Kala Bhairava · The guardian of Kashi
Kaal Bhairav
Kaal Bhairav, the fierce form of Lord Shiva, is Time itself and the kotwal who guards Kashi. Recite his chalisa, keep his Sundays and Tuesdays, and meet the eight Bhairavas who guard the directions.
- His days
- Sunday and Tuesday
- Next: Today
- Next Kaal Bhairav day
- Kalashtami
- Today · Sun 1 Nov
1 of 8 · East · The one with dark limbs
Asitanga Bhairava
The first of the eight, who guards the east. He is shown white, with four arms, holding a rosary and the water pot of the ascetic, with a sword and a skull-bowl. His consort is Brahmani, the power of Lord Brahma, and he rides her swan.
Mount: A swan. Consort: Brahmani.
2 of 8 · South-east · The one with the ruru deer
Ruru Bhairava
Guardian of the south-east, shown pale blue, with four arms holding a deer, an axe, a sword and a bowl. His consort is Maheshvari, the power of Lord Shiva, and like Shiva he rides the bull.
Mount: A bull. Consort: Maheshvari.
3 of 8 · South · The fierce one
Chanda Bhairava
Guardian of the south, shown white, with a bow and arrow, a sword and a bowl. He rides the peacock, as Lord Kartikeya does, and his consort is Kaumari, the power of Kartikeya.
Mount: A peacock. Consort: Kaumari.
4 of 8 · South-west · Wrath
Krodha Bhairava
Guardian of the south-west, dark blue, holding the conch, the discus and the mace of Lord Vishnu, with a bowl. He rides Garuda, the eagle, and his consort is Vaishnavi, the power of Vishnu.
Mount: Garuda, the eagle. Consort: Vaishnavi.
5 of 8 · West · The frenzied one
Unmatta Bhairava
Guardian of the west, golden, holding a sword, a skull-bowl, a pestle and a shield. He rides a horse, and his consort is Varahi, the power of Varaha, the boar.
Mount: A horse. Consort: Varahi.
6 of 8 · North-west · He of the skull-bowl
Kapala Bhairava
Guardian of the north-west, a shining yellow, holding the thunderbolt and the noose, with a sword and a bowl. He rides the elephant, as Indra does, and his consort is Indrani, the power of Indra.
Mount: An elephant. Consort: Indrani.
7 of 8 · North · The terrifying one
Bhishana Bhairava
Guardian of the north, blood red, holding a sword, a skull-bowl, a trident and a pestle. His consort is Chamunda, the fierce Goddess who defeated the demons Chanda and Munda.
Mount: A lion; some lists give a preta, a spirit. Consort: Chamunda.
8 of 8 · North-east · Dissolution
Samhara Bhairava
Guardian of the north-east and the last of the eight, who stands for the end of an age, when all things are drawn back in. He is shown with ten arms, holding among them a trident, a drum, a noose and a goad.
Mount: A dog; some lists give a lion. Consort: Chandi; some lists give Narasimhi.
Tap an emblem, or its number, to meet each Bhairava. Each stands at the direction he guards, round Kala Bhairava at the centre, with north at the top.
His days, in your city
Dates and puja times for the city you pick
For New Delhi
His night every month, the eighth of the waning moon, kept with a fast, a lamp of mustard oil and his chalisa.
- Every Sunday and Tuesday
- Sun 1 NovHis days of the week
- Kalabhairav Jayanti
- Tue 1 Dec5:24 pm to 11:14 pm
- Maha Shivratri
- Sat 6 Mar
- Durga Ashtami
- Thu 7 Oct
Recite the Bhairav Chalisa
जय जय श्री काली के लाला।
जयति जयति काशी-कुतवाला॥
Jai jai Shri Kali ke lala,
Jayati jayati Kashi-kutvala.
Glory, glory to the dear son of Shri Kali; victory, victory to the kotwal, the guardian, of Kashi.
