Modern plaques to adorn all 84 ghats along the Ganga in Varanasi

NEW DELHI: The seven-kilometre stretch of the Ganga in Varanasi – dotted with 84 ghats, from Adi Keshava Ghat in the north to Assi Ghat in the south – has now been beautified. But one glaring omission has caught the attention of the authorities in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency. Only four of the ghats have plaques detailing their history. These include the Rajendra Prasad Ghat, which has a plaque that was installed by then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

A recent survey done for the ‘Varanasi-Smart City’ mission flagged this omission, resulting in the decision that modern plaques would be installed at all the ghats in the next few months after a thorough research “to bring out the history of each ghat in literary form as the age old city of Varanasi has witnessed layers of history in built form”, according to a proposal seen by ET.

The plaque at the Rajendra Prasad Ghat was installed in 1985, when Rajiv Gandhi launched a campaign to rid the Ganga of pollution. Three other ghats were subsequently covered by plaques, including Dashashwamedh Ghat, Harishchandra Ghat and Chet Singh Ghat, by the present government under the Centre’s HRIDAY scheme for heritage cities.


However, the survey found that all other ghats had only wall paintings denoting their names. As per the proposed plan, the new plaques will increase visibility and significance of the ghats in the virtual world, will be used as an anchor to initiate revenue, display a touch of smartness in technology and reach a wider audience.

The colour of the plaques will match the surrounding sandstone, the contents will have a fair proportion of script and illustrations, a two-sided board will be put up with English and Hindi on either sides, suitable lighting provision will be made to facilitate readers to read the content in night time and the design of the plaques will be flood-resistant.