Ayodhya's main sights fit in one long day: Hanuman Garhi, the Ram Mandir, Tulsi Smarak Bhawan, the Nawabi tombs of Faizabad, Kanak Bhawan and the evening Saryu aarti at Naya Ghat. The big temples are within a kilometre of each other, so the day is mostly time inside, not time in the cab. With two days, see the Ram Mandir on a calm morning and keep Faizabad and the Saryu for the next afternoon.
Each plan is a real route by cab, timed against opening hours.
Call or message a local Ayodhya operator with this plan. Tell them your hotel and dates, and they send a price for the car and driver.
We are still listing Ayodhya operators. Write to [email protected] and we will put you in touch.
With the best time to go and how long to stay.
| Place | Open | Best time | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hanuman Garhi | About 04:00 to 22:00. One listing gives a midday closure from 12:00 to 16:00, so go in the morning. Free? | Early morning, before the Ram Mandir. Tradition says you see Hanuman first. | 45 min |
| Kanak Bhawan and Dashrath Mahal | Kanak Bhawan about 08:00 to 11:00 and 16:30 to 21:00; Dashrath Mahal about 08:00 to 12:00 and 16:00 to 22:00. Both closed in the middle of the day. Free? | Early morning, or after 16:30 for the evening aarti and bhajans. | 45 min |
| Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir (Ram Mandir) | Winter darshan (from late October) about 07:00 to 21:00; entry stops for the bhog at about 12:00 and opens again at 13:00. In summer darshan runs about 06:00 to 21:30 or 22:00. Free. Check the latest times on srjbtkshetra.org | Morning, soon after darshan opens, or late evening when the queue is shorter. | 2 h 30 min |
| Tulsi Smarak Bhawan | About 10:00 to 21:00, with the Ramleela on stage about 18:00 to 21:00. Closed on Mondays and, in one listing, the second Sunday of the month? | Late morning for the museum, or 18:00 for the Ramleela. | 45 min |
| Digambar Jain temple, Raiganj | About 06:00 to 19:30. Free? | Any time in the day; quiet after the Ram Mandir crowds. | 40 min |
| Gulab Bari, Faizabad | Open early to about 19:00 every day. Free | Afternoon, when the garden is quiet. | 45 min |
| Bahu Begum ka Maqbara, Faizabad | About 07:00 to 16:00? | Before 15:00, so you are not rushed before it closes. | 40 min |
| Queen Heo Memorial Park | Open in daylight. Free? | Late afternoon, on the way to the Saryu aarti. | 30 min |
| Ram ki Paidi and Nageshwarnath Temple | The ghats are open all day. Nageshwarnath Temple about 05:00 to 20:00. Free? | Late afternoon into the evening, when the lamps come on. | 1 h |
| Saryu aarti at Naya Ghat | The evening aarti on the Saryu starts around sunset: about 18:00 from November to March and about 19:00 from April to October, and lasts about 30 to 45 minutes. Free? | Evening, 20 to 30 minutes before the aarti for a place on the steps. | 1 h 15 min |
A fort-like temple to Hanuman on a small hill in the middle of Ayodhya, reached by 76 steps. Many pilgrims come here first, because Hanuman is said to guard the town. Inside is a small image of Hanuman as a child sitting in his mother Anjani's lap. The steps are lined with stalls selling laddoos to offer.
In the 1-day plan
Kanak Bhawan is a palace-temple said to be Kaikeyi's gift to Sita after her wedding. The courtyard is quiet and the images of Ram and Sita wear gold crowns. Dashrath Mahal, the palace of Ram's father, is a few minutes' walk down the same lane and has bhajans in the evening.
In the 1-day plan
The new temple on the spot believed to be Ram's birthplace, opened in January 2024. It is built of pink sandstone from Rajasthan, with no steel, and has three floors of carved pillars. Ram Lalla, Ram as a five-year-old child, stands in the inner shrine. Kuber Tila, with a small Shiva temple and a statue of Jatayu, is inside the same complex.
