Darbhanga Ghat

The ghat houses a small but significant temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is located adjacent to the Munshi Ghat, and the two are often considered a single architectural unit. This site is distinguished by its exceptional architectural coherence and its close proximity to other historic landmarks in the Bangali Tola area. It is also one of the most photogenic ghats of Varanasi. In 1915, the Maharaja of Darbhanga — a kingdom in Bihar — looked at a crumbling ghat in Varanasi and saw potential. He bought it, rebuilt it, and stamped his name on it forever. But the story of Darbhanga Ghat actually begins much earlier, with a man named Sridhara Narayan Munshi, the finance minister of Nagpur state, who first built the ghat and the palace above it. That's why it was originally called Munshi Ghat. The palace that the Maharaja of Darbhanga acquired is extraordinary — built from Chunar sandstone, with Greek pillars, ornate balconies, and a façade that catches the evening light like a Rajput-Mughal dream. The string steps on the roof were added in 1930, creating a cascading architectural effect that's visible from the river. But the real drama happened in 1994, when the Clarks Hotels Group bought the palace, renamed it Brijrama Palace, and began converting it into a 5-star heritage hotel. Half the original structure has been modified since then — a controversial transformation that heritage activists continue to debate. Standing on Darbhanga Ghat, you can see Dashashwamedh Ghat just to the north and Rana Mahal Ghat to the south. The ghat's steep, narrow structure goes almost to the water's edge before widening at Babua Pandey Ghat. There's a massive Shiva Lingam in a temple alongside the ghat — the kind of unexpected sacred presence that Varanasi specializes in. And the puranas mention this ghat, meaning its spiritual significance predates even Munshi's 18th-century construction.