As used in many parts of South Asia, the term ghat (Bengali: ঘাট, Hindi: घाट ghāṭ "steps") refers to a series of steps leading down to a water body, usually a holy river. In Bengali-speaking regions, this set of stairs can lead down to something as small as a pond or as large as a major river.
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In English- and Hindi-speaking areas, ghats refers to the areas in holy river-side cities like Haridwar and Varanasi where stairs exist to access the Ganges.
The numerous significant ghats along the Ganges are known generally as the 'Varanasi ghats' and the 'ghats of the Ganges'. In Madhya Pradesh in western India there are further significant ghats along the Narmada River.
The word is also used in some places outside of the Indian subcontinent where there are Indian communities. For example, in George Town, Penang in Malaysia, the label "Ghaut" is used to identify the extensions of those streets which formerly ended in ghats before 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). In both 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).
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 ones are Nigambodh Ghat and Raj Ghat in Delhi on the Yamuna, that latter of which was the cremation area for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and numerous political leaders after him, and the Manikarnika Ghat at Varanasi on the Ganges.[1]
In Marathi and also Hindi, Gujarati ghat is a term used to identify a difficult passage over a mountain.[2] One such ghat is the Bhor Ghat connecting the towns Khopoli and Khandala, on NH 4 about 80 km north of Mumbai.
In many cases, the term is used to refer to a mountain range itself, as in the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats.
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