Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan Mandir, Varanasi: The Golden Birthplace Temple and Pilgrimage Guide

ॐEssential info at a glance

ॐGuru Ravidas Janam Asthan timings and aarti

The temple keeps long, welcoming hours, and everything about it is free and open to all. Two aartis mark the day, and the langar, the free community kitchen, runs throughout, so no one who comes here goes hungry.

*Entry is free, and there is no VIP or paid darshan.

ॐSant Guru Ravidas: the saint of equality, born here

This temple stands on ground of the deepest meaning, for here, at Seer Govardhanpur, was born Sant Guru Ravidas, one of the greatest saints of the Bhakti movement, who lived around the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Born into a family of leather workers, a community held low in the social order of his time, Ravidas rose through the power of his devotion to become a revered guru whose message has echoed down the centuries: that all human beings are equal before the divine, that no soul is high or low by birth, and that love, dignity and God belong to everyone alike.

He gave the world a shining vision he called Begumpura, a city without sorrow, without fear, and without inequality, where all are free and equal, one of the most beautiful ideals in Indian thought. His verses are so treasured that they are enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikhs, and he is the guiding light of the Ravidassia community, honoured by millions in India and across the world as a saint of equality and a symbol of human dignity.

ॐThe birthplace temple: the Golden Temple of Kashi

The temple that marks the Guru's birthplace is itself a story of devotion and community. From the mid-1960s, the saints of Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Punjab, under Sant Sarwan Dass Ji, set out to build a fitting shrine at the very spot where Guru Ravidas was born and gave his sermon of Begumpura, and the foundation stone was laid in 1965. A small shrine rose in 1972, and the grand present structure was completed in 1994, built with the offerings of devotees from across India and, above all, from the Ravidassia diaspora around the world. The golden pinnacle atop its dome was ceremonially installed in 1994, and over the following years the domes were plated in gold, so that today more than two hundred kilograms of gold adorn the white marble temple.

For its gleaming white marble and its gold-crowned domes, it is lovingly known as the Second Golden Temple of Kashi. A grand monumental gateway, the Guru Ravidas Gate, leads to it. The temple and its work are cared for by a public charitable trust based at Dera Sachkhand Ballan, and it has grown into the foremost spiritual centre of the Ravidassia faith anywhere in the world, a place of pilgrimage for Ravidassias, Dalits and Ramdasia Sikhs alike.

ॐA temple of equality: langar, seva, and no VIP

What moves visitors most here is not only the gold, but the spirit. This is a temple that lives out the Guru's message of equality in everything it does. There is no VIP darshan, no paid queue, no special line for the wealthy or the powerful; everyone, of every background, stands and worships as an equal, exactly as Guru Ravidas taught. The free langar, the community kitchen, serves sacred food to every visitor alike, rich or poor, of any faith or none, seated together as equals. And the campus offers a free Yatri Niwas, clean lodging where travelling pilgrims may rest without charge.

To sit in that langar, sharing a simple meal with strangers from every walk of life, is to taste the Guru's Begumpura made real, a place where all are equal and all are welcome. For many visitors, that experience of seva, of selfless service and radical equality, is more powerful than any grandeur.

ॐGuru Ravidas Jayanti: the great pilgrimage

Once a year the temple becomes the heart of a vast, joyful pilgrimage. Guru Ravidas Jayanti, the Prakash Parv, the birth anniversary of the Guru, falls on the full moon of the month of Magh, in January or February, and on that day millions of devotees converge on Seer Govardhanpur, from every corner of India and from the great Ravidassia communities of the United Kingdom, Europe, North America and beyond. Special trains, including the celebrated Begumpura Express from Jalandhar, are run to carry the pilgrims, and the temple and the town fill with kirtan, prayer, processions and langar for days on end.

