Key Takeaways
- Who the rites here are for
- The Kashi Khanda account
- Kapardishwara Mahadev
- Where it fits in Kashi
In This Article
Pishach Mochan Kund sits in the Chetganj area of Varanasi, away from the cremation ghats, and it has one purpose. Pishach, a restless spirit, and mochan, release. The Kashi Khanda names it as the site where a soul held in Pret or Pishach Yoni after an unnatural death can be freed, and it is where Narayan Bali and Tripindi Shradh are performed in this city.
Who the rites here are for
The tradition’s criterion is the circumstance of the death, not the state of the living family. The Garuda Purana names the deaths it applies to: accident, suicide, drowning, fire, murder, snakebite, epidemic — or any death where the Antyeshti rites were not performed, or were not completed properly.
If that describes a death in your family, Narayan Bali at Pishach Mochan is the rite the tradition prescribes, and you do not need anything else to establish it. If it does not, the Ganga ghats are where the ordinary ancestral rites — tarpan and Pind Daan — are performed, and they are sufficient.
The Kashi Khanda account
Chapter 54 of the Kashi Khanda, in the Skanda Purana — “The Greatness of Pishacha-Mochana Tirtha” — gives the origin. The tank was first known as Vimalodaka Tirtha, the immaculate water, created by a Shiva Gana named Kapardi through austerities.
A brahmin who had fallen into Pishach Yoni through past karma came upon a Shaiva sage meditating there in the month of Margashirsha. He tried to frighten the sage, failed, and then prostrated and asked for release. The sage told him: bathe in this Vimalodaka Tirtha and take darshan of the Kapardeeshwara Linga. He did, the demon body was destroyed, and the soul was freed. The kund has been Pishach Mochan since.
What makes the chapter more than an account of one miracle is what it establishes next: that any soul in Pret or Pishach form, whatever the original cause, can find release at this kund when the rites are properly performed. The text places it among the Anashrita Tirthas — sites within Kashi whose power comes from what happened at them rather than from a deity residing there.
Kapardishwara Mahadev
The temple beside the kund holds one of the Pancha Lingas of Kashi — the five supreme lingas listed in the Kurma Purana, with Vishwanatha, Krittivaseshwara, Madhyameshwara and Omkareshwara. Kapardi refers to Shiva’s matted locks, and this form is Shiva as the refuge for those whom death itself has not freed.
The Kashi Khanda prescribes worshipping Kapardishwara before the rites at the kund, not after — the darshan is treated as what opens the way for the rest. Any pandit working here will take you to the temple first.
The local Tirth Purohit tradition holds that the kund was once part of a larger complex with shrines to several forms of Bhairava, Kashi’s kotwal or guardian. The rites here are understood to petition both Shiva, through Kapardishwara, and Bhairava.
Where it fits in Kashi
Varanasi’s sacred geography is not undifferentiated. The Pancha Tirtha — Assi, Dashashwamedh, Manikarnika, Panchaganga and Adi Keshava — serve pilgrims seeking general purification. The cremation ghats, Manikarnika and Harishchandra, handle the transition of those who die within the Kashi Mandala.
Pishach Mochan has a narrower function: souls that the ordinary mechanism of death and cremation did not release. In scriptural terms they are neither in Pitra Lok with the properly cremated nor liberated as those dying naturally in Kashi are held to be, but in an intermediate state.
Which is why it matters to be clear about which of these you need. This is not a general pilgrimage site.
Narayan Bali
The rite for a soul held after an akal mrityu, an untimely death, or where the funeral rites were never properly performed. Its purpose in the tradition is to release the soul from that state and let it take its place in Pitra Lok.
The sequence is the sankalpa; the invocations to Ganesha, Vishnu, Brahma, Rudra and Yama; the Narayan Bali homa; the invocation of the soul by mantra; the forming of a symbolic body from wheat flour and the performance of the full funeral rites over it; the Pinda Pradan and tarpan; and the closing Brahmin Bhojan. Four to five hours in a single-day form, or across three days where Tripindi Shradh is included. Our complete Narayan Bali guide sets out the rite in detail.
Tripindi Shradh
A different problem. Where Narayan Bali is for a death, Tripindi Shradh is for neglect: ancestors across three generations — father, grandfather, great-grandfather — whose annual shradh has been missed, or who the tradition describes as restless from lingering attachment.
Families often perform both where the family history includes both a neglected obligation and an untimely death. Our Tripindi Shradh page covers it.
