Varanasi to Ujjain Trip: Trains, Timings & 2-3 Day Jyotirlinga Plan

The simplest Varanasi to Ujjain trip is the 20413 Kashi Mahakal Superfast Express. It leaves Varanasi Junction (BSB) at 14:00 and reaches Ujjain Junction at 07:05 the next morning, right in time for an early Mahakaleshwar darshan. The train is listed as a Tuesday and Thursday service, so your plan has to fit that cycle. Two alternatives exist for the days the Mahakal does not run: the 19490 Gorakhpur-Ahmedabad Express at 02:25 and the 19314 Indore Express at 16:00. Train timings and running days change often, so confirm on NTES (enquiry.indianrail.gov.in) or IRCTC before booking.

This is not a generic city-to-city trip. Kashi Vishwanath in Varanasi and Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain are two of the twelve Jyotirlingas enumerated in the Dvadasa Jyotirlinga tradition. Kashi and Ujjain are also two of the seven Sapta Puri cities said in Hindu tradition to grant moksha. A Varanasi-to-Ujjain journey is therefore a short two-Jyotirlinga pilgrimage, and the itinerary below is built around that framing. If you want us to put the full trip together for you, you can plan your Ujjain trip with our team.

All direct Varanasi to Ujjain trains

Only three direct trains run between Varanasi Jn and Ujjain Jn on current aggregator listings. The table shows what we observed on 6 November 2026 on easemytrip, ixigo and ConfirmTkt; days are sometimes listed one way in the page header and another way in the FAQ, so always re-check NTES.

Two more trains, 19168 Sabarmati Express and some slow express services, occasionally show up on timetable searches, but they take 24 to 26 hours and run on inconvenient days; skip them unless the three above are full. For sleeper and AC class availability use IRCTC.

20413 Kashi Mahakal Express: the one to pin your plan on

The Kashi Mahakal runs between Banaras and Indore via Lucknow, passing Ujjain early on day two. Its intermediate halts per the ConfirmTkt schedule for train 20413 are Sultanpur 16:21, Lucknow 19:05, Kanpur Central 20:45, Orai 22:17, Jhansi 00:35 next day, Bina Junction 02:38, S Hirdaramnagar 04:40, Ujjain Junction 07:05 and Indore Junction 09:00. Total distance is about 1,138 km and total journey time is 19 hours, of which 17 hours and 5 minutes land you in Ujjain. The train is marketed as a tourism-circuit service linking Kashi with Mahakal, which is helpful if you want conveniences like curtains and bedroll.

What this train does for your plan: you sleep on the train on Tuesday night (or Thursday night), wake up fresh on the Nagda-Ujjain leg, and arrive in Ujjain at 07:05. Mahakaleshwar's morning Bhasma Aarti slot has already finished by then (it runs at dawn), so this train is better suited to next-day Bhasma Aarti bookings rather than the same-morning slot. If you want the Bhasma Aarti on your arrival morning, you will have to arrive the previous day on 19490 or 19314 and stay a night in Ujjain first.

Varanasi Junction (BSB) vs Banaras (BSBS)

Varanasi has two long-distance stations: Varanasi Junction, code BSB (also called Varanasi Cantonment in older timetables), and Banaras station, code BSBS, which started handling more originating services in recent years. All three trains in the table above are listed as originating or boarding at Varanasi Junction (BSB), so plan your drive or auto drop at BSB unless your PNR specifically names BSBS. Varanasi Junction is partially controlled by the Lucknow Division of Northern Railway and the Varanasi Division of North Eastern Railway per Wikipedia, and has 11 platforms.

When each train makes sense

Pick the train that matches your profile, not just the fastest one.

• You want the shortest effective trip and are flexible on days. Take the 20413 Kashi Mahakal out and the 20414 back. You leave Varanasi on a Tuesday afternoon, arrive Ujjain Wednesday dawn, spend Wednesday and the Thursday morning in Ujjain, then grab a mid-morning Ujjain-to-Indore connecting train or taxi and board 20414 at Indore on Friday 10:15. Three nights, two full days on the ground.
• You want to avoid a second overnight on the train. Take 19490 Gorakhpur-Ahmedabad at 02:25, arriving Ujjain the same day at 19:55. You lose the day on the train, but you sleep in a hotel that night and wake up in Ujjain fresh for Bhasma Aarti the next morning. This is the favoured plan for older pilgrims who do not like two train nights in a row.
• You are starting work late Tuesday or Friday and leaving town in the evening. Take 19314 Indore Express at 16:00. It is the slowest of the three but gets you to Ujjain at 12:15 next day, which pairs well with an afternoon temple start.

Kartik Purnima and Mahashivratri windows crowd Ujjain hotels and the Mahakal queue; if your Varanasi-to-Ujjain plan lands in those windows read our Ujjain in November guide before you lock the train.

2-day Ujjain plan from Varanasi (20413 arrival)

Board 20413 Tuesday 14:00 at Varanasi Jn. Arrive Ujjain Wednesday 07:05.

