| Season | Opens | Darshan | Closes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer (approx April to October) | Darshan runs day and night | Continuous queue darshan except during aarti | No fixed closing; only the aarti pause | Open |
| Winter (approx November to March) | Darshan runs day and night | Continuous, but weather and snow can slow the upper stretch | No fixed closing; only the aarti pause | Open |
| Morning aarti pause | Approx 6:20 AM | Darshan is halted while aarti is performed | Approx 8:00 AM | Open |
| Evening aarti pause | Approx 7:20 PM (summer) / 6:20 PM (winter) | Darshan is halted while aarti is performed | Approx 8:30 PM (summer) / 8:00 PM (winter) | Open |
Vaishno Devi does not keep temple hours the way most shrines do. The holy cave at the Bhawan effectively stays open around the clock, and darshan of the three pindis runs in a continuous managed queue day and night. There is no midday shutter and no seasonal closure; the Goddess is available to pilgrims who arrive at 2 AM just as at 2 PM. This is why so many devotees deliberately climb overnight, both to beat the heat and to reach the cave in the quieter small hours.
The only genuine interruptions are the two aarti windows. In the morning the queue is halted at roughly 6:20 AM and resumes after 8:00 AM; in the evening it pauses at around 7:20 PM in summer (earlier, near 6:20 PM, in winter) and reopens after the aarti concludes. During these stretches nobody passes through the sanctum, so if you are close to the cave when a pause begins, expect to wait it out.
The number that actually governs your day is not opening time but queue length. On ordinary days the wait from the Bhawan darshan lines is modest, but during Chaitra and Sharad Navratri and on long weekends it can run into several hours, with the Shrine Board issuing group batch numbers. Plan your climb so you are not reaching the cave right as an aarti pause starts.
← Back to the full Shri Mata Vaishno Devi darshan guideCompiled from public sources including Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (official) · Shrine Board: How to Reach Katra · Wikimedia Commons: Snowfall in Vaishno Devi (photo) · Wikipedia: New Delhi to SVDK Katra Vande Bharat Express. Timings and seasonal closures change; confirm with the temple trust before travelling.