Kushavart Ghat, Kankhal

Kushavart Ghat (also written Kushavarta or Kushawart) is one of the oldest and most sacred bathing ghats in Haridwar, set on the banks of the Ganga in the quiet neighbourhood of Kankhal, a short distance south of the city's famous Har Ki Pauri.

• It counts among Haridwar's Panch Tirth — the five sacred spots (Kushawart, Bilwa, Neel Parvat, Gangadwar and Kankhal tirtha) named in traditional Sanskrit verse — and is revered above all as the city's foremost place for ancestral rites: pind-daan, tarpan and shraddh performed for departed forebears.
• In sharp contrast to the bustle and lamplit spectacle of Har Ki Pauri, Kushavart is measured and contemplative, its steps given over to families in quiet ritual rather than to crowds and cameras.
• The present stone ghat is attributed to the Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore, the eighteenth-century ruler whose patronage restored ghats, temples and dharamshalas across northern India's tirtha towns.
• Local tradition ties the site to great sages of antiquity: it is most often linked to the sage Dattatreya, believed to have performed penance here standing on one foot for a thousand years, and in the wider Kankhal tradition to Sage Kapila and to Parashurama.
• Kankhal itself is one of the most storied quarters of Haridwar, home to the Daksha Mahadev temple that marks the Puranic Daksha Yajna narrative, so a visit to the ghat sits naturally within a deeper pilgrimage through this ancient precinct.
• For all visitors, regardless of faith, the ghat is open and welcoming, but its solemn purpose asks for restraint.
• Many families you see here are performing rites for the recently or long departed, so observe quietly, dress modestly, and photograph discreetly if at all — ask before pointing a camera toward a ritual in progress.
• Priests and ritual specialists are available on the ghat for those who wish to perform tarpan, though there is no obligation to engage them.
• The Ganga current is swift and cold; bathe only where it is shallow and safe, hold the fixed chains where provided, and keep a close eye on children and elders.
• Haridwar is a strictly vegetarian and alcohol-free pilgrimage city, so every eatery around Kankhal and the old bazaars is pure-vegetarian, with satvik no-onion-no-garlic thalis widely available near the temples and dharamshalas.
• A visit pairs well with an early-morning walk along the river before the day warms, followed by simple pilgrim fare — hot puris, sabzi and rabri — at one of the long-established vegetarian houses toward Har Ki Pauri.