Nigambodh Ghat, situated on the banks of the Yamuna River in the
National Capital Territory of Delhi, is the oldest crematorium ‘ghat’ (typically a series of steps leading down to a river) in the city, for performing ‘Antim Sanskar’ or ‘Antyesti’, the last
funeral rites for the dead in
Hinduism. It is situated on the Ring Road at the back of the historic Red Fort. Occupying a moderate area, it is one of the busiest funeral sites with 50 to 60 pyres burning every day. The ghat has a series of bathing and ceremonial stepped piers that lead to the holy waters of the Yamuna River.
Legend of Nigambodh Ghat
The Nigambodh Ghat derives its name from the legend relating to the
Mahabharata era, which says
Lord Brahma, the
Hindu God of Creation, had bathed here in the waters of the ghat and recovered his lost memory and knowledge imparted by the sacred books. The ghat has thus been named as ‘Nigambodh’, which literally refers to realisation of knowledge.
Nigambodh Ghat is said to have been established by Prince
Yudhishthira, the eldest of the
Pandavas and the king of
Indraprastha. Presently, the ghat is considered to have the largest and busiest
cremation ground in New Delhi, for carrying out the Hindu funeral rites. It is well equipped with an electric crematorium built in the 1950s. It also has a compressed natural gas (CNG) run crematorium that was added by the
Municipal Corporation in 2006.
The
Nili Chatri temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva and said to also have been built by Prince Yudhishthira, lies adjacent to the ghat, along with the Nigambodh Gate, which is one of the last
gates of
Old Delhi (erstwhile Shahjahanabad) established during the
Mughal era.
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