Ghâts, or GHAUTS (in English, 'gates, passes, or landing-stairs'), EASTERN and WESTERN, two converging ranges of mountains, which run parallel with the east and west coasts of southern India, and meet at an angle near Cape Comorin. (1) The Eastern Ghâts commence in the vicinity of Balasor, a little north of the Mahanadi, and run through Madras, with an average height of 1500 feet, for the most part at a distance of from 50 to 150 miles from the coast. They are nowhere a watershed on any considerable scale, being penetrated and crossed by nearly all the drainage of the interior. (2) The Western Ghâts stretch from the valley of the Tapti, in about the same latitude as Balasor, to their junction with the kindred ridge, and on to Cape Comorin itself. Though they are generally far more continuous and distinct than the Eastern Ghâts, yet they are sharply divided by the gap of Palghât—the northern section measuring 800 miles in length, and the southern 200. Their general elevation varies from about 3000 feet to upwards of 7000; the peak of Dodabetta, in the Nilgiri hills, is 8760 feet above sea-level. The opposite faces of these mountains differ very remarkably from each other. Landward, there is a gradual slope to the tableland of the Deccan; seaward, almost perpendicular precipices, speaking generally, sink at once nearly to the level of the sea, with only a comparatively narrow strip between them and the shore. This peculiarity, along with the heavy rainfall brought by the south-west monsoon, causes, more particularly towards the south, that singular feature of the country which is known as the 'backwaters' (see COCHIN). The Western Ghâts are a watershed, for not a single stream of any magnitude finds its way through them. Their vast primeval forests display some of the most magnificent scenery in India, and supply abundance of the finest timber. In the south there is a railway from Beypur to Madras, finding a comparatively easy access to the interior by the Palghât valley. In the north, near Bombay, two railways scale the precipitous face of the Western Ghâts. Of these the line up the tremendous ravine of the Bhor Ghât, 40 miles SE. of Bombay, is regarded as one of the greatest engineering feats ever accomplished in India. The railway rises by a lift of 15½ miles to a height of 1831 feet, twisting round the mountains on narrow ledges that are often half embankment, or that rest on high vaulted arches, and passing through tunnels that aggregate 2535 yards. Besides 8 viaducts there are 18 bridges and 58 culverts, and the average gradient is 1 in 48.
The name GHÂTS is also applied to the flights of steps, whether intended as landing-places or as bathing-stairs, which line the river-banks in towns and places of pilgrimage in northern and central India. Most great rivers, and especially the Ganges, possess many ghâts; but they are also built on the margins of lakes, as at Pushkar and Sagar, or even of tanks. The uniformity of the long lines of steps is often broken by shrines or temples, built either close to the water's edge or at the top; and on these steps are concentrated the pastimes of the idler, the duties of the devout, and much of the necessary intercourse of business. The ghâts of Benares (q.v.), Hardwar, Panharpur, and of Maheswar, on the Nerbudda, are noteworthy either for their number or beauty; while Cawnpore, Sadullapur, the ruined city of Gaur, and other places possess noted 'burning ghâts' for purposes of cremation. See also Fergusson's Handbook of Architecture.