Key Takeaways
- The prices, city by city
- What the price includes
- Narayan Bali or Narayan Nagbali
- Which city
In This Article
Narayan Bali costs ₹31,000 at Prayagraj and Haridwar, ₹35,000 at Gaya, and ₹35,000 for the online ceremony performed in your name at any of them. Those are the current seasonal prices; the regular prices are ₹41,000 in person and ₹46,000 online. It is a three-day rite and the figure covers all of it. This page sets out what is included, what is not, and how the cities differ.
The prices, city by city
| Where and how | Price now | Regular price, and what it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Prayagraj, in person | ₹31,000 | ₹41,000. At the Triveni Sangam — the most accessible of the four by rail and air |
| Haridwar, in person | ₹31,000 | ₹41,000. At Har Ki Pauri. Easiest from Delhi |
| Varanasi, in person | ₹25,000 | ₹31,000. At Pishach Mochan, the kund associated with releasing trapped souls |
| Gaya, in person | ₹35,000 | ₹41,000. The traditional ground for all pitru karma — the choice if pind daan is being done on the same trip |
| Online, any city | ₹35,000 | ₹46,000. All three days performed in your name, with a video link for the sankalpa |
The seasonal prices apply during Pitru Paksha and the confirmed ancestral-rite windows. Outside those the regular prices apply, and we will say which you are being quoted.
What the price includes
- All three days — the preparatory rites and sankalpa, the symbolic antyeshti on the effigy, and the pind daan and Narayan invocation on the third.
- The pandits. Five qualified brahmins for the simultaneous sukta recitation, which is what makes this rite different from any other ancestral ceremony.
- All samagri — the effigy materials, havan samagri, the offerings.
- Brahmin bhoj and dakshina, inside the price. Not collected separately on the day.
- Ghat booking and the arrangements at the site.
- A written record of what was performed, with photographs.
Narayan Bali or Narayan Nagbali
They are not the same thing and the difference decides what you should be paying for.
Narayan Bali addresses the unnatural death itself — the rite for someone who died by accident, suicide, snakebite, drowning or violence, or whose last rites were never performed. That is what the prices above are for.
Nag Bali is a separate rite, and it is for the killing of a serpent — usually a cobra — by someone in the family line. The two are performed together as Narayan Nagbali only where a family carries both, and Trimbakeshwar is where that combined rite is traditionally done. There the resident Guruji families perform it and charge roughly ₹6,500 to ₹11,000 for the priest and materials, with travel and three nights in Nashik on top — a different kind of arrangement rather than a cheaper one. The Trimbakeshwar guide covers it.
Which city
All four carry full scriptural sanction for this rite, so the choice is practical rather than spiritual. Prayagraj if you are coming by air or rail from most of India. Haridwar from Delhi. Gaya if pind daan is being done on the same trip, which is the common combination. Varanasi at Pishach Mochan, which is the lowest price of the four and the kund specifically associated with releasing trapped souls.
Families ask about Chanod in Gujarat, which is a recognised site for this rite on the Narmada. We do not perform there and will not pretend to — if that is where your family tradition points, arrange it locally, and ask the same questions you would ask us: what the total is, how many reciters, and whether anything is collected on the day.
Timing
The texts name the eleventh day after the death, but almost no family hears of this rite in those eleven days. It can be performed at any distance from the death — we arrange it regularly for ancestors who died generations ago. It is not restricted to Pitru Paksha either, though that fortnight is the strongest window for every ancestral rite, and the seasonal prices apply during it.
Book at least two to three weeks ahead, and a month for Pitru Paksha, because five qualified brahmins have to be held for three consecutive days.
🙏 Narayan Bali at the Triveni Sangam
- Five brahmins, the full five-sukta sequence, all three days
- Samagri, havan, brahmin bhoj, dakshina and ghat booking inside the price
- Written record and photographs of each day
- Online at ₹35,000 with couriered prasad for families abroad
What the rite actually consists of, and why the tradition prescribes it, is in the full guide to Narayan Bali and in akal mrityu. If you are unsure whether it applies to your family at all, tell us the circumstances of the death — a pandit will say plainly, including when the answer is that the ordinary shradh is what you need.
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Authentic ceremonies performed by Veda-trained pandits at sacred sites across India.