In the 1-day planA memorial to Tulsidas, the poet who wrote the Ramcharitmanas, the Hindi telling of the Ramayana. It has a small museum of Ram stories, paintings and old books, and a stage where the Ramleela is acted every evening. Next door is the Tulsi Chaura, where Tulsidas is said to have started writing.
In the 1-day planAyodhya is holy to Jains too: five of the 24 Tirthankaras are said to have been born here, Rishabhdev, the first, among them. This Digambar temple in Raiganj has a tall standing statue of Rishabhdev, about 9 m high.
Day 1 of the 2-day plan
The 18th-century tomb of Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh, in Faizabad. Gulab Bari means rose garden: the tomb sits in a walled garden with fountains, water channels and rose beds. Faizabad was the capital of Awadh before the Nawabs moved to Lucknow.
In the 1-day plan
The tomb of Bahu Begum, wife of Shuja-ud-Daula, finished in 1816. It is one of the tallest buildings in Faizabad, with a big dome over rows of arches, and is often called the finest Nawabi building outside Lucknow.
In the 1-day planA memorial park on the Saryu for Queen Heo Hwang-ok, a princess from Ayodhya who, Korean legend says, sailed to Korea in 48 AD and married King Suro. Many Koreans count her as an ancestor. The park has a pavilion, a pond and stone pieces in Korean style.
In the 1-day plan
A row of ghats and a long water channel fed by the Saryu, with temples along both sides. In the evening the steps light up, and on Deepotsav, the night before Diwali, lakhs of oil lamps are lit here. Nageshwarnath, the town's old Shiva temple, stands at its head; it is said to have been built by Ram's son Kush.
Day 2 of the 2-day plan
Every evening priests offer lamps to the Saryu at Naya Ghat, with bells, chanting and crowds on the steps. You can also take a boat on the river before the aarti. Lata Mangeshkar Chowk, with its giant veena, is a few minutes' walk away.
In the 1-day planOne long day covers Hanuman Garhi, the Ram Mandir, Kanak Bhawan, the Faizabad tombs and the Saryu aarti. Two days are easier: the temples on a calm morning, and Faizabad and the Saryu the next afternoon.
In winter (from late October) darshan is about 07:00 to 21:00, and entry stops for the bhog from about 12:00 to 13:00. In summer it opens about 06:00 and closes about 21:30 or 22:00. Entry is free. The temple trust changes the times with the season, so check the latest times on its website, srjbtkshetra.org, before you go.
No. Phones, cameras, bags and smart watches are not allowed. Leave them in the cab or in the lockers at the pilgrim facility centre opposite Birla Dharamshala on Ram Path.
Passes for the mangala, shringar and shayan aartis are free but few. Get them with your Aadhaar at the Yatri Suvidha Kendra opposite Birla Dharamshala, which opens at about 09:00: morning aarti passes are given the day before. A small number are also given online on the temple trust's website, srjbtkshetra.org.
Not to the gate. Cabs drop on Ram Path near Birla Dharamshala or at a parking lot, and you walk about 800 m along Janmabhoomi Path. On busy days police close Ram Path to cars, and e-carts carry older people from the parking lots.
Every evening at Naya Ghat, around sunset: about 18:00 from November to March and about 19:00 from April to October. It lasts about 30 to 45 minutes. Get there 20 to 30 minutes early for a place on the steps.
Guptar Ghat is where Ram is said to have walked into the Saryu at the end of his life. It is a quiet riverside ghat in the Faizabad cantonment, about 10 km west of the Ram Mandir. It is not in these plans; add it to the Faizabad afternoon if you have time.
Yes, as a separate half day. Bharat Kund, where Bharat is said to have ruled from while Ram was in exile, is about 20 km south of Ayodhya, so the round trip is about 40 km.
Mani Parvat, a small mound with a temple on top; Suraj Kund, a large tank in Darshan Nagar; Choti Devkali and Sita ki Rasoi. They are not in these plans because we could not check their location or hours well enough.
October to March, when days are cool. Deepotsav, the night before Diwali, is the most famous night, with lakhs of lamps on the ghats, but the town is very crowded and many roads close. Ram Navami in March or April is the same.
