A temple in Braj does not keep a clock like an office. It keeps a rhythm: the deity is woken, bathed, dressed, fed, rested and put to sleep, and the doors open and close around that rhythm. The hours move with the sun, with the season and, on a festival, with the crowd.
So any list of timings is a guide, not a promise. This one is compiled from third-party listings and our own place notes, and every line is marked indicative. Use it to plan your day, and let the notice at the gate have the final word.
The short answer first
Almost every temple here closes for an afternoon rest, roughly from noon or one o'clock until three or four-thirty. Mornings open early, evenings close between about eight and nine. Summer hours begin earlier and end later; winter hours start later and end earlier. If you plan to arrive between one and three, expect closed doors.
How it works on the ground
Banke Bihari follows two seasonal schedules, one after Holi and one after Diwali. Dwarkadhish follows the Pushtimarg service, in which the doors open for a few minutes at a time for each darshan, so the figures given are windows rather than continuous hours. Several groves, like Nidhivan and Seva Kunj, close at sunset by custom.
Sources often disagree by up to half an hour, and sometimes an hour. We have kept the figures as 'about' and given the sources at the end. The best sources of all are the board at the gate and your driver, who has stood outside these doors many times.
Summer versus winter
Here are the indicative timings from our guide data. They are not official.
- Banke Bihari: summer 7:45 am to 12:00 pm and 5:30 to 9:30 pm; winter 8:45 am to 1:00 pm and 4:30 to 8:30 pm. Mangala aarti only on Janmashtami.
- Krishna Janmabhoomi: summer about 5:00 am to 12:00 pm and 3:00 to 9:30 pm; winter 5:30 am to 12:00 pm and 3:00 to 8:00 pm. Some listings give 6:30 am to 9:00 pm.
- Dwarkadhish: summer darshan windows from about 6:30 to 10:30 am and 3:30 to 7:30 pm; winter 7:00 to 11:00 am and 3:00 to 6:30 pm.
- Vishram Ghat: open all day; aarti around 7:00 pm in summer and 6:00 pm in winter.
- ISKCON Vrindavan: summer 4:30 am to 1:00 pm and 4:30 to 8:30 pm; winter 4:30 am to 1:00 pm and 4:00 to 8:15 pm.
- Prem Mandir: summer 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and 4:30 to 8:30 pm; winter 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and 4:30 to 8:00 pm. Light show about 7:30 pm in summer and 7:00 pm in winter.
- Radha Raman: summer 5:30 am to 12:30 pm and 4:00 to 9:00 pm; winter 6:30 am to 12:30 pm and 3:30 to 8:00 pm.
- Radha Vallabh: summer 5:30 am to 12:00 pm and 5:00 to 9:00 pm; winter 6:00 am to 12:00 pm and 4:30 to 8:30 pm.
- Madan Mohan: summer 5:00 am to 12:00 pm and 4:30 to 8:30 pm; winter 5:30 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 to 8:00 pm.
- Radha Damodar: summer 5:00 am to 12:00 pm and 5:00 to 8:30 pm; winter 5:30 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 to 8:00 pm.
- Shahji Temple: summer 5:30 am to 12:00 pm and 5:00 to 8:30 pm; winter 6:00 am to 12:00 pm and 4:30 to 8:00 pm.
- Nidhivan: summer about 5:00 am to 8:00 pm; winter about 5:00 am to 7:00 pm; locked from sunset.
- Seva Kunj: summer 5:00 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 to 8:00 pm; winter 5:30 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 to 6:30 pm.
- Gopeshwar Mahadev: summer 5:00 am to 12:30 pm and 4:00 to 9:00 pm; winter 5:30 am to 12:30 pm and 3:30 to 8:30 pm.
- Radha Rani, Barsana: summer 5:00 am to 2:00 pm and 5:00 to 9:00 pm; winter 5:30 am to 2:00 pm and 5:00 to 8:30 pm.
- Nand Bhawan, Nandgaon and Gokul: summer 6:00 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 to 8:30 pm; winter 6:30 am to 12:00 pm and 3:30 to 8:00 pm.
- Dauji, Baldeo: summer 5:00 am to 12:00 pm and 4:30 to 9:00 pm; winter 5:30 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 to 8:30 pm.
- Daan Ghati, Govardhan: summer 5:00 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 to 9:00 pm; winter 5:30 am to 12:00 pm and 3:30 to 8:30 pm.
- Bhuteshwar Mahadev: summer 5:00 am to 12:00 pm and 4:00 to 9:00 pm; winter 5:30 am to 12:00 pm and 3:30 to 8:30 pm.
- Government Museum, Mathura: about 10:30 am to 4:30 pm in both seasons.
Common mistakes and the calm fix
The first mistake is arriving at one o'clock. The fix: plan your lunch and a rest for the afternoon, and visit before noon or after four. The second is trusting a single website. Cross-check with your driver and the gate board. The third is forgetting the festival effect: on Janmashtami, Holi, Radhashtami and Govardhan Puja, timings stretch and entrances change, and the cab is held far away.
The fourth is assuming that 'open' means 'darshan ongoing'. At Banke Bihari a curtain opens and closes every few moments, and at Dwarkadhish each service lasts only minutes. Arrive a little early. The fifth is chasing too many temples; two well-seen are better than five rushed.
Checklist
Before you set out for the day, glance through this.
- Which season's timetable applies now: after Holi for summer, after Diwali for winter at Banke Bihari
- Whether today is a festival, Purnima, Ekadashi or a weekend
- The closest gate board or your driver's word on the opening time
- A lunch and rest plan for the long afternoon closure
- A buffer of twenty minutes between temples for lanes and shoes
Related guides and a lala:Cab helper
Each temple's own guide page lists its aarti names and the notes behind these numbers. If you want one person to hold the clock for you, a lala:Cab driver can ring ahead to the lot, check the day's reopening and fit your visits to the day, so you go from door to door without staring at a watch.
Questions, answered
What are the Banke Bihari darshan timings?
Roughly 7:45 am to noon and 5:30 to 9:30 pm in summer, and 8:45 am to 1:00 pm and 4:30 to 8:30 pm in winter. Check locally.
Which temples close in the afternoon?
Nearly all of them, between about noon and four. Nidhivan, Vishram Ghat and the parikrama routes stay open longer.
Why do the times differ between websites?
Temples change hours with seasons and festivals, and third-party sites copy each other's old figures.
Is there a weekly closed day?
ISKCON has none. For most others no weekly closure was found, so check locally.
Timings, entry rules and fees change. Please confirm on the day with the temple or your driver.
- Every timing above is indicative and must be confirmed at the gate
- Banke Bihari seasonal switch dates
- Prem Mandir weekly quiet day (some sources mention Thursdays)
- Festival-day changes
- Mathura Museum weekly closure
- Banke Bihari Temple official site
- Shubh Panchang: ISKCON temple timings
- Shubh Panchang: Krishna Janmabhoomi
- Yatradham: Prem Mandir timings
- lala:Cab guide data, last checked 2026-10-23
Walking this path soon?
If you would like a driver who knows the lanes and the timings, the lala:Cab app is there when you are ready. No advance, no pressure.