It's still dark when you reach the ghat. Lamps are already lit on a small stage by the river. A row of priests begins a quiet morning aarti, then a group of students starts chanting Vedic hymns, their voices rising together. As the sky slowly turns grey, then pink, a musician tunes a sitar. By the time the sun finally appears across the river, people are doing yoga on the steps.
This is Subah-e-Banaras, the morning of Banaras, and it's one of the gentlest ways to begin a day anywhere in the world.
Assi Ghat sits at the southern end of Varanasi's long curve of ghats, near where the small Assi stream once met the Ganga. It is wider and more open than the crowded central ghats, and it has a lively, young feel, with students, musicians, pilgrims and travellers all sharing the steps. Mornings are devotional; evenings are social, with chai, conversation and another aarti.
The morning programme usually begins before sunrise, with a Ganga aarti, Vedic chanting, a short classical music performance and yoga. It's free, open to all, and blissfully unhurried. In winter, sunrise is late and the air is sharp, so bring a shawl and arrive a little early to find a spot on the steps.
After the programme, take a rowing boat north along the ghats. This is the best way to understand Banaras. From the water, the city unfolds as a single, astonishing riverfront: palaces, temples, washermen, bathers, priests, wrestlers, children and smoke from the cremation ghats.
In winter, gulls follow the boats, and the fog makes the ghats appear one by one out of the mist. Choose a hand-rowed boat over a motorboat if you can. The quiet makes all the difference.
Walk up from the ghat into the lanes for hot kachori, jalebi and a kulhad of chai. Sit for a while. Write something down. You've had a morning that most people only read about.
Our Banaras journeys begin the day by the river. Explore GoRaahi's winter Banaras departures.
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