Evening on the Ganges

Every evening at Dashashwamedh Ghat, young priests perform the Ganga aarti, swinging tiered brass lamps in slow arcs towards the river to the sound of bells, conch shells and chanting. The steps fill long before it begins. This programme brings you to it from the river, after an hour on the water as the light fades.

The boat leaves a ghat upstream in the late afternoon and moves along the riverfront while your guide explains the ghats and the evening rituals. As the aarti begins, the boat holds its place off the ghat among the other boats, so you watch from the water, and you can set a leaf-cup diya of marigolds on the river before turning back. The boat type, capacity, boarding point and timing are stated in your quotation, as is whether it is private or shared.

If you would rather watch from the ghat itself, an aarti viewing or seating arrangement can be added through our aarti viewing service and confirmed separately. On major festival evenings boats and viewing places are in heavy demand, and in the monsoon boating can be suspended, in which case we offer a ghat-side alternative where one can be arranged.