One of the water-front sacred sites in
Varanasi, Panchaganga Ghat, as the name indicates, is supposed to be the confluence of five rivers such as the
Ganges, the
Yamuna, the
Saraswati, the Kirana and the Dhupapapa.
The ghat is dominated by Alamgir mosque, erected by Aurangazed, which is a blend of Hindu and Muslim architecture. This mosque stands on the site of a large Vishnu temple, which was built by Beni Madhav Rao Scindia, the Maratha chieftain.
It is the place where Kabirdas accepted Swami Ramananda, a great teacher of Vedas, as his guru (master). Ramananda?s Monastery is still present here. Tulsidas wrote the Vindu-Patrika, one of his famous writings, here.
This ghat enshrines a temple dedicated to the Goddess Ganga (Ganges). During the Hindu months of Baisakhi (April-May) and Kartika (October-November), the devotees, mostly ladies, assemble here to take sacred bath.
