Sankat Mochan temple is one of the sacred temples of Varanasi. It is located in the southern part of Varanasi, near the Banaras Hindu University. It is dedicated to the Hindu God, Hanuman. The meaning of the Sankat Mochan is relief from all the problems (Sankat means problem and Mochan means relief giver). Sankat Mochan Temple was constructed by the educationist and freedom fighter Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya (the founder of the BHU) in the early 1900s. Every Tuesday and Saturday, thousands of devotees queue up in front of the Sankat Mochan temple to offer prayers to Lord Hanuman.
In the mandir, special offerings are sold like the special "besan ke ladoo" (sweets). Also Hanuman ji is offered with marigold flower garland. Outside the temple, there are many vendors who sell pendants, rings, incense and holy flowers to the devotees.
The Hanuman Jayanti (birthday of the Lord Hanuman) is celebrated every year by organizing a special Shobha Yatra (a parade) from Durga temple (Durga Kund) to the Sankat Mochan Temple.
Each year in the month of April, the temple organizes a classic music and dance concert festival titled, "Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh", in which musicians and performers from all over India take part. The first festival was organized in 1975, and since then it was attract numerous stalwarts of Indian classical music and dance world, including Odissi guru, Kelucharan Mahapatra, who was associated since its early days. In fact he was instrumental in starting women's participation in the festival with Sanjukta Panigrahi, Swapna Sundari and Kankana Banerjee.
In 2009, the six day concert saw over 35 artist including, vocalist Pandit Jasraj and Kathak exponent Pandit Birju Maharaj.
The 2010 concert was spread over five days, during which artists like, Pandit Jasraj, Sunanda Patnayak, Pt. Channulal Mishra, Pt. Rajan-Sajan Mishra performed.
Arati is performed daily at 6:30 AM and 6:00 PM