Raja ghat

Before the Malviya Bridge opened in 1887, Raja Ghat was the most famous and busiest ferry ghat in all of Banaras. Boats carrying people, goods, and livestock crossed the Ganga here constantly, making this the commercial heartbeat of the riverfront. But Raja Ghat's story goes back much further — it's mentioned in 11th-century Gahadavala inscriptions, meaning this spot has been a river crossing for over a thousand years. The ghat was originally built by Rajirao Balaji in 1720, transforming earlier kachcha (mud) construction into permanent stone steps. But the real transformation came during the exile of Amrit Rao Peshwa (1780–1807), who was banished from Pune by the British. In Varanasi, he didn't just sulk — he rebuilt Raja Ghat with stone slabs, constructed four temples (Vinayakeshwara, Amriteshvara, Narayneshwara, and Gangeshwara), built four auxiliary shrines, and renovated the Prabhas Tirtha in 1780. The ghat was so transformed that it was renamed Amrit Rao Ghat — a name that James Prinsep, the English scholar who founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal, also used. But by 1931, historian Motichand restored the old name: Raja Ghat. The architecture is fortress-like — huge, heavy-walled, with wider walking paths than most ghats. A two-storey refectory with a terrace once fed Brahmins, ascetics, and Sanskrit college students — a tradition that continued until 1980, when INTACH (backed by Clarks Hotels Group) started promoting tourism here. The Annapurna Math sits on the northern side, and the entire complex is divided by a grand stairway. In 1965, the Uttar Pradesh government added purple stone stairs — a modern touch on an ancient stage.