Ram Ghat & Simhastha Kumbh, Ujjain

Ram Ghat is the principal bathing ghat on the Shipra river at Ujjain, and the focal point of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela that gathers here once every twelve years. Steps lead down to the water in the old quarter of a city already sacred as the seat of Mahakaleshwar. At dusk the riverfront fills for the Shipra aarti, lamps passing hand to hand along the stone embankment.

The ghat on the Shipra

Ram Ghat runs along a bend of the Shipra in the heart of old Ujjain, its broad stone steps descending straight into the river. Pilgrims come through the day to bathe, offer water to the rising sun and float small leaf-lamps downstream. The ghat takes its character from the river itself — shallow and slow in the dry months, swollen and swift after the monsoon — and from the temples and dharamshalas that crowd the lane behind it.

In the early evening priests gather at the water’s edge for the Shipra aarti, raising tiered brass lamps to the sound of bells and conch. The ritual draws both residents and travellers, and on festival nights the steps are packed from the waterline to the road above.

Simhastha Kumbh, every twelve years

Ujjain is one of the four cities that host the Kumbh Mela, and its gathering is named the Simhastha — held when Jupiter enters Leo (Simha) and the sun moves into Aries. Once every twelve years millions of pilgrims, sadhus and akhara processions converge on the Shipra, and Ram Ghat becomes the chief point for the holy bath that anchors the whole mela.

Between Kumbh years the ghat keeps a quieter rhythm, busy mainly at dawn, dusk and on the lunar festival days. The crowds of the Simhastha are exceptional even by the scale of Indian pilgrimage, and the surrounding city is reorganised around the riverfront for the duration of the fair.

Part of sacred Ujjain

Ram Ghat is best understood as one thread in the wider sanctity of Ujjain — the city of the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, long a centre of learning, astronomy and the worship of Shiva as lord of time. A visit to the ghat usually sits within a circuit that takes in Mahakaleshwar and the older shrines along the river.

The lanes around the ghat hold small temples, flower and lamp sellers, and the steady traffic of pilgrims that has shaped this stretch of the Shipra for centuries.

How to reach Ram Ghat

• By road: Ram Ghat is in old Ujjain, well connected by road; Indore is roughly 55 km away with frequent buses and taxis, and the ghat lane is a short walk or auto ride from the city centre.
• By train: Ujjain Junction is a major station on the Western Railway with services from Indore, Bhopal, Ratlam and beyond; the ghat is a few kilometres from the station.
• By air: the nearest airport is Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport at Indore, about 55 km away, with onward road transfer to Ujjain.

Frequently Asked Questions

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