Rishikund

Two minutes from Triveni Ghat, and almost nobody turns the corner: the bazaar pulls everyone straight down to the river instead. Rishikund, the pond of the sage, is a stepped sacred tank beside the Raghunath Temple, with stairs descending on all four sides and the temple's shikhara, its curved spire, standing on its head in the water. Local tradition holds the tank is over a thousand years old, filled by the Yamuna's blessing for the saint Kubja, and that Rama came here during his exile. Free, and best in soft morning light.

A thousand-year-old temple tank hiding one corner behind the main bazaar