Ganga Godavari Mandir

On the crowded stone embankment above Ramkund, in the heart of Nashik's Panchavati quarter, the Ganga Godavari Mandir honours the Godavari not as a river but as a living goddess.

• To pilgrims she is simply Ganga — the belief that the sacred Ganga herself flows underground to surface here gives the shrine its double-barrelled name.
• Small, unshowy and almost swallowed by the lanes and bathing steps around it, the temple is nonetheless one of the most visited spots on the riverfront, because custom holds that a devotee should greet the river goddess here either before or after taking a dip in the Ramkund below.
• The temple sits at the spiritual centre of Panchavati, the wooded riverside neighbourhood that tradition links to Lord Rama's forest exile.
• By tradition the Godavari that runs past these ghats is the same stream that flowed by Rama's hermitage, which is why the water and the goddess who personifies it are treated with such reverence.
• Inside, the deity is worshipped in the form of the river mother, garlanded and bathed in vermilion and turmeric; priests perform aarti facing the water, and families arrive to complete post-immersion rituals, offer flowers, or immerse the ashes of relatives in the belief that the goddess carries the soul onward.
• The setting is inseparable from the shrine.
• From the steps you look down on Ramkund, its green water crowded with bathers, and across to the cluster of old temples — Kapaleshwar, Sundarnarayan and others — that crown the Panchavati skyline.
• During Simhastha, the great Kumbh gathering that draws millions to Nashik every twelve years, this stretch of bank becomes one of the holiest bathing points in India, and the little Ganga Godavari temple stands at the emotional core of it all.
• Come early, when the light is soft and the aarti bells carry over the water, for the quietest and most atmospheric darshan.
• For food, this is one of the easiest corners of Nashik to eat well as a vegetarian, since the Panchavati temple lanes are lined with pure-veg kitchens serving Maharashtrian and Gujarati fare.
• Look for humble pure-veg thali houses and snack counters near Ramkund dishing out sabudana khichdi, poha, batata vada and hot chai; ask specifically for the pure-veg or Jain option at any misal or chaat stall, as not every counter is fully vegetarian.
• Sweet shops along the approach sell fresh jalebi, pedha and basundi to round off a riverside morning.