Festivals through the year
Timings change on festivals, eclipses and special days. Confirm at the mandir before you travel.
- 6:30 AM The doors open
- 8:00 AM Morning aarti
- 8:30 PM Evening aarti
- 9:30 PM The doors close
- January
- FebruaryMahashivratri
- March
- AprilSimhastha Kumbh
- May
- June
- July
- AugustShravan month
- SeptemberDol Gyaras Sawari
- OctoberThis month
- NovemberBhairav Ashtami (Kal Bhairav Jayanti)
- December
- November
Bhairav Ashtami (Kal Bhairav Jayanti)
Krishna Ashtami of Margashirsha (Aghan), November or December
The appearance day of Kal Bhairav and the biggest festival of the temple. The shrine is decorated with flowers, a birth aarti is performed at midnight and chhappan bhog is offered. On the following day the deity goes out in sawari.
- February
Mahashivratri
Krishna Chaturdashi of Phalguna, February or March
The great night of Shiva brings very large crowds to Ujjain, and most pilgrims who come for Mahakal also visit Kal Bhairav. Expect long queues.
- April
Simhastha Kumbh
Once in twelve years on the Shipra, in Chaitra and Vaishakha (April and May); the next is due in 2028
During the Simhastha fair millions of pilgrims and sadhus gather in Ujjain, and Kal Bhairav is among the shrines they visit. During the 2016 Simhastha the offering at this temple was allowed to continue even while liquor sales in the city were suspended.
- August
Shravan month
Shravan, July and August
During Shravan, and especially on its Mondays, Ujjain is filled with Shiva devotees and kanwar pilgrims. Kal Bhairav receives a steady stream of visitors through the month.
- September
Dol Gyaras Sawari
Shukla Ekadashi of Bhadrapada, usually September
Kal Bhairav tours Bhairavgarh in a palanquin, wearing the Scindia turban. The procession visits the Central Jail and Siddhavat and is received with a police guard of honour.