[[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;. notableNotable onesexamples areinclude [[Nigambodh Ghat]] and [[Raj Ghat]] in [[Delhi]], situated on the [[Yamuna]] River, the 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]].<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===
Revisionasof23:46,18March2024
Series of steps leading down to a body of water, particularly a holy river in South Asia
The origin of the English 'ghat' is Sanskrit: घट्ट, ghaṭṭa and is normally translated as ghaṭ, quay, landing or bathing place, as well as, steps by a river-side.[3] The word 'ghat' has also been derived from Dravidian etymons such as the Tamil and Kannada word kaadu (காடு/ಕಾಡು; forest, side of a mountain, ridge) or Telugukatta and gattu (dam and embankment).[This quote needs a citation]
Types
River ghats
These are bathing wharves on a river.[4]
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.[5]
InMadhya 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
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 GhatinDelhi, situated on the Yamuna River, the 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.[6]
As place name suffix
"Ghat" and "Ghata" is also a suffix used in several place names across the subcontinent. This is an incomplete list:
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 MalayGat 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).
^also it is a component which help the people to worship their lord and uses for tarpan.
Eck, Diana L. (1999). Banaras : city of light (repr. ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 90, 222. ISBN9780231114479. Retrieved 5 September 2017.