Meaning

noun stairway in India leading down to a landing on the water

originBorrowed from Hindi घाट (ghāṭ, “pier”), from Sanskrit घट्ट (ghaṭṭa, “a landing-place, steps on the side of a river leading to the waters”), from Dravidian. Compare Telugu గట్టు (gaṭṭu, “dam, embankment”), కట్ట (kaṭṭa, “dam, embankment”), derived from కట్టు (kaṭṭu, “to tie”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0