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{{Short description|Series of steps leading down to a body of water, particularly a holy river in South Asia}}
{{Other uses}}
[[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, [[Varanasi]]|alt=Dashashwamedh Ghat|250x250px]]

'''Ghat''', a term used in the [[Indian subcontinent]], depending on the context could refer either to a [[Geography of India#Coastal plains and ghats|range of stepped hills]] with [[valley]]s (ghati in Hindi), such as the [[Eastern Ghats]] and [[Western Ghats]]; or 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&dq=ghat+means&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_nZnwjpPgAhUHWysKHQcdAjk4ChDoAQgpMAA Discover sublime India: handbook for tourists], Page 5.</ref><ref name=dict2>[https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ghat Ghat definition], Cambridge dictionary.</ref> Roads passing through ghats are called [[Ghat Roads]].

==Etymology==

The word 'ghat' has been derived from Dravidian etymons such as the Tamil and Kannada word ''kaadu''(காடு/ಕಾಡು) (forest, side of a mountain, ridge) or Telugu ''katta'' and ''gattu'' (dam and embankment){{Quote without source|date=May 2021}}

==Types in India==

===Mountain ghats ===
[[File:Konkan - Western Ghats - Scenes from India's Konkan Railway 104.JPG|right|thumb|Western Ghats]]{{Split section|Mountain ghat|date=May 2021}}
The word ''ghati'' (Hindi: घाटी) means valley.<ref name=ghatimean1>[https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/hindi-english/%E0%A4%98%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9F%E0%A5%80 Ghati meaning], Hindi-English Collins dictionary.</ref> In [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Hindi]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] and [[Kannada]], ''ghat'' is a term used to identify a difficult passage over a mountain.<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Navneet Marathi English Dictionary |publisher=Navneet Publications (India) Limited |location=Mumbai 400028 |url=http://www.navneet.com/mainpage/contactus.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124025354/http://navneet.com/mainpage/contactus.asp |archive-date=2009-01-24 }}</ref> One such passage is the [[Bhor Ghat]] that connects the towns [[Khopoli]] and [[Khandala]], on [[National Highway 4 (India, old numbering)|NH 4]] about {{convert|80|km}} north of [[Mumbai]]. [[Charmadi]] Ghat of Karnataka is also notable. In many cases, the term is used to refer to a mountain range itself, as in the ''[[Western Ghats]]'' and ''[[Eastern Ghats]]''. 'Ghattam' in Malayalam also refers to mountain ranges when used with the name of the ranges being addressed (e.g., paschima ghattam for Western Ghats), while the passage road would be called a 'churam'. [[Eastern Ghats]] on the east coast of India and [[Western Ghats]] on the west coast of India are the largest ghats in pensular India.<ref name="RWH">{{cite web|title=The Eastern Coastal Plain|url=http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/eco/ecp.htm|publisher=Rainwaterharvesting.org|access-date=19 November 2008}}</ref>