श्री काली के प्यारे पुत्र की जय हो, जय हो; काशी के कोतवाल, उसके रक्षक, की जय हो, जय हो।
Two dohas, thirty-six chaupais and a closing doha by the poet Sundar Das: recited on Sundays and Tuesdays, on Kalashtami and on Kalabhairav Jayanti.
Read the whole ChalisaHis prayers
- Bhairav ChalisaHis chalisa in Hindi, recited on Sundays and on KalashtamiRead
- Kalabhairava AshtakamEight verses in Sanskrit, by Adi ShankaracharyaSoon
- Bhairav AartiJai Bhairav Deva, his aartiSoon
A simple Sunday puja
Kaal Bhairav is worshipped on Sundays and Tuesdays, on Kalashtami each month and above all on Kalabhairav Jayanti, often in the evening. At home, a short, calm puja before his image is enough. Follow your family’s way where it differs.
- Clean the place of worship and set his image or picture there.
- Light a lamp of mustard oil, and incense.
- Offer flowers, black sesame seeds and a sweet.
- Chant Om Kalabhairavaya Namah 108 times.
- Recite the Bhairav Chalisa.
- Share the prasad, and give some food to a dog if you can.
What you need
- His image or picture
- A lamp of mustard oil, and incense
- Black sesame seeds
- Flowers
- A sweet as prasad
- A rosary, for the mantra
Who is Kaal Bhairav
Kaal Bhairav is a fierce form of Lord Shiva. His name joins kala, which means both time and death, with bhairava, the terrible one: he is the power of Time, which no one escapes, and he frees his devotees from the fear of it.
In Kashi, the city of Varanasi, he is the kotwal, the guardian who keeps the city, and many believe that no one may live there without his leave. Pilgrims to Kashi Vishwanath visit his temple too. His mount is a dog, and he carries a trident, a staff and a skull-bowl.
He is worshipped in many forms: as Batuk Bhairav, a gentle child; as the eight Ashta Bhairava, who guard the eight directions; and as Kshetrapala, the guardian of a temple’s ground. Some tantric traditions worship him with rites of their own, learnt from a guru.
- Kala Bhairava the form that is Time
- Bhairavnath Lord Bhairava
- Kashi Kotwal the guardian of Kashi
- Batuk Bhairav his gentle child form
- Kshetrapala the guardian of a temple’s ground
- Bhairon Baba as many in North India call him
ॐ कालभैरवाय नमः
Om Kalabhairavaya Namah
I bow to Kala Bhairava. It is chanted 108 times, often on a rosary, on his days.
काल भैरव को मेरा नमन। उनके दिनों में इसे अक्सर माला पर 108 बार जपा जाता है।
देवराजसेव्यमानपावनांघ्रिपङ्कजं व्यालयज्ञसूत्रमिन्दुशेखरं कृपाकरम्।
नारदादियोगिवृन्दवन्दितं दिगंबरं काशिकापुराधिनाथ कालभैरवं भजे॥
Devaraja sevyamana pavananghri pankajam, vyala yajna sutram indu shekharam kripakaram,
Naradadi yogi vrinda vanditam digambaram, Kashika puradhinatha Kalabhairavam bhaje.
I worship Kala Bhairava, lord of the city of Kashi: whose holy lotus feet are served by Indra, king of the gods; who wears a serpent as his sacred thread and the moon on his head; who is full of mercy; who is praised by Narada and hosts of yogis, and is clothed in the sky.
मैं काशी नगरी के स्वामी काल भैरव को भजता हूँ: जिनके पवित्र चरण-कमलों की सेवा देवताओं के राजा इंद्र करते हैं; जो साँप को जनेऊ बनाते हैं और सिर पर चंद्रमा धारण करते हैं; जो दया से भरे हैं; जिनकी वंदना नारद और योगियों के समूह करते हैं, और जो दिशाओं को ही वस्त्र बनाते हैं।
Kalabhairav Jayanti and Kalashtami
His great day each year, and his day each month
Kalabhairav Jayanti
His birthday, also called Bhairava Ashtami, falls on the eighth day of the waning moon in Margashirsha by the northern calendar, the month the southern calendar calls Kartika: the same day, in November or early December. Devotees keep vigil through the night, with an aarti at midnight, and feed dogs, his mount. In Kashi the cloth that covers his image all year is taken away, and he is dressed in a garland of silver skulls.
