Ghat

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.

Etymology

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.

Along the rivers Ganges and Narmada

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.

Western Ghats

The Western Ghats or Sahyadri is a mountain range that runs parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, located entirely in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight "hottest hotspots" of biological diversity in the world. It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India. The range runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain, called Konkan, along the Arabian Sea. A total of thirty nine properties including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests were designated as world heritage sites - twenty in Kerala, ten in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra.

The range starts near the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra, south of the Tapti river, and runs approximately 1,600 km (990 mi) through the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu ending at Kanyakumari, at the southern tip of India. These hills cover 160,000 km² (62,000 sq mi) and form the catchment area for complex riverine drainage systems that drain almost 40% of India. The Western Ghats block southwest monsoon winds from reaching the Deccan Plateau. The average elevation is around 1,200 m (3,900 ft).

Kudi

Kudi is a village in Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh, India.

References

Coordinates: 29°43′N 77°37′E / 29.717°N 77.617°E / 29.717; 77.617

Kasara ghat

Kasara ghat (also called as Thal Ghat or Thul Ghat) is a ghat section (mountain incline or slope) in the Western Ghats near the town of Kasara in Maharashtra. The Kasara Ghat is located on the busy Mumbai–Nashik route, and is one of the four major routes, rail and road routes, leading into the Mumbai. The railway line, which passes through the ghat is the steepest in India with a gradient of 1 in 37.

Rail

Till early-2007 Direct Current (DC) was used to pull trains in this sector. on 2007-05-25, the first Alternating Current (AC) 4,800 tonne goods train was hauled through this region. AC has a traction of 25,000 volts as compared to 1,500 volts of DC. When it was under Direct Current 58 wagon trains used to be detached into two separate units, and lugged separately. Now six AC locomotives pull the entire train. Winding around the railway line is National Highway 3.

Road

During much of the nineties and before, Kasara Ghat was notorious for fatal road accidents. However, since April 2009, owing to creation of separate 2-lane roads in the Ghat for each direction (under the Nashik-Mumbai Highway 4-laning project), driving through the Ghat is a breeze as head traffic is absent. In fact, the Nashik-Mumbai direction of the Ghat is something motorists might even look forward to driving on because of the flat, winding tar road.

Malshej Ghat

Malshej Ghat (माळशेज घाट) is a mountain pass in the Western Ghats range in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India. The site is nestled in the lofty rugged hills of the Western Ghats.

The site is home to hundreds of different kinds of flora and fauna especially the avian population such as quails, rails, crakes, flamingos and cuckoos.

Getting there

Malshej ghat, with average height of 700 mts is situated in Pune district near the borders of Thane and Ahmednagar districts. It is at a distance of 130 km north of Pune and 154 km from Mumbai towards northeast. The nearest railhead is Kalyan in Thane District near Mumbai. From Kalyan Rail Station, one can take state buses that commute frequently between Kalyan and Ahmednagar. State Bus Station is right next to the railway station. Any Ahmednagar Bound Bus will stop at Malshej Ghat. It will approximately take 1.5 hrs by Bus from Kalyan. To go to Malshej ghat by road From Pune, take Pune-Nashik highway (NH-50) to Alephata and turn left on Kalyan-Ahmednagar Highway (SH-222) towards Kalyan. From Mumbai, take NH3 to Bhiwandi and turn towards Murbad or take state highway via Kalyan, Murbad, Saralgaon and Vaishakhare. It is known for landslides during monsoons.