VARANASI: The first CII Banaras Biennale will run in the city from 27 November to 31 December 2026, according to the official programme issued by the organisers. Titled Kashi Light: City as Sensorium, it is organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, with Banaras Hindu University and government partners named in the same brochure.

The programme says the event will unfold across museums, galleries, universities, ghats, craft clusters and historic institutions, presenting Banaras as a living civilisation rather than only as a monument of the past. Gayatri Sinha is lead curator for visual arts, Pramod Kumar KG curates textiles, and Harshavardhan Neotia and Dr Anjan Chakraverty curate the Jnana Pravaha displays. Madhu Neotia curates India Story: Banaras Edit, and filmmaker Goutam Ghose curates the CII Banaras Film Festival 2026.

Exhibitions and venues across the city

Bharat Kala Bhavan, on the BHU campus, is the principal venue. Founded in 1920, with Rabindranath Tagore as its first chairman, the museum holds more than 100,000 works. Two exhibitions are listed there: Lines in the Water, curated by Sinha, and Ek Dhaga, Ek Duniya: Silk, Zari and the Light of Kashi, curated by Pramod Kumar KG. Dalimss News reported a short visitor closure at the museum through 4 November.

Ahivasi Gallery in the Faculty of Visual Arts will show My River My Witness, a photography exhibition also curated by Sinha. At Jnana Pravaha, a cultural centre on the Ganga facing Ramnagar Fort, the programme lists Kalamandapa: The Suresh Neotia Collection, presented by Harshavardhan Neotia and Dr Anjan Chakraverty, and India Story: Banaras Edit.

Nagari Pracharini Sabha will show work on Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, a history of the Sabha, monsoon paintings and Tinka Tinka: The Persistence of the Sacred, by Manish Pushkale. Peshwa Haveli at Raja Ghat, now the INTACH Cultural Centre, will present Kashi: The Eternal City and A City Held by the River by Debasish Mukherjee, curated by Pallavi Khandelwal of ArtBela, on view from 27 November with an official opening on 30 November. Swatantrata Bhawan at BHU will host a student and faculty biennale from 27 November to 20 December, and What the Silk Remembers is listed at Obeetee Design Studio until 31 December. Exhibitions are open daily from 1030 to 1830 hrs, with limited exceptions in preview week.

Preview week, public days and how to attend

Preview week runs from 27 November to 1 December. Access on 27 November will remain only for media and special invitees. From 28 November the schedule includes morning darshan at Kashi Vishwanath and a heritage walk, Lanes of Memory, through the old city, both marked book ahead and first come first served. The CII Artisan Development and Design Centre at the Trade Facilitation Centre opens on 28 November. The film festival is listed at the Omkarnath Thakur Auditorium from 28 November to 1 December, with screenings still to be announced.

Namo Ghat will host the Food Festival and Handicraft Haat, the Karigar Pavilion and Ganga aarti. Concerts listed there include Trio Benares, with Deobrat Mishra, Prashant Mishra and Roger Hanschel, on 28 November; Kabir Cafe, led by Neeraj Arya, on 29 November; and Backstage Siblings, Raghav and Prachi Agarwal, on 1 December. On 30 November the CII Annual Tourism Summit 2026 is listed at Taj Ganges, a memorial lecture by Dr Randeep Guleria is scheduled at BHU, and Banaras, Woven In, with Umang and Hemang Agrawal, is listed at the looms of HolyWeaves in Lahurabir. Jnana Pravaha is for invited guests only on 30 November; Bharat Kala Bhavan and Ahivasi Gallery are for invited guests only on 1 December.

Public days run from 2 December to 31 December, with core exhibitions remaining on view subject to each show's end date. Later talks requiring registration include The Romance of the Rug at Obeetee Design Studio on 11 December, with Graham Head, Gaurav Sharma and Nikhil Kapoor; a masterclass with Naman Ahuja at BHU on 18 December; and a masterclass with Homi K. Bhabha at BHU on 19 December. Curated tours of The Indigo House at Obeetee Bungalow in Mirzapur also require registration.

The brochure does not print a general admission price. Visitors are asked to register and use Book Your Stay on the official website, and many sessions require registration or advance booking. Times may change. Visitors should allow for slow traffic in the old city and around BHU. Phones, cameras and bags are not permitted inside Kashi Vishwanath, where lockers are available and modest dress is expected. A Dalimss News guide to restaurants in Varanasi sets out meal options near the venues.

What the biennale says it will leave behind

The Varanasi Healthy Weavers Initiative is due to launch as part of the biennale's legacy, focusing on primary healthcare among weaving communities in Ramnagar, Lohta and Badi Bazar, and estimated to benefit 4,000 to 5,000 weavers and their families. That sits alongside earlier reporting on state plans for a hospital linen supply route involving Varanasi handloom weavers. The programme also lists a CII Artisan Skill Training Institute anchored in Varanasi, with planned centres in Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Chandauli and Azamgarh, plus a CII Model Career Centre and a CII E2EE Career Lounge at BHU.

Government partners listed are the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, the Government of Uttar Pradesh, Banaras Hindu University and CII. JSW is named as presenting partner, and JK Cement, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, Adani, Triveni Engineering and Industries Ltd., Ambuja Neotia and Obeetee as founding patrons. Enquiries go to the CII Banaras Biennale Secretariat at ciibanarasbiennale@cii.in, or 91 11 4577 1000.

  • Dates: 27 November to 31 December 2026.
  • Preview week: 27 November to 1 December; 27 November is for invited guests and media only.
  • Public days: 2 December to 31 December.
  • Hours: 1030 to 1830 hrs, with listed exceptions on 30 November and 1 December.
  • Principal venue: Bharat Kala Bhavan, Banaras Hindu University.
  • Entry: no general ticket price is printed; registration is required for many sessions.
  • Secretariat: ciibanarasbiennale@cii.in, telephone 91 11 4577 1000.