Assi Ghat is the southernmost
ghat
Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body of ...
in
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
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* The city has a syncretic t ...
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To most visitors to Varanasi, it is known for being a place where long-term foreign students, researchers, and tourists live.
[ With hosting Subah-e-Banaras in the morning, assi ghat provides a spectacular notion of river Ganga.
]
Tourism at Assi Ghat
Assi Ghat is the southernmost ghat in Varanasi. It is one of the biggest ghats of Varanasi and most popular one. To most visitors to Varanasi, it is known for being a place where long-term foreign students, researchers, and tourists live. Assi Ghat is one of the ghats often visited for recreation and during festivals. On typical days about 300 people visit every hour in the mornings, and on festival days 2500 people arrive per hour. Most of the people visiting the ghat on usual days are students from the nearby Banaras Hindu University
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916 ...
. The ghat accommodates about 22,500 people at once during festivals like Shivratri
Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava.
In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ca ...
.
During iconic Dev Deepawali festival, more than 600,000 tourists visit the ghat.
There are a lot of activities for tourists to engage in at the ghat. Visitors can go for boat rides, go up in a hot-air balloon for an aerial view of Assi ghat, enjoy the daily talent show in the evening or eat at one of the many restaurants and cafes in the area.
Hindus believe that it was at Assi Ghat that Tulsidas
Tulsidas (; born Rambola Dubey; also known as Goswami Tulsidas; c.1511pp. 23–34.–1623) was a Ramanandi Vaishnava Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. He wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi, but ...
left for his heavenly abode.
After the 2010 Varanasi bombing the city commissioned extra police to the Assi Ghat neighborhood in order to more quickly resolve problems which tourists might have.
''Subah-e-Banaras''
''Subah-e-Banaras'', an early morning session before dawn (sunrise) started on 2014 by Minister of State, Uttar Pradesh Government
The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...
. A committee has been constituted to glorify and propagate the celestial moments of ''Subah-e-Banaras'' for spiritual development. People from all walks of life joined hands together to perpetuate the early hour's effort to feel within existence of Almighty and grandeur of Nature. It is daily session which last for 2 hours and is free of cost.
Activities
# Morning Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
enchanting and Nature’s welcome.
# Vedic Yagya.
# Tribute to five elements of life, Pancha Tattva.
# Music – Morning Raga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...
, Classical/Semi classical by expert artists.
# Yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
classes - To shape perfectly physically as well metaphysically.
In popular culture
# Kashinath Singh
Kashinath Singh ( hi, काशीनाथ सिंह, born 1937) is an Indian writer and scholar of Hindi language and known for writing novels and short stories in Hindi. He was formerly a professor of Hindi literature in Banaras Hindu Uni ...
's Hindi novel ''Kashi Ka Assi
''Kashi Ka Assi'' is a 2004 Hindi novel written by Kashi Nath Singh. A movie, '' Mohalla Assi'' was made on this novel. Kashi Ka Assi can signify to the Assi that belongs to Kashi – the city or the author. He has added real people and real co ...
'' is set in the mohalla
is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations.
History
Historically, mahallas were autonomous social in ...
near the ghat. The novel is being adapted as ''Mohalla Assi
''Mohalla Assi'' (; ) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language satirical drama film starring Sunny Deol and Sakshi Tanwar, and directed by Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi.
The film is loosely based on Dr. Kashi Nath Singh's popular Hindi novel ''Kashi Ka ...
'', a 2018 Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
film starring Sunny Deol
Ajay Singh Deol (born 19 October 1956), better known by his stage name Sunny Deol, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, politician and current Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur (Lok Sabha constituency) of Punjab, India. As an actor, ...
and directed by Chandra Prakash Dwivedi, which is set in the ''mohalla
is an Arabic word variously translated as district, quarter, ward, or "neighborhood" in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations.
History
Historically, mahallas were autonomous social in ...
'' (locality) around Assi Ghat.
# Raanjhanaa
''Raanjhanaa'' () is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Aanand L. Rai and written by Himanshu Sharma. The film is produced by Krishika Lulla under the banner of Eros International. It stars Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor, Ab ...
, a 2013 film which is also a Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
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* The city has a syncretic t ...
-based story, also has scenes of the "Assi Ghat".
# Masaan
''Masaan'' (; also known as ''Fly Away Solo'' in English) is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language independent drama film and starring Richa Chadda and Vicky Kaushal in lead roles. It is Kaushal's debut Hindi film, and is also the directorial debut of ...
, a 2015 drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by Neeraj Ghaywan
Neeraj Ghaywan is an Indian film director and writer who works in Hindi films. He is the winner of several accolades including a National film Award and two Filmfare Awards.
Ghaywan assisted filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on ''Gangs of Wasseypur ...
has scenes of Vatika Cafe of the Assi Ghat.
References
External links
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{{commonscat, Assi Ghat
Ghats in Varanasi