Saraswati Ghat

Saraswati Ghat is one of Prayagraj's most pleasant riverfronts, laid out along the deep-green Yamuna a short distance upstream of the Sangam — the sacred confluence where the Ganga and Yamuna meet the mythical Saraswati.

• Named for that unseen third river, the ghat is generally cleaner, calmer and more spacious than the busier Ganga-side bathing steps, which has made it a favourite with families, photographers and early-morning walkers.
• Broad paved steps descend to the water, a landscaped promenade runs above, and a row of moored rowboats and motorboats waits along the bank, their boatmen calling out fares to the Sangam.
• For most visitors the ghat is above all a departure point.
• This is one of the handiest and best-organised places to hire a boat out to the confluence, gliding past the ramparts of Akbar's riverside Fort and out to the shifting sandbar where the pale Yamuna and the browner Ganga braid together.
• Rates are usually negotiated per boat rather than per head, and it pays to agree the price and the route before setting off; shared boats are cheaper, a private hire more relaxed.
• During the annual Magh Mela and the great Kumbh, when tented Prayagwal settlements spread across the far banks, the whole riverfront becomes part of the world's largest peaceful spiritual gathering, with pilgrims arriving for the pre-dawn ritual bath and the weeks-long austerity of kalpavas.
• Even outside festival season the ghat rewards an unhurried visit.
• Come at first light to watch mist lift off the water and priests perform sandhya rituals, or return in the late afternoon when the heat softens, kites wheel overhead and the sky turns amber over the sandbanks.
• On many evenings a Ganga-Yamuna aarti is performed on the steps, lamps and conch-shells carried in slow circles as bells ring across the water — a quietly moving spectacle best watched from the upper promenade or from a boat drifting just offshore.
• Sunset here, with the fort silhouetted downstream, is among the loveliest in the city.
• For food, the ghat itself has only tea-and-snack carts, so plan to eat in the city.
• The pure-vegetarian thali kitchens, kachori-sabzi counters and chaat stalls of the Civil Lines and Katra neighbourhoods are a short auto-ride away, serving Prayagraj's beloved dahi-jalebi breakfasts, samosas, aloo-tikki chaat and sweets.
• Loknath's lane of long-standing vegetarian sweet-and-snack shops is a classic stop, and Civil Lines has plenty of pure-veg South Indian and North Indian restaurants for a fuller meal.
• Carry water, and enjoy a plain (bhang-free) thandai or a kulhad of chai from a roadside stall as you watch the river.