Kalashtami
The eighth day of every waning moon is his, kept as Kalashtami, often with a fast, a lamp of mustard oil and his chalisa in the evening. It is held to be holier still when it falls on a Sunday or a Tuesday.
The eight and their directions are the same in every list; their mounts and consorts differ a little from text to text, above all for Bhishana and Samhara. Each is said to lead eight more, sixty-four Bhairavas in all, under Kala Bhairava.
What his symbols mean
The dog
His mount and companion, watchful and loyal as a guard. Feeding a dog on his days is a way of serving him.
The trident
The weapon of Lord Shiva, which he carries, for he is Shiva in his fierce form.
The skull-bowl
The fifth head of Lord Brahma, which stuck to his hand until he was freed in Kashi: even a god’s pride is cut down, and every wrong is paid for.
The staff
The staff of the kotwal, with which he keeps order; in Kashi it is a club of peacock feathers. His chalisa says one blow of it destroys the heaviest sin.
His dark colour
Dark as the night, as Time is, in which all things disappear.
The garland of skulls
Read as every age and every life that passes, which Time outlasts.
His stories
Across India
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Kaal Bhairav is the kotwal of Kashi. His temple at Vishweshwarganj is crowded on Sundays and Tuesdays and on Bhairava Ashtami, when the cloth over his silver-faced image is taken away.
Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
His temple at Bhairavgarh, on the Kshipra, keeps an old custom: liquor is offered to him, the one of the five ancient tantric offerings still made there.
Karnataka
Kalabhairaveshwara is the guardian of the Adichunchanagiri math in Mandya district, and his temple stands on top of the hill. Kalabhairava Jayanti there draws great crowds.
Nepal
In Kathmandu Durbar Square the gilded Swet Bhairav at Lord Hanuman Dhoka stays behind a screen for most of the year, and is shown to all during Indra Jatra.
His temples
- Kaal Bhairav MandirVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh
- Batuk Bhairav MandirVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh
- Kal Bhairav TempleUjjain, Madhya Pradesh
- Sri Kalabhairaveshwara Swamy TempleAdichunchanagiri, Karnataka
- Swet Bhairav, Hanuman DhokaKathmandu, Nepal
Questions
When is Kalabhairav Jayanti in 2026?
Kalabhairav Jayanti is on Tuesday 1 December 2026 in New Delhi, with the muhurat 5:24 pm to 11:14 pm. Pick your city at the top of this page for its own date and muhurat.
Which day is Kaal Bhairav’s?
Sunday and Tuesday each week, and some keep Saturday too; each month, Kalashtami, the eighth day of the waning moon; and above all Kalabhairav Jayanti.
When is Kalabhairav Jayanti?
On the eighth day of the waning moon in Margashirsha by the northern calendar, which the southern calendar calls Kartika: the same day, in November or early December.
What is Kaal Bhairav’s mantra?
Om Kalabhairavaya Namah, chanted 108 times, often on a rosary, on his days.
Why is he called the kotwal of Kashi?
The story says that after he cut off the fifth head of Lord Brahma, he was freed of the sin only when he reached Kashi, and Lord Shiva asked him to stay and guard the city. A kotwal is the keeper of a city’s peace.
Why does Kaal Bhairav ride a dog?
The dog is his mount and companion, watchful and loyal like a guard. Feeding dogs on his days, above all on Kalabhairav Jayanti, is a way of serving him.
Who are the Ashta Bhairava?
Asitanga, Ruru, Chanda, Krodha, Unmatta, Kapala, Bhishana and Samhara: eight Bhairavas who guard the eight directions, under Kala Bhairava.
Is Kaal Bhairav the same as Lord Shiva?
Yes: he is a fierce form of Lord Shiva, the power of Time, worshipped in his own right as the guardian of Kashi.