Dashaswamedh Ghat, Varanasi

Dashashwamedh Ghat as seen from the Ganges. (16 November, 2004)


Dashaswamedh Ghat is the biggest and most popular ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi. Its name means the ghat where 10 horses were sacrificed, and this refers to the act performed by Brahma in order for Shiva to return to Varanasi after a period of banishment.

When I was here with three other friends, we stayed in a guesthouse very close to Dashaswamedh Ghat so that we could visit it every day. Eventually I become quite familiar with this ghat at different times of the day. I would know, for example, that at dusk, there would be a puja, or worship, conducted just as the sun rises. Even while it was still dark, we can hear the temple bells as we hurried to Dashaswamedh Ghat.

Mornings and evenings are the busiest time on Dashaswamedh Ghat, the most important stairway to the Ganges in Varanasi. (16 November, 2004)


People were worshipping in the direction of the sun. Priests - some of them very fit-looking young men - performed the prayers for the masses. I am not Hindu, so my visit to Varanasi is entirely a cultural experience, not a religious one. It was a very absorbing scene. Devotees dipped into the Ganges, holy men called Sadhu sit under their woven shelters, some sat on the steps of the ghats. It is trying to determine which are Sadhu and which are common beggars.

Throughout the rest of the day, the ghat quiets down. The midday portion can be blazingly hot along the ghat. By evening, the crowds start to gather again, for the evening puja. The swirls of humanity makes Dashaswamedh Ghat the "epicenter" of all that is considered sacred in Hinduism going on in Varanasi.

Devotees, sadhus, beggars all form the swirls of humanity on the steps of the Dashaswmedh Ghat in the early morning. (16 November, 2004)


As with many places I have explored, I had a problem of how to write "Dashaswamedh", as there appears to be a variety of forms when it is transliterated. Hence, it is also written as Dasaswamedh, Dashashwamedh, Dashaswmedh and probably other combinations. So it was tough to decide which form should I use. I decided upon Dashaswamedh because it seem easier to pronounce, and also it appeared as such on the wall above the ghat.

As Dashaswamedh Ghat is where I start and end my exploration of the Ganges riverbank, all references to other ghats that I explored is related back to Dashaswamedh, whether north or south of it. Every single section of the ghats has a different name, and I tried to recall as many of these, although it tends to be disorienting to learn so many. Nevertheless, thing being AsiaExplorers, I will try to document as many as I can.

The same place, this time in the evening. (16 November, 2004)


Vendor doing brisk business hawking worship paraphernalia. (16 November, 2004)


The world seems to revolve around the rattan parasols of the Ganges holy men. (16 November, 2004)


The crowds thin out at mid day, when the heat and dust makes Dashaswamedh a scorching place to be. (16 November, 2004)

List of Varanasi Ghats

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