The complete guide to Varanasi’s ghats

Varanasi has 88 ghats stretching along 7km of the Ganga's western bank. The tourist economy concentrates them on three: Dashashwamedh (evening aarti), Assi (morning chai), and Manikarnika (cremation). Most visitors never walk more than 500 metres in either direction from Dashashwamedh. This is the equivalent of going to Venice and only seeing the Rialto.

The northern ghats: where pilgrims go

Walk north from Dashashwamedh for 40 minutes and the tourist infrastructure disappears. Gai Ghat is where the Ganesh Chaturthi processions arrive from the city and the idols are immersed — in September, the crowd is ten thousand deep. Panchganga Ghat, further north, is one of the city's most sacred points: where five rivers are said to meet underground. The Alamgir Mosque above it was built by Aurangzeb on the site of a Vishnu temple and is a lesson in Varanasi's layered history.

Harishchandra Ghat: the older cremation ground

Most tourists are directed to Manikarnika for the cremation grounds. Few go to Harishchandra Ghat, 500 metres to the south, which is smaller and older and where the Dom community (hereditary cremation workers) welcome respectful visitors more openly. Sit on the steps and watch — with permission, quietly. The Dom Raja, who controls the sacred flame from which all Varanasi cremation fires are lit, has an office nearby. Do not photograph any part of the process.

Assi Ghat: where Varanasi's intellectuals meet

Assi is where Varanasi's professors, musicians, and Sanskrit scholars begin their day. The morning puja at 5:30am is led by a pandit from the Kashi temple nearby. After the puja, the ghat transforms into an open-air conversation — small groups sitting on the steps, chai from the stall at the top, and the kind of discussion (music, philosophy, city politics) that has been happening at this spot for five centuries.