Pind Daan and tarpan
These are performed here too, though more usually at the Ganga ghats. For a family covering the full range, the sensible division is the Narayan Bali at the kund and the tarpan at the river afterwards — the kund for the specific release, the Ganga for the general purification.
What it costs
| Rite | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Narayan Bali in Varanasi | ₹25,000 | The full rite at the kund — sankalpa, homa, symbolic body, Pinda Pradan, tarpan. Was ₹31,000 |
| Tripindi Shradh at Varanasi | ₹21,000 | Three generations, where the annual shradh has been missed |
| Pind Daan in Varanasi | ₹7,100 | At the Ganga ghats |
| Tarpan in Varanasi | ₹5,100 | The water offering on its own |
| Shradh at Varanasi (Kashi) | ₹10,999 | The shradh ceremony at the ghats |
The prices include the pandit, the full samagri and the coordination at the kund. Nothing is added on the day. If you want accommodation arranged near the kund, ask and we will help with it.
🙏 Book Narayan Bali at Pishach Mochan
- Performed at the kund, with Kapardishwara darshan first
- Full vidhi — homa, symbolic body, Pinda Pradan, tarpan
- Sankalpa in your family gotra
- Live video for families who cannot travel
Getting there
The kund is in Chetganj, with the Kapardishwara Mahadev temple and smaller shrines around it. Auto and taxi drivers know it.
- From Varanasi Junction — about 5 km, 15 to 20 minutes by auto
- From Dashashwamedh Ghat — about 3 km, 10 to 15 minutes
- From Babatpur airport — about 25 km, 45 to 60 minutes
Preparing
- Bathe before you arrive, and wear clean traditional dress — white or light dhoti-kurta, saree or salwar. Not black.
- Vegetarian diet before and during the puja days, avoiding onion and garlic, and in some paddhatis rice as well. Ask the pandit what your family’s practice requires.
- Samagri is arranged for you — flour, rice, sesame, flowers, fruit, incense, sacred thread — and is in the price.
- Who performs it. Usually a male descendant, most often the eldest son, with other family members participating.
When to come
The rites can be performed through the year. Pitru Paksha, the fortnight in September or October, is the period families most often choose. Any amavasya suits, with Somvati Amavasya — a Monday new moon — particularly asked for. The ancestor’s own death tithi is the other usual choice. Confirm the dates against a panchang with the pandit, as the tithis move each year.
For families abroad
The ceremony can be arranged remotely, either with a family representative present at the kund or performed on your behalf with the sankalpa taken in your name and gotra. It is streamed, and a written account follows. Our puja services for families abroad explain how the arrangement works.
A three-day Varanasi circuit
Families often cover more than one obligation in a single visit:
- Pishach Mochan Kund — Narayan Bali, and Tripindi Shradh if it applies
- The Ganga ghats — Pind Daan and tarpan at Manikarnika or Dashashwamedh, with the evening aarti at Dashashwamedh
- Asthi Visarjan, if you are carrying ashes, and darshan at Kashi Vishwanath
Kedar Ghat, where the Kedareshwara temple is associated with the ancestral rites, is the other site Tirth Purohits add for a family doing the full circuit. We can arrange the whole itinerary with one point of contact.
Where else we perform Narayan Bali
- Varanasi, at Pishach Mochan — ₹25,000
- Gaya, at the Vishnupad temple and the Phalgu — ₹35,000
- Prayagraj, at the Triveni Sangam — ₹31,000
- Haridwar, at Har Ki Pauri — ₹31,000
Common questions
What does Pishach Mochan mean?
Pishach is a restless spirit, mochan is release. The kund was earlier called Vimalodaka Tirtha and took the name from the brahmin freed there.
Do I need an astrologer to confirm the rite is needed?
No. The criterion is the circumstance of the death, which your family already knows. If someone died by accident, suicide, drowning, fire, snakebite or without proper funeral rites, the rite applies.
How long does Narayan Bali take?
Four to five hours for the single-day form. Three days where Tripindi Shradh is performed with it.
Can it be done at the Ganga ghats instead?
The ghats serve for the general ancestral rites. For this particular release the Kashi Khanda names the kund, which is why the pandits here perform it there and follow it with tarpan at the river.
Arranging it
Tell us the circumstances of the death, the gotra and when you can travel, and we will confirm the pandit, the kund arrangements and the total before anything is paid. WhatsApp +91 77540 97777 or call +91 91152 34555.
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