Western Ghats, also known as ''Sahyadri'' (Benevolent Mountains), is a mountain range covers an area of 140,000 km² in a stretch of 1,600 km parallel to the western coast of the [[India]]n [[peninsula]], traverse the States of [[Kerala]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Karnataka]], [[Goa]], [[Maharashtra]] and [[Gujarat]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Western Ghats|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1342}}</ref> It is a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] and is one of the eight "hottest hot-spots" of biological diversity in the world.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities|journal=Nature|year=2000|volume=403|doi=10.1038/35002501|last1=Myers|first1=Norman|last2=Mittermeier|first2=Russell A.|last3=Mittermeier|first3=Cristina G.|last4=Da Fonseca|first4=Gustavo A. B.|last5=Kent|first5=Jennifer|issue=6772|pages=853–858|pmid=10706275|bibcode=2000Natur.403..853M|s2cid=4414279}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-02/flora-fauna/32507340_1_world-heritage-list-western-ghats-border-town
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131192257/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-02/flora-fauna/32507340_1_world-heritage-list-western-ghats-border-town
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=31 January 2013
|title=UN designates Western Ghats as world heritage site|date=2 July 2012|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]
|access-date=2 July 2012
}}</ref> It is sometimes called the Great [[Escarpment]] of India.<ref>{{cite book|last=Migon|first=Piotr|title=Geomorphological Landscapes of the World|date=12 May 2010|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-90-481-3054-2|page=257}}</ref> It is a biodiversity hotspot that contains a large proportion of the country's flora and fauna; many of which are only found here and nowhere else in the world.<ref>{{citation|title=A biodiversity hotspot|url=http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/western_ghats/}}</ref> According to [[UNESCO]], Western Ghats are older than Himalayan mountains. It also influences Indian monsoon weather patterns by
intercepting the rain-laden monsoon winds that sweep in from the south-west during late summer.<ref>{{cite web|title=Western Ghats|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1342}}</ref> The range runs north to south along the western edge of the [[Deccan Plateau]], and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain, called [[Konkan]], along the [[Arabian Sea]]. A total of thirty-nine properties including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests were designated as world heritage sites - twenty in [[Kerala]], ten in [[Karnataka]], five in [[Tamil Nadu]] and four in [[Maharashtra]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1342/multiple=1&unique_number=1921|title=Western Ghats|work=[[UNESCO]]|access-date=3 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Clara|last=Lewis|date=3 July 2012|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-03/mumbai/32523277_1_radhanagari-wildlife-world-heritage-centre-western-ghats|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707023508/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-03/mumbai/32523277_1_radhanagari-wildlife-world-heritage-centre-western-ghats|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 July 2012|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|title=39 sites in Western Ghats get world heritage status |access-date=21 February 2013}}</ref> [[Marathi people#Ghati people|Ghati people]], literally means the ''people of hills or ghats (valleys)'', is an [[exonym]] used for the marathi people specially those from the villages in [[Western Ghats]], often in pejorative terms.<ref name=ghati2>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bBG_QmivOWgC&pg=PA110&dq=ghati+people&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiVybzem5zgAhUHso8KHWW0AEQQ6AEIODAD >Bombay Teachers and the Cultural Role of Cities], Page 110.</ref><ref name=ghati1>[https://www.firstpost.com/living/of-ghati-bhaiyya-and-yandu-gundu-mumbai-has-huge-diversity-in-its-pejoratives-2640836.html Of 'ghati', 'bhaiyya' & 'yandu gundu': Mumbai has huge diversity in its pejoratives], First Post, 26 Feb 2019.</ref><ref name=ghati3>Guruprasad Datar, 2018, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zcxYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT90&dq=ghati+people&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiVybzem5zgAhUHso8KHWW0AEQQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=ghati%20people&f=false Stereotypes],</ref>

The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along [[India]]'s eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from the northern [[Odisha]] through [[Andhra Pradesh]] to [[Tamil Nadu]] in the south passing some parts of [[Karnataka]] and in the [[Wayanad district|Wayanad region]] of Kerala. They are eroded and cut through by four major rivers of peninsular India, viz. [[Godavari River|Godavari]], [[Mahanadi]], [[Krishna River|Krishna]], and [[Kaveri]]. The mountain ranges run parallel to the [[Bay of Bengal]]. The [[Deccan Plateau]] lies to the west of the range, between the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats. The [[coastal plain]]s, including the [[Coromandel Coast]] region, lie between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. The Eastern Ghats are not as high as the [[Western Ghats]]. The Eastern Ghats are older than the Western Ghats, and have a complex geologic history related to the assembly and breakup of the ancient [[supercontinent]] of [[Rodinia]] and the assembly of the [[Gondwana]] supercontinent. The Eastern Ghats are made up of [[charnockite]]s, [[granite]] [[gneiss]], [[khondalite]]s, [[metamorphic]] [[gneiss]]es and [[quartzite]] rock formations. The structure of the Eastern Ghats includes [[Thrust fault|thrusts]] and [[strike-slip fault]]s<ref>{{cite journal | url = https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2FBF03052185.pdf#page-1 | doi=10.1007/BF03052185 |journal = Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section B
| date = November 1967| volume= 66| issue= 5| pages= 200–205
|title = Geology of Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh| doi-broken-date=31 May 2021 }}</ref> all along its range. [[Limestone]], [[bauxite]] and [[iron ore]] are found in the Eastern Ghats hill ranges.

===River ghats ===
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:019XZZ000000123U00013000(SVC2).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 ones are [[Nigambodh Ghat]] and [[Raj Ghat]] in [[Delhi]] on the [[Yamuna]], 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===
"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
* [[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 India==
The word is also used in some places outside 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 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). 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).

[[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]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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

{{Worship in Hinduism}}
{{Authority control}}

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

Ghat - Revision history

>Citation bot at 04:05, 5 June 2021