• Wed 07:05-07:45: Exit Ujjain Junction, auto or e-rickshaw to your hotel (most Mahakal-area stays are 2 to 3 km from the station). Freshen up.
• Wed 08:30-12:00: Walk the Mahakal Lok corridor, stand in the regular darshan queue at Mahakaleshwar; expect 1 to 2 hours in the queue on a non-festival weekday, longer on weekends.
• Wed 12:30-14:00: Lunch near Harsiddhi chowk; try a Malwa thali.
• Wed 14:30-18:00: Harsiddhi Temple, Ram Ghat on the Shipra River, Kaal Bhairav Mandir (the one in Bhairavgarh where a bhog of liquor is offered), Sandipani Ashram.
• Wed evening: Ganga-style aarti at Ram Ghat if you are there at the right time; dinner.
• Thu morning: If you booked Bhasma Aarti via the official counter or as part of our plan, report to the temple at the time on your pass (dawn hours apply, verify on the day). Otherwise do a second darshan.
• Thu late morning: Chintaman Ganesh if time permits; return to Ujjain Jn for the next step.

For the exact temple sequence on a tight day see our Ujjain temple pilgrimage order. If you have an evening train back the same Thursday, use a Ujjain Mahakal trip plan built around Bhasma Aarti.

3-day plan (add Omkareshwar)

For a three-day pilgrimage, extend by a day to Omkareshwar, the Jyotirlinga on the Narmada, roughly 140 km south of Ujjain. Day 1 and day 2 are the two-day plan above; on day 3 take an early cab or bus to Omkareshwar via Indore, do the Omkareshwar and Mamleshwar darshan and return to Ujjain or directly to Indore airport. If this is your profile, read our full 2-day Ujjain itinerary and tell us the day you want Omkareshwar added.

Return: 20414 Kashi Mahakal and alternatives

The return pair 20414 Kashi Mahakal leaves Indore at 10:15, passes Ujjain soon after and reaches Varanasi at 05:00 the following day per totaltraininfo listings, running on Wednesdays and Fridays. Because the train originates at Indore, Ujjain is a pass-through stop: book your ticket from UJN, do not try to board at Indore. If the Mahakal return day does not fit your plan, use the equivalent of the outbound alternatives in reverse: 19313 Indore-Patna Express and 19167 Sabarmati Express pair with their 19314 and 19168 counterparts. Daily availability is poor in this direction, so lock the return train before you book the outbound.

Road, bus and the rare direct flight question

The road distance between Varanasi and Ujjain is roughly 1,340 km via the Prayagraj-Rewa-Katni-Bhopal corridor and takes 22 to 25 hours of driving with stops; route-planner estimates vary, so treat this as a two-day drive at minimum. Overnight sleeper buses on this corridor exist on aggregator listings but with transfers at Bhopal or Jabalpur, so they are not a time saver. There is no direct commercial flight to Ujjain; the nearest airport is Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport in Indore, around 55 km from Ujjain by road. If you are flying, you would have to route Varanasi-Delhi-Indore or Varanasi-Mumbai-Indore and then drive. For most pilgrims, the Kashi Mahakal train is simply the right call.

What to pack and temple etiquette

Nights in Ujjain between November and February can drop to single digits, so pack a light sweater or shawl. Mahakaleshwar does not allow leather, cameras or mobile phones inside the sanctum area; cloakrooms exist at the entrance. For Bhasma Aarti, men typically wear a dhoti and women a saree; the dress code is enforced at the entrance for the inner darshan slot. Carry your ticket or confirmation and a photo ID.

Two Jyotirlingas and seven cities: the context most pages skip

Hindu tradition groups twelve Shiva shrines as the Dvadasa Jyotirlinga, enumerated in a well-known stotram. Mahakaleshwar and Kashi Vishwanath are the only two on that list that sit in the broader Ganga-Narmada heartland of North and Central India at a journey of a single overnight train, which is why this corridor has had a dedicated tourism-tie-in service in the first place. Beyond the Jyotirlinga list, Kashi and Ujjain are two of the seven Sapta Puri cities that Hindu tradition considers moksha-granting (Wikipedia Sapta Puri), the others being Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Kanchipuram and Dvaraka. Framing the trip this way helps you brief older family members on why the long train journey is worth it, and it quietly earns you better questions at the temple. If you want to extend the Jyotirlinga count on the same trip, adding Omkareshwar makes it three.

Where to stay and Bhasma Aarti booking

We cover the stay question separately on our sister site, with options from ashram-style dharamshalas to mid-range hotels near Mahakal Lok. For the Bhasma Aarti slot itself, use the official Shree Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga portal or our sister site for current-day booking logistics; neither we nor any travel agent can guarantee a specific slot, so book the trip around a flexible darshan window.

If you want us to put the whole two-Jyotirlinga trip together - train tickets, Ujjain stay, cab and the Bhasma Aarti slot pointer - plan your Ujjain trip with us. For other city corridors, see our Delhi to Ujjain trip by train.

Written and reviewed by the Ujjain Tours & Travels editorial team. Facts checked against primary sources; see the reference above.

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