Pishach Mochan Kund

Tucked away in the quiet, lane-woven neighbourhood of Chetganj, a short distance inland from the great riverfront ghats, Pishach Mochan Kund is one of Varanasi's most solemn and least touristed sacred sites.

• It is a masonry-lined water tank fringed by weathered steps, small shrines, and an ancient peepal tree whose canopy is hung with red-and-yellow threads.
• Where the celebrated ghats hum with pilgrims and photographers, this kund keeps a hushed, inward stillness — families come here not to sightsee but to make peace with grief.
• In the scriptures the tank is far older than its present stone; the Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana devotes an entire chapter to it, naming it Vimal Tirtha, "the immaculate water," a pool said to predate the very descent of the Ganga.
• The kund takes its name — Pishach Mochan, "the liberator of restless spirits" — from a much-loved Kashi legend.
• A brahmin who had fallen into a ghostly, unsettled existence is said to have troubled a sage meditating on the bank; when he finally bowed and begged for release, the sage bade him bathe in these waters and worship Kapardishwara Mahadev, the Shiva linga enshrined alongside the tank and counted among the Pancha Lingas of Kashi.
• The spirit was freed, and ever since the tirtha has been sought by those seeking the same liberation for their departed.
• The peepal beside the water is honoured as a silent witness, where ancestors are believed to gather to receive the rites offered in their name.
• Because of this promise, Pishach Mochan is the prescribed destination in Varanasi for Tripindi Shradh and Narayan Bali — rites performed for kin who died suddenly, by accident, illness, or misadventure, or whose annual shradh was long neglected.
• Visitors should come with quiet dignity: this is a place of mourning and remembrance, not a spectacle.
• Photographing grieving families or ongoing ceremonies is deeply inappropriate; observe from a respectful distance, keep your voice low, and let the resident purohits guide any who have come to perform rites.
• For the vegetarian traveller, this pocket of Varanasi is wholly reassuring — indeed, the entire old city is overwhelmingly satvik and pure-vegetarian, and around a site of ancestral rites the food is scrupulously so.
• A short auto ride toward Godowlia brings you to Kashi's most storied pure-veg counters: the legendary tamatar chaat at Kashi Chat Bhandar, the papdi and dahi chaat at Deena Chaat Bhandar, and unhurried paneer thalis, masala dosa, and kulfi at The Keshari Restaurant.
• No meat, fish, egg, or alcohol figures anywhere in this quarter, so you can eat freely and simply.
• Pair a morning visit here with the nearby Kaal Bhairav temple and the riverfront ghats to round out a thoughtful, respectful half-day in old Banaras.