Ghats are steps leading down to a river. Some are for ritual bathing and some for cremation. However the ghats are also used for: bathing, cleaning teeth and washing clothes.

Ritual bathing is performed to cleanse a person of wrongdoing or bad karma and thus ensure a good rebirth or samsara. After bathing, the devotee often joins a priest to perform rituals on the banks of the river. Dawn is the most popular time for bathing.

Hindus often make offerings of light and flowers to the river, which is often treated as a living goddess and thus often referred to as 'Ganga devi' or Goddess Ganges.  

Many Hindus believe that bathing once in the Ganges is sufficient to wash away a lifetime of bad karma.