Dawn bath at Manikarnika Ghat, Varanasi, on Vaikuntha Chaturdashi for liberation and purity

Manikarnika Snan is the holy bath taken at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi on the morning of Vaikuntha Chaturdashi, Kartika Shukla Chaturdashi. Manikarnika is the most sacred of Kashi's ghats and its eternal cremation ground, where the fires have never gone out; dying or being cremated here is believed to grant moksha. According to the Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana, Lord Vishnu dug a kund here with his discus (the Chakrapushkarini Kund) and performed a long penance for Shiva, filling it with the sweat of his austerities. When Shiva came, pleased, and shook his head in delight, his jewelled earring (manikarnika) fell into the kund, giving the place its name. Because this is the site where Vishnu worshipped Shiva, bathing here on Vaikuntha Chaturdashi — the day of Hari-Hara union — is considered supremely meritorious, washing away the sins of lifetimes. Pilgrims bathe at dawn in the Manikarnika kund and the Ganga, worship at the Tarakeshwar temple and Vishnu's footprints (Charanpaduka), and give charity.

Many keep the Vaikuntha Chaturdashi fast.