ISKCON Soho Diwali: Evening Aarti at 10 Soho Street

At 10 Soho Street, a few minutes' walk from the traffic of Oxford Street, ISKCON London's Radha-Krishna Temple opens at 4.30 in the morning and stays open until 9.30 at night, every day of the year. This is one of the easiest places in central London to join the Diwali season on foot. The temple is a fixture of Soho, and the festival of lights falls on Sunday 8 November, right inside Kartik, the sacred lunar month that begins on 25 October.

The temple's own history page tells the story of how it got here. In 1968 the movement's founder, Srila Prabhupada, asked three married couples to establish a base in England. Within months they were chanting in the streets of London, and in December 1968 they met George Harrison, whose interest in the movement helped carry the mantra far beyond the first small group. The Soho Street building grew out of that early community and remains the movement's central London home.

The name on the door is the Radha-Krishna Temple, after the deities worshipped inside. Diwali here is a devotional festival rather than a spectacle, and the daily rhythm of aartis, darshan and shared vegetarian food is what a visitor comes to see.

The schedule is the heart of a visit. The temple's schedule page lists seven daily ceremonies: Mangala Aarti at 4.30am, Darshan Aarti from 7am, Dhoopa Aarti from 8.15am, Raj Bhoga Aarti from 12.30pm, a second Dhoopa Aarti from 4.15pm, Sandhya Aarti from 7pm and Sayana Aarti from 9pm. Darshan, the viewing of the deities, stays open after each ceremony until 5am, 7.45am, 11.45am, 1pm, 6.30pm, 7.30pm and 9.30pm respectively.

For a first visit, Sandhya Aarti at 7pm is the one to choose. It falls after the working day, when the evening has darkened outside and the temple is at its busiest. The early morning Mangala Aarti suits anyone who wants a quiet, nearly empty hall, though it means a 4.30am start. The midday Raj Bhoga Aarti at 12.30pm is the easiest slot for office workers on a lunch break.

A word on the earliest ceremony: the schedule page gives Mangala Aarti as 4.30am to 5.10am, while the darshan page ends it at 5am, so arrive by 4.45am if you want to see all of it. The ceremony is the quietest of the day and draws the most devoted regulars, who come before work. In the evening, Sayana Aarti from 9pm closes the day, and the temple shuts its doors at 9.30pm.

The code of conduct is short and clearly worded. The temple is strictly vegetarian: you must not bring fish, eggs, meat or alcohol onto the premises, including packaged items, and anyone under the influence of alcohol or drugs will not be admitted. Children under 16 must be supervised by a parent or guardian at all times, and visitors are asked to keep their belongings with them.

During aarti, visitors are asked to refrain from conversation in the temple room, so save your questions for afterwards. The temple publishes a separate photo policy on its website. Visitors who want to take photographs should read that policy first.

The temple's FAQ points visitors to Govinda's, the vegetarian restaurant on the ground floor of the same building. The restaurant is run by the temple community and, like the temple, it is strictly vegetarian, which suits a Diwali visit because the festival is traditionally marked with a meat-free meal. Eating in the temple's own building is a more direct taste of devotional cooking than most restaurants in the area offer.

Sweets are the other half of Diwali, and ISKCON temples are known for halwa and other offerings made as prasadam, food first offered to the deities and then shared. Sharing prasadam is a core part of a temple visit, and it is what makes the evening feel like a festival rather than a tour.

Getting there is straightforward. Tottenham Court Road station, served by the Central, Northern and Elizabeth lines, is a one-minute walk from the door, and Oxford Circus is about five minutes away on the Central, Bakerloo and Victoria lines. Soho Street is a short side street, so look for the temple entrance rather than a large frontage, and plan to arrive ten minutes before an aarti begins so that you can leave your shoes and find a place in the hall.

Soho Street ends at Soho Square, a leafy garden with benches that is the natural place to sit after the temple. From the square it is a short walk down Greek Street and Dean Street into the old heart of Soho, where Georgian townhouses sit above restaurants and theatres. Oxford Street is five minutes north on foot, and Chinatown is about ten minutes south, if you want to pair the temple with a second meal.

The temple fits neatly into an afternoon in the West End. Come out of the evening aarti, cross the square, and you are in one of the busiest nights-out districts in the capital within minutes, a striking change from the calm of the temple hall.

The temple's online calendar for October lists Pasankusa Ekadasi on 22 October and Sharad Purnima on 25 October, with the evening programme running from 6pm to 9.30pm that day. The month of Kartik runs from 25 October to 24 November, and Diwali on 8 November sits in the middle of it. Large London celebrations that week include the BAPS temple in Neasden and the Mayor of London's free Diwali on the Square in Trafalgar Square on 25 October, so a Soho visit can be one stop in a longer festival route.

Address: ISKCON London Radha-Krishna Temple, 10 Soho Street, London W1D 3DL. Opening hours: every day, 4.30am to 9.30pm. Nearest stations: Tottenham Court Road, about a one-minute walk, and Oxford Circus, about five minutes. Entry is free, and no fee is published for visiting the temple or attending an aarti.

Rules in brief: vegetarian only on the premises, children under 16 supervised at all times, belongings kept with you, no talking in the temple room during aarti, shoes off at the entrance. Govinda's restaurant is on the ground floor of the building. Plan an evening visit around Sandhya Aarti at 7pm, sit in the hall for the singing, and finish with a walk to Soho Square.