- published: 03 Jul 2016
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As used in many parts of Northern South Asia, the term ghat refers to a series of steps leading down to a body of water, particularly a holy river. In Bengali-speaking regions, this set of stairs can lead down to something as small as a pond or as large as a major river.
Ghats are the areas in holy riverside cities like Varanasi and Haridwar where stairs exist to reach the Ganges. It is also used for mountainous regions like the Western and Eastern Ghats.
The word Ghat is explained by numerous Dravidian etymons such as Telugu katta and gattu (dam, embankment) Tamil kattu (side of a mountain, dam, ridge, causeway) and Kannada gatta (mountain range). This etymology was proposed by Burrow and endorsed by Mayrhofer and Asko Parpola.
Slavic languages have a word gat that means corduroy road, but it is not clear if it is related to ghat.
The numerous significant ghats along the Ganges are known generally as the 'Varanasi ghats' and the 'ghats of the Ganges'. In Madhya Pradesh in western India there are further significant ghats along the Narmada River. People who live on the steps are also called ghats.
I can taste the wreckage
Of dismembered dreams
Ghostly disciple, nothing as it seems
I will follow you until this dark cloud recedes
Pain of another, heal this I plead
My heart still bleeds for you
Take the long way home
My heart still bleeds for you
Solemn times stain us like
The blood of all that's unknown
This cursed you the worst
Give me your love
Solemn times stain us like