Dev Deepawali 2026: getting a group to the ghats by tempo traveller

Our parent company, World View Travel Services, has been running vehicles in Varanasi since 1992. Dev Deepawali is still the busiest vehicle date in our year. The odd thing is that on that one evening, the vehicle can't take you to the thing you came for. It drops you at the edge of a closed zone and you walk.

When is Dev Deepawali 2026?

Dev Deepawali 2026 is on Tuesday, 24 November. That's the date UP Tourism gives on the Incredible India site. It falls on Kartik Purnima, fifteen days after Diwali, and the lamps go up on the ghats as dusk settles, from Assi to Raj Ghat.

It's eleven days away as we write this. If your group hasn't got a vehicle or a boat yet, read the boat section first.

Can a tempo traveller drive to the ghats on Dev Deepawali?

No. On Dev Deepawali the traffic police close the old city to vehicles. In 2025 the stretch from Godowlia to Maidagin was a no-vehicle zone, and even VVIP cars were parked at Maidagin. City vehicles and outside vehicles alike had to go into a parking lot.

The 2025 plan shut 12 stretches of road. The ones that matter for a group are Broadway tiraha to Sonarpura and Godowlia, Agrawal tiraha to Assi, Maidagin to Godowlia, Lahurabir to Maidagin, and both roads down to Raj Ghat bridge. Amar Ujala printed the full plan on the morning of the festival, so expect the 2026 version late too. Our drivers go by the new one, not last year's.

Where can a group vehicle park?

In 2025 the police set up about 30 parking spots. Only one was marked for buses: P-17, along Nariya to Hyderabad Road, with room for 200. Cars went along Broadway to Ravindrapuri Colony (250 four-wheelers) and to the Town Hall ground near Maidagin (200). Whether a tempo traveller is waved into the bus lot or the car lot is the traffic police's call on the day.

Last year's list said "parking till 3 PM" for the central lots, P-1 to P-10, Town Hall among them. The outer lots we use had no such line, but we still like to be parked early. So we pick a group up at the hotel around lunchtime, not at five, and we don't try to beat the closures.

When should you book a boat for Dev Deepawali?

Months ahead. For 2026, Patrika reported on 13 November that the big boats and cruises are fully booked, after three months of advance booking. Large bajras went for ₹5 to 6 lakh and medium ones for up to ₹3 lakh. By then people were hunting for the small boats.

It was the same story in 2025. A day before the festival, Amar Ujala found more than 95% of boats taken and nothing under ₹10,000. A bajra that's ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 on a normal evening was going for ₹80,000. We don't book boats, sadly, so please fix the boat first. Its ghat decides where we park.

What does a tempo traveller cost for Dev Deepawali?

The same as any other day. We don't add a festival charge. A lunchtime pickup and a ride back after the aarti often runs past 8 hours, so we'd price it on the 12 hr / 200 km package. The 8 hr / 80 km one is there if your group is done early.

All of these are before GST. The driver allowance comes on top: ₹350 a day on the 12 and 17-seaters, ₹400 on the 20 and 26, and ₹600 on the bus. If the driver is still on the road after 11pm, it's charged a second time. On Dev Deepawali the roads open slowly, so a late return is quite likely.

Hotels are the bigger cost this year. Patrika says rooms are going for 5 to 10 times the usual rate, with ordinary hotels asking up to ₹45,000 to ₹50,000. A group that stays further out still needs a way in, and that's where one vehicle for everyone earns its keep.

A pickup plan that works

Pick up at the hotel around lunchtime. Drive to the lot nearest your boat or your ghat and park before the closures. Then the group walks the last bit with the driver's number saved in every phone. Elders need more time on that walk, so put them at the front of the line, not the back.

Agree one meeting point at the vehicle before anyone walks off, and one time to be back. After the lamps and the aarti, don't rush. The crowd takes a while to clear, and the vehicle can't come to you. It's waiting where you left it.

Our advice: book the boat, then call us with the ghat, the hotel and the headcount. We'll tell you which lot we'd aim for and which vehicle fits, off the rate card above.