of Hanuman, and composed much of his epic here. The temple grew in prominence through the 20th century alongside Varanasi’s southward expansion and the founding of Banaras Hindu University nearby. On 7 March 2006 the temple was the site of a bombing during evening prayers, after which security was permanently increased; the adjoining Sankat Mochan Foundation, founded in 1982, has since gained international recognition for its work on Ganges river conservation.

Sources

  • oral tradition: Tulsidas's founding and the vision of Hanuman are temple/hagiographic tradition rather than independently documented history.
  • historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple article: confirms the 2006 bombing, the Sankat Mochan Foundation's 1982 founding and river-conservation work, and the temple's growth alongside BHU.
  • historical record: Re-verified via a fresh fetch of the same Wikipedia article on 2026-09-23: sourced the temple's daily hours (4:30 AM-10:30 PM, closed 12-3 PM, open to midnight on Tuesdays/Saturdays) and its location on the banks of the Assi river; confirms Tulsidas's founding is dated to the early 16th century in the article, with most of the present-day built structure dating to the mid-20th century alongside Varanasi's southward expansion and BHU's founding.