Ghat

{{Short description|Series of steps leading down to a body of water, particularly a holy river in South Asia}}

{{hatnote|"Ghats" redirects here. For the mountain ranges, see Eastern and Western Ghats. For other uses, see Ghat (disambiguation).}}

File:Varanasi_Munshi_Ghat3.jpg]]

File:Dashashwamedha ghat on the Ganga, Varanasi.jpg on the Ganges river, in Varanasi.|alt=Dashashwamedh Ghat|250x250px]]

Ghat ({{IPA|hi|gʱaːʈ|lang}}), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aapravasi Ghat.Sunithi L. Narayan, Revathy Nagaswami, 1992, [https://books.google.com/books?id=miZuAAAAMAAJ&q=ghat+means Discover sublime India: handbook for tourists], Page 5.[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ghat Ghat definition], Cambridge dictionary.

Etymology

The origin of the English 'ghat' is {{langx|sa|घट्ट}}, {{IAST|ghaṭṭa}} and is normally translated as ghaṭ, quay, landing or bathing place, as well as, steps by a river-side.Source: Monnier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, [https://sanskrit.inria.fr/MW/84.html#gha.t.ta] ghaṭṭa; The word 'ghat' has also been derived from Dravidian etymons such as Telugu kaṭṭa and gaṭṭu (dam and embankment) derived from kaṭṭu meaning "to tie".DDSA 1147 pg108

Types

=River ghats =

These are bathing wharves on a river.{{cite book |last1=Bose |first1=Melia Belli |title="Women, Gender and Art in Asia, c. 1500-1900 |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351536554 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZiMxDwAAQBAJ&q=%22bhausahebanchi+bakhar+%22&pg=PT74 |access-date=18 August 2021}}

The numerous significant ghats along the Ganges are the Varanasi ghats (the city of Varanasi has 88 ghats) and generically the "ghats of the Ganges". Most of these were constructed under the patronage of various Maratha rulers such as Ahilyabai Holkar (Queen of the Malwa Kingdom from 1767 to 1795) in the 18th century.also it is a component which help the people to worship their lord and uses for tarpan.

{{cite book

|last1= Eck|first1= Diana L.|title= Banaras : city of light

|date= 1999|publisher= Columbia University Press

|location= New York|isbn= 9780231114479|pages= 90,222

|edition= repr.

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=J57C4d8Bv6UC&q=+Diana+Eck,+Banaras:+CITY+OF+LIGHT&pg=PR13

|access-date= 5 September 2017

}}

In Madhya Pradesh in central India, there are further significant ghats along the Narmada River. People who live on the steps are also called ghats.

=Shmashana, the cremation ghats=

File:Poonah - British Library X123(13).jpg with the Shmashana ghat at the confluence of Mula and Mutha rivers in the foreground]]

Ghats such as these are useful for both mundane purposes (such as cleaning) and religious rites (i.e. ritual bathing or ablutions); there are also specific "shmashana" or "cremation" ghats where bodies are cremated waterside, allowing ashes to be washed away by rivers. Notable examples include Nigambodh Ghat and Raj Ghat in Delhi, situated on the Yamuna River. Raj Ghat, in particular, was the cremation site for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and numerous political leaders after him, and the Manikarnika Ghat at Varanasi on the Ganges.{{cite web |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-1-2005_pg7_23 |title=Funeral pyre to be set up in Lahore |publisher=Daily Times Pakistan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213050046/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-1-2005_pg7_23 |archive-date=2007-02-13 }}

=As place name suffix=

"Ghat" and "Ghata" is also a suffix used in several place names across the subcontinent. This is an incomplete list:

Outside Indian subcontinent

The word is also used in some places outside the Indian subcontinent. For example, in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, the label "Ghaut" is used to identify the extensions of those streets which formerly ended in ghats before the reclamation of the quayside (e.g., Church St Ghaut, in Malay Gat Lebuh Gereja, is the name of the extension of Church St beyond where the street used to descend to the water via a ghat). Both in Penang and Singapore, there are areas named Dhoby Ghaut (dhobi meaning "launderer" or "laundry", depending on whether it refers to a person or a business).

Aapravasi Ghat or The Immigration Depot is a building complex located in Port Louis on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, the first British colony to receive indentured, or contracted, labour workforce from India.{{cite web | last = Deerpalsingh | first = Saloni | title = An Overview of Indentured Labour Immigration in Mauritius | publisher = Global People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Souvenir Magazine, July 2007 | url = http://www.gopio.info/?p=74 | access-date = 11 September 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130804064734/http://www.gopio.info/?p=74 | archive-date = 2013-08-04 | url-status = dead }} From 1849 to 1923, half a million Indian indentured labourers passed through the Immigration Depot, to be transported to plantations throughout the British Empire. The large-scale migration of the laborers left an indelible mark on the societies of many former British colonies, with Indians constituting a substantial proportion of their national populations.{{cite web | title = The Caribbean | publisher = High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora | url = http://www.indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter15.pdf | access-date = 11 September 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090619062242/http://www.indiandiaspora.nic.in/diasporapdf/chapter15.pdf | archive-date = 2009-06-19 | url-status = dead }} In Mauritius alone, 68 percent of the current total population is of Indian ancestry. The Immigration Depot has thus become an important reference point in the history and cultural identity of Mauritius.{{cite web | last = Torabully | first = Khal | title = Coolitude and the symbolism of the Aapravasi ghat | date=2 November 2007 | url = http://www.potomitan.info/torabully/aapravasi.php|access-date=10 September 2009}}{{cite web | title = Mauritius: History and Remembrance | date=2 November 2004 | publisher=allAfrica | url = http://allafrica.com/stories/200411020524.html |access-date=4 November 2004}}