Herein, the photoluminescence (PL) and thermoluminescence (TL) properties of rare earth doped cubic double perovskite tungstate Ba 2(1− x ) (Na,RE) x ZnWO 6 (RE = Ce 3+ , Eu 3+ and Dy 3+ ) phosphors synthesized by the solid‐state reaction method are presented. The self‐luminescence of pure Ba 2 ZnWO 6 material in the blue‐green region is enhanced by Ce 3+ doping with its most effective concentration of 3 mol%. The dominant emission in orange (of Eu 3+ at 597 nm) and blue (of Dy 3+ at 485 nm) region in the emission spectra of Ba 2(1− x ) (Na,Eu) x ZnWO 6 and Ba 2(1− x ) (Na,Dy) x ZnWO 6 phosphor, respectively, shows highest intensity for 3 mol% of Eu 3+ and 2 mol% of Dy 3+ ion in the host lattice. The broad excitation band of Ce 3+ and Dy 3+ doped phosphor in the near UV region claims its candidature for solid‐state lighting. TL studies are also performed using γ‐radiation. Pure host material shows a simple glow curve while the rare earth ion doped phosphor shows a complex glow curve with enhanced intensity. Phosphor shows the fairly linear response up to 1 kGy radiation. Glow curves are deconvoluted and the trap parameters are calculated by Chen's peak shape method.