Panchganga Ghat, Varanasi: The Ghat of Five Rivers, Dev Deepawali and Boat Guide

ॐEssential info at a glance

ॐPanchganga Ghat timings and the best time to visit

As a public riverfront, the ghat is open around the clock, and there is no entry fee. It is one of the calmer, cleaner and more reflective of the great ghats, a quieter alternative to the crowds of Dashashwamedh. The best season is the cool, clear stretch from October to March, and the single most magical time is the month of Kartik, culminating in Dev Deepawali.

*The grand evening Ganga aarti is held nearby at Dashashwamedh, around 6:00 PM in winter and 7:00 PM in summer, while Panchganga keeps its own quieter morning and evening prayers.

ॐThe ghat of five rivers

Panchganga means five Gangas, and the ghat takes its name from the belief that five holy rivers meet here: the Ganga, the Yamuna, the Saraswati, the Dhutpapa and the Kirana. Today only the Ganga is visible on the surface; the others, tradition says, have merged into the earth, flowing on unseen. As one lovely local saying has it, at Panchganga you may see only one river, but you feel many. It is this hidden confluence that makes the ghat one of the holiest bathing places in all of Kashi, and a dip here, especially in the sacred month of Kartik, is believed to carry great merit.

The ghat is ancient and revered. The Kashi Khand names it as the second most important ghat after Dashashwamedh, and in the time of the Gahadavala kings the royal families favoured it above all others. It is one of the five tirthas of the Panchatirthi Yatra, the sacred circuit of Kashi, and in the old image of the city as a living body it is counted among its holiest parts. Above the ghat stands the Bindu Madhav Temple, the great Vishnu shrine of Kashi, for which the ghat was once known as Bindu Madhav Ghat.

ॐThe Kartik lamps and the birthplace of Dev Deepawali

If there is one thing every Banarasi will tell you about Panchganga, it is the lamps. Through the whole month of Kartik, devotees, and especially women, light the akash deep, sky lamps set in little baskets and hoisted on tall bamboo poles, offered for their ancestors and for the fulfilment of their wishes, so that the ghat is strung with points of flame against the evening sky. Above the steps stands a stone pillar with a hundred and eight lamp niches, built by the great queen Ahilyabai Holkar, a monument to this age-old tradition of deep-daan, the giving of light.

Above all, Panchganga is the birthplace of Dev Deepawali, the Diwali of the Gods. It was here, in 1985, that the modern tradition of lighting the ghats for Dev Deepawali began, before it spread to become the citywide festival of a million lamps that Varanasi is now famous for. On the full moon night of Kartik Purnima, the massive stone steps of Panchganga are covered with countless earthen lamps, their reflections trembling on the water, and because this is where it all began, the mood here is more solemn and devotional than at the great public ghats, an intimate and profound experience of the festival of light. It is one of the most beautiful sights in all of India, and the finest way to see it is from a boat on the river.

ॐThe ghat of saints

Few places in Kashi have drawn so many of India's great spiritual figures, and to sit on these steps is to sit where they sat.

This extraordinary gathering of saints, Hindu and Sikh, of devotion and reform, gives Panchganga a depth of spiritual heritage matched by few ghats, and it is part of what makes a quiet hour here so moving.

ॐBindu Madhav and the mosque above

Rising above the ghat are the two structures that tell its layered history. Here once stood a magnificent temple of Bindu Madhav, the great Vishnu of Kashi, rebuilt by Raja Man Singh in the sixteenth century; it was destroyed in 1673 during the reign of Aurangzeb, and the Alamgir Mosque was raised on the site, where it still stands. The deity of Bindu Madhav is worshipped to this day in a smaller temple nearby. It is a place to be mindful of the long, layered story of Kashi, and to be respectful of the mosque above, which is a living place of worship. For the full story, see our guide to the Bindu Madhav Temple.

ॐThe quieter ghat, in my own words

By Rajeev Sharma, Varanasi local

I bring people to Panchganga when they want to feel the deep, quiet soul of Kashi, away from the crowds of Dashashwamedh. I tell them the beautiful idea that five rivers meet here though you see only one, so you feel many. I show them the tall bamboo poles for the sky lamps and Ahilyabai's pillar with its hundred and eight little lamp niches, and I explain, with real pride, that Dev Deepawali, the festival of a million lamps that the whole world now comes to see, actually began right here in 1985.

And I love telling the stories of the saints, that Kabir took his initiation on these very steps, that Guru Nanak sat here, that Trailanga Swami used to appear and disappear on this ghat. If it is Kartik, I take my guests out by boat in the evening to see Panchganga lit with lamps, and it is quieter and more devotional than the big ghats, which many people prefer. A dawn boat here at any time of year, with the light on the great steps, is one of the loveliest things I can give a traveller.

In more than forty years of guiding, this is the ghat I send people to when they want to feel Kashi rather than just photograph it.

ॐWhat to see and do at Panchganga Ghat

• Come by boat at sunrise for the golden light on the great stone steps, the finest way to see the ghat.
• Watch the quieter morning and evening Ganga prayers, a calm alternative to the grand Dashashwamedh aarti.
• In Kartik, see the akash deep, the sky lamps on tall bamboo poles, and Ahilyabai's 108-lamp pillar.
• Visit at Dev Deepawali for the steps ablaze with lamps, at the very ghat where the festival began.
• Take darshan at the Bindu Madhav temple above, and sit awhile where the great saints sat.

ॐHow to reach Panchganga Ghat

The ghat is at Bangali Tola in the old city, on the riverfront north of the central ghats. You can come down through the old city lanes on foot, or, best of all, by boat along the river.

The nicest way is by boat, especially at sunrise or for the Dev Deepawali lamps. We arrange the boat, the timing and a guide.

ॐBest time to visit and how to plan it

• Pair it with Bindu Madhav above, and with Manikarnika and Scindia along the riverfront.
• Allow 30 to 60 minutes, longer for a boat ride or the Dev Deepawali evening.

For the ghats and the river planned as one experience, see our Varanasi tour packages.

ॐAccessibility for elderly and mobility limited visitors

• Panchganga has steep, high stone steps, which can be challenging for those with limited mobility.
• A boat lets you enjoy the ghat from the water without the full climb, though boarding still needs care.
• Come at a quieter hour, and avoid the dense Dev Deepawali crowds if steps and crowds are difficult.
• We arrange a boat, the timing and a helper or guide to make the visit comfortable.

ॐEtiquette and tips

ॐNearby sites to combine with your visit

Panchganga sits on the riverfront among the holiest ghats and temples of the old city.

For the grand evening aarti and a boat ride, see our Varanasi tour packages.

ॐOur boat rides and Dev Deepawali experiences

We are a Varanasi based operator, a unit of Experience My India, with more than forty years of guiding travellers across Kashi, Ayodhya, and Prayagraj. The ghat is free, so what we arrange is the experience on the water: a sunrise boat, a guided heritage walk of the ghat and its saints and temples, and, above all, a boat or a reserved seat for the lamps of Dev Deepawali, the finest way to see the festival at the ghat where it began.

Inclusions and exclusions are stated up front, with any taxes and conditions, and no charge appears later that was not named. See all our Varanasi tour packages for the full range.

Experience My India is a travel operator, not a temple or government body. Prices are ours. Ghat access is free and public; rituals and timings are set by the temples and priests and can change.