Kedar Ghat

Painted in bold vertical stripes of ochre-red and white that ripple down to the Ganga, Kedar Ghat is one of the most instantly recognisable and photogenic riverfronts in Varanasi.

• It takes its name from the Gauri-Kedareshwar temple that rises directly above the steps, a squat, brightly coloured shrine whose Shivalinga is traditionally held to be swayambhu (self-manifest), giving pilgrims the same merit as a journey to the Himalayan Kedarnath.
• Set in the southern reaches of the old city between Harishchandra and Chausatti Ghats, Kedar Ghat is regarded as the mandala, or spiritual centre, of the sacred zone known as Kedara Khanda, of which Kedareshwar is the presiding deity.
• Devotees consider the shrine older than the Kashi Vishwanath temple itself, citing its mention in early Puranic texts and the belief that it survived the upheavals of the late 17th century; the structure seen today owes much to the temple-building patronage of the Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar in the 18th century.
• Beside the temple lies the Gauri Kund, a small tank fed largely by the monsoon whose waters are ascribed healing properties.
• The ghat has a distinctly southern flavour: the Sringeri Shankara Math and the Kumaraswamy Math stand nearby, and the steps are perpetually busy with South Indian and Bengali worshippers who come to bathe, perform rituals and offer prayers.
• Quieter than the thronged Dashashwamedh Ghat a short walk to the north, Kedar Ghat rewards early risers.
• Arrive for the 5:30 to 7:30 AM window, when the rising sun sets the striped facade aglow, bathers wade into the river, and a slow rowing boat glides past on glassy water.
• A modest evening aarti and the constant murmur of temple bells lend it an intimate, lived-in devotion that the grand spectacle ghats lack, making it a favourite of pilgrims, painters and photographers alike.
• Vegetarian travellers are wonderfully at home here.
• Kedar Ghat sits in the heart of Varanasi's overwhelmingly satvik old city, where the food is pure-vegetarian by long tradition and free of onion and garlic in many temple-adjacent kitchens.
• The lanes around Sonarpura and Bangali Tola behind the ghat are dotted with pure-veg South Indian tiffin houses serving crisp dosa and steaming idli, alongside classic Banarasi chaat, kachori-sabzi breakfasts and thick clay-cup lassi.
• You can eat your way through the neighbourhood without a single concern about meat, fish, egg or alcohol, all of which are absent from these kitchens.