It is one of the largest and most heartfelt gatherings in all of Varanasi, and to witness it is to see the living power of the Guru's message and the deep devotion of a global community returning to the place where their saint was born. If you wish to visit at this time, it must be planned well in advance.

ॐA place that lives its message, in my own words

By Rajeev Sharma, Varanasi local

I bring people to the Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan Mandir with real respect, because it is unlike anywhere else in Kashi. I tell them that this is the very birthplace of Sant Ravidas, the great saint who taught that every human being is equal, and I show them the beautiful white marble temple with its golden domes, the Second Golden Temple of Kashi. But what I most want my guests to feel is the spirit of the place, that here there is no VIP line, no high and low, that everyone is welcome and equal, which is the whole teaching of the Guru made real in stone and in daily life.

I always take them to sit in the langar, to share the free food with everyone else, because that is where you truly understand this temple. I explain about Begumpura, the Guru's dream of a world without sorrow or inequality. And I tell them that for the great community that reveres him, in Punjab and all over the world, this is their most sacred place, and that at Jayanti time millions come home to it. When I bring visitors here, especially from abroad, they leave moved not by the gold but by the equality. That is the real treasure of this temple.

In more than forty years of guiding, this is the place that most beautifully shows a message of equality living in the heart of Kashi.

, with respect for the sanctity of the Gurughar.]*

ॐVisiting and etiquette

• Entry is completely free and open to all, of every background. There is no VIP or paid darshan.
• Remove your footwear before entering, and cover your head, as is the custom in the Gurughar.
• Dress modestly, keep a respectful silence near the sanctum, and follow the guidance of the sevadars.
• Do take langar; the free meal, shared with all, is part of the spirit of the place.
• Photograph respectfully, follow any restrictions inside, and honour the sanctity of worship.

ॐHow to reach the temple

The temple is at Seer Govardhanpur, also called Dafi, on the southern edge of the city, right behind the BHU campus near the Seer Goverdhan gate. It is easy to reach by road.

It is easy to combine with the BHU campus and the southern sights. We arrange the transport, the timing and respectful guidance.

ॐBest time to visit and how to plan it

• Pair it with the BHU campus, Sant Ravidas Ghat and the southern sights.
• For Jayanti, book transport and any rest well in advance, as the whole area fills.

For the southern sights planned as one route, see our Varanasi tour packages.

ॐAccessibility and amenities

• The marble complex is fully wheelchair accessible, with ramped entrances and exits and parking bays.
• A free Yatri Niwas offers clean lodging and rest for travelling pilgrims at no charge.
• The free langar serves meals to all throughout the day.
• Senior citizens, pilgrims from abroad and visitors with disabilities can coordinate with the temple management for smooth, dignified entry; this is care and courtesy, not a paid VIP line.

ॐNearby sites to combine with your visit

The temple is on the southern edge near BHU, so it pairs with the university and the southern sites.

For the grand evening aarti and a boat ride, see our Varanasi tour packages.

ॐOur respectful pilgrimage visits and NRI assistance

We are a Varanasi based operator, a unit of Experience My India, with more than forty years of guiding pilgrims across Kashi, Ayodhya, and Prayagraj. Everything at the temple, the darshan, the langar and the Yatri Niwas, is free, in the spirit of equality, and we honour that fully. What we arrange is the care around your visit: comfortable transport and timing, respectful guidance, help for senior and differently-abled pilgrims and for those travelling from abroad, and thoughtful support for a Guru Ravidas Jayanti pilgrimage, all with dignity and never with any claim to buy a special or faster darshan.

Inclusions and exclusions are stated up front, with any taxes and conditions, and no charge appears later that was not named. We never offer or imply a paid or faster darshan; the temple welcomes all as equals. See all our Varanasi tour packages for the full range.

Experience My India is a travel operator, not the temple administration. The temple is managed by the Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan trust of Dera Sachkhand Ballan; our transport and guidance are ours, and everything at the temple is free. Timings and arrangements are set by the temple and can change.