Revival of historic ghats of Kanpur through landscape design

Abstract

Kanpur has historical Ghats on the banks of river Ganga, with great mythological and cultural contexts, comparable to those of Varanasi and Haridwar. Built by patronage of wealthy devotees –Kings and merchants – for the benefit of the public, the Ghats were initially constructed for religious purposes and later being impressed by the appropriate geographical location of Kanpur, East India Company officials made Cantonment Chawni at Kanpur and developed Ghat area along river as a trade centre. Water was not only vital for sacred rituals, but also for domestic uses. It is said the thousands of people daily took bath on Ghats on that time .Ghats were living at that time. Due to pressure of unplanned development, multifaceted reasons like pollution, change in occupation etc. The Ghats have lost their heritage and association with the people. The aim of this thesis is to devise landscape design interventions towards enhancing the Pilgrimage / tourism experience of the historic Kanpur Ghats as cultural centre.