Kashi's Ghats From the Water: Raja Ghat, Kedar Ghat and the Uttarvahini Ganga Explained
Ask any traveller who has taken a slow boat ride along Varanasi's riverfront, and they will tell you the same thing: the ghats look entirely different from the water. Seen from a boat drifting downstream, the 84 ghats of Kashi stop being separate flights of steps and become one continuous stone facade nearly seven kilometres long, stitched together by palaces, shrines, terraces and the everyday rhythm of the city. A stretch that rewards attention is Raja Ghat, built by the rulers who once maintained riverside estates here. Its broad steps and layered stonework have made it a favourite backdrop for filmmakers looking for an uncluttered frame of old Banaras, and on most mornings it doubles as a spot for akhara exercise, laundry, and quiet conversation. Further along sits Kedar Ghat, recognisable by its striped red-and-white facade and the Kedareshwar temple above it. Devotees connect this stretch with the Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva, in which the divine masculine and feminine are held in a single body, an idea that has shaped Kashi's temple art for centuries. South Indian pilgrim families have lived around this ghat for generations, giving the neighbourhood its own distinct cuisine and music. At the far end, Ramnagar Fort, the seat of the Kashi Naresh, watches the river from the opposite bank. It is here that many boatmen point out the city's defining geographic feature: the Ganga turning north, the uttarvahini flow that made this a place of moksha in the popular imagination. For visitors, the lesson is simple. Walk the ghats by evening, but see them once from a boat at first light.
Compiled by HelloBanaras from public sources:
