| Season | Opens | Darshan | Closes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open season, mornings (Apr/May to Nov) | Approx 6:15 AM | Mangala aarti and morning darshan | Continues through midday | Open |
| Open season, evenings | Reopens after bhog | Evening darshan and Ganga aarti near sunset | Approx 9:30 PM | Open |
| Winter (approx Nov to Apr) | Closed at Gangotri | Deity worshipped at Mukhba village | Reopens Akshaya Tritiya | Closed |
Gangotri keeps two clocks. The first is seasonal: the shrine is a six-month temple, thrown open on Akshaya Tritiya in spring and sealed again on Diwali, when the winter snow makes the valley unlivable. On closing day the idol of the goddess is placed in a palanquin and carried down to Mukhba village, where she is worshipped through the cold months, so a winter visitor finds the Gangotri sanctum locked and silent.
The second clock is daily. In the open months the doors part in the early morning, around 6:15 AM, for the Mangala aarti, and the shrine stays accessible through the day with a short midday break for the deity's bhog. It reopens in the afternoon and the day ends with the evening aarti near sunset and a night closing around 9:30 PM. These daily times are not rigidly fixed; the committee adjusts them to the changing sunrise and sunset of the high mountains, so anyone timing a specific aarti should confirm on the day rather than trust a printed schedule.
← Back to the full Gangotri darshan guideCompiled from public sources including Wikipedia: Gangotri · Wikimedia Commons: Gangotri image file (photo license) · Euttaranchal: Gangotri Temple · Uttarakhand Tourism (official): Gangotri. Timings and seasonal closures change; confirm with the temple trust before travelling.