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{{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 Ghats|Eastern]] and [[Western Ghats]]. For other uses, see [[Ghat (disambiguation)]].}}
[[File:Varanasi_Munshi_Ghat3.jpg|alt=Munshi Ghat|thumb|250x250px|[[Munshi Ghat]]]]
[[File:Dashashwamedha ghat on the Ganga, Varanasi.jpg|thumb|[[Dashashwamedh Ghat]] 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]].<ref name=dict1>Sunithi L. Narayan, Revathy Nagaswami, 1992, [https://books.google.com/books?id=miZuAAAAMAAJ&q=ghat+means Discover sublime India: handbook for tourists], Page 5.</ref><ref name=dict2>[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ghat Ghat definition], Cambridge dictionary.</ref> 

==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.<ref>Source: Monnier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, [https://sanskrit.inria.fr/MW/84.html#gha.t.ta] ghaṭṭa;</ref>  The word 'ghat' has also been derived from Dravidian etymons such as  [[Telugu language|Telugu]] ''kaṭṭa '' and ''gaṭṭu'' (dam and embankment) derived from ''kaṭṭu''  meaning "to tie".<ref>DDSA 1147  pg108</ref>

==Types==

===River ghats ===
These are bathing wharves on a river.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
The numerous significant ghats along the [[Ganges]] are the [[Ghats in Varanasi|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 empire|Maratha rulers]] such as [[Ahilyabai Holkar]] (Queen of the [[Malwa]] Kingdom from 1767 to 1795) in the 18th century.<ref>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
}}
</ref>

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|right|thumb|A late 18th-century painting of [[Pune]] 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]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

===As place name suffix===
"Ghat" and "Ghata" is also a [[suffix]] used in several place names across the [[Indian subcontinent|subcontinent]]. This is an incomplete list:
* [[Balaghat district|Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh]], India
* [[Balurghat|Balurghat, West Bengal]], India
* [[Batiaghata Upazila|Batiaghata, Khulna]], [[Bangladesh]]
* [[Charghat Upazila|Charghat, Rajshahi]], Bangladesh
* [[Chunarughat Upazila|Chunarughat, Habiganj]], Bangladesh
* [[Devghat|Devghat, Nepal]]
* [[Gaighat, Nepal]]
* [[Ghatail Upazila|Ghatail, Tangail]], Bangladesh
* [[Ghoraghat Upazila|Ghoraghat, Dinajpur]], Bangladesh
* [[Goalandaghat Upazila|Goalandaghat, Rajbari]], Bangladesh
* [[Golaghat district|Golaghat, Assam]], India
* [[Gowainghat Upazila|Gowainghat, Sylhet]], Bangladesh
* [[Haluaghat Upazila|Haluaghat, Mymensingh]], Bangladesh
* [[Kanaighat Upazila|Kanaighat, Sylhet]], Bangladesh
* [[Pasighat|Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh]], India
* [[Patharghata Upazila|Patharghata, Barguna]], Bangladesh
* [[Saghata Upazila|Saghata, Gaibandha]], Bangladesh

==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 language|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.<ref name="overview">{{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 }}</ref> From 1849 to 1923, half a million Indian [[indentured labour]]ers passed through the Immigration Depot, to be transported to [[plantations]] throughout the [[British Empire]]. The [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|large-scale migration of the laborers]] left an indelible mark on the societies of many former British colonies, with Indians constituting a [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|substantial proportion of their national populations]].<ref name="carib">{{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 }}</ref> In Mauritius alone, 68 percent of the current total population is of [[Indo-Mauritian|Indian ancestry]]. The Immigration Depot has thus become an important reference point in the [[History of Mauritius|history]] and [[Culture of Mauritius|cultural identity]] of Mauritius.<ref name="coolitude">{{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}}</ref><ref name="piece">{{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}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ghats in Varanasi]]
* [[Ghat Roads]]
* [[Garden Reach#Surinaam Ghat|Surinaam Ghat]]
* [[Temple tank]]
* [[Stepwell]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ghats}}
* [http://varanasi.nic.in/ Ghats of Varanasi, webpage] at ''[[Varanasi]]'' official website.

{{Worship in Hinduism}}
{{Death in Hinduism}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ghats of India| ]]
[[Category:Geography of India]]
[[Category:Hindu symbols]]
[[Category:Religious tourism in India]]
[[Category:Sacred rivers|*]]