Historical PeriodEra
Oral / medieval / documented history
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Deities
Gaṅgā at Daśāśvamedha Ghāṭ
Gaṅgā at Daśāśvamedha — Varanasi's supreme ghāṭ
Gaṅgā at Daśāśvamedha — Varanasi's supreme ghāṭ
Hindu / Shakta
The Daśāśvamedha Ghāṭ at Varanasi is the most famous of Varanasi's 84 ghats. Brahma is said to have performed ten horse-sacrifices here. The evening Gaṅgā Ārati (7 PM) is the most-photographed Hindu ritual in the world — 5 young priests hold multi-tiered brass fire-lamps in coordinated choreography while drums and conches sound. Thousands watch daily. Adjoining Man-mandir Ghāṭ has Jaisingh's 18th-c. observatory. Dharma-sākṣī Tīrtha — Kāśi is the sākshī (witness) of dharma — makes bathing here supremely purifying.
India's sacred landscape embraces Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Zoroastrian, tribal, regional-folk traditions — each with its own cosmology and priestly lineage. This entry honours Hindu on its own terms.
