On Kartik Purnima, the full moon of Kartik, the ghats are lit end to end with earthen lamps, placed in rows down the steps and along the parapets by families, temples and neighbourhood committees. The tradition holds that the gods themselves descend to bathe in the Ganga that night, and it is also the most popular day of the year for bathing in the river at Varanasi.
It is the single most photographed evening in Varanasi and the city knows it. Boats are booked weeks ahead and cost far more than on an ordinary night, the ghats fill from late afternoon, and the lanes behind them are shoulder to shoulder. Seen from a boat mid-river the whole crescent of ghats reads as one continuous line of light. Seen from the steps, it is mostly other people. Decide which you came for.
Ganga Mahotsav, the city's festival of classical music and dance, runs in the days leading up to it and ends on the same night, so one trip can take in both.
