Haridwar
About Haridwar
Located in the foothills of Shivalik range, Haridwar is reputed as the gateway to the four....
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Haridwar - Gateway of God
Posted by Priyanka SaigalMar 25, 2008 | 652 views
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Let me start from the very beginning, we were sitting in a family function, my chachi (Anu Chachi) with her family had just returned from a trip to Haridwar. She had a few photographs of people taking bath in the Ganga water. I so wanted to go. Chachi said we all will go together and with this promise we parted ways. There were lot of dropouts and in the end me, Anu Chachi, Shashi Bhuji and Ramesh Daddi started our journey to Haridwar.
We started early in the morning and had our lunch at one of the joints on the way. Beautiful landscaping was done for people who enjoy greenery. There were few cranes also. We took loads of photographs and were very relaxed after we left the place. On our way to Haridwar, we also visited university of Roorkee. We reached Haridwar by 3-4 pm and wonders of wonders as I stepped out of my room, Ganga was flowing right there. We had a special Ghat to ourselves. This is Late Ramanand Sagar’s home (of the Ramayan fame). It has been converted into a hotel.
Infront of the room there is a verandah and then there is Ganga. We (my bhuji and me) could not control ourselves and before our luggage came to our rooms we were already in water. The journey tiredness forgotten, I went crazy. We swam; the water flow was so strong that it at times scares you. No words can describe what we felt at that moment. I was totally relaxed, everything was forgotten and there was so much peace and harmony.
After being in Ganga for nearly an hour, we were forced to come out. The reason being, there is a prayer meeting that takes place in the evening (actually it starts when the sun is about to set and continues till the sunset) on the banks of river Ganga at Har-Ki-Paudi. There are more than 20 artis going on at one moment. With this information, I got ready to go to Har-Ki-Paudi. We took two rickshaws and reached the bazaar. It is a small bazaar with loads of things and halwais are cooking halwa, puri, kachori etc. Mind blowing but first things first, the arti.
Nothing had prepared me for the scene, there were hundreds and hundreds of people, some even standing on the bridge. There were policemen and sevaks from mandir to control the crowd. We were asked to sit on the plastic (we had to purchase it for Rs.5). The waiting for the Pooja started; there was no chaos, which was commendable with so much crowd. The pandits brought the Ganga murthi out, for people to have darshan. According to the pandits, the temple is sinking in the river. The government tried to make a replica of the temple but it never got completed. People believe Ganga mayia doesn’t want to shift into the man made temple. Hearing all this, I was just wondering when the Pooja started. It started in all the temples simultaneously, the diyas are huge and they move in a rhythm. The whole scene is so calm and peaceful. Inspite of we people being so many, during the Aarti it looks that you are praying to maa individually.
When the Pooja ended, pundits and phoolwalas start hounding you. Thankfully bua and chachi took them to task. We bought boat shaped diyas (flower & diya). We had to float them in the Ganga water. I had to hold the chain and be very carefully, otherwise one can easily slip and fall in the water. Since I had no clue, my first boat sank on the shore. Bhuji and chachi prompted me to move a little forward and then float the diyas. They were looking so beautiful in the water. The water flow was so strong that you feel scared to leave the chain and take photographs. So sorry no photos of this one.
Now we are tired, a very long day, however, we had chat on the way. Anu chachi bought lot of malas (we use them for prayer). We decided to have dinner in the hotel. Anu chachi bought around 10 of the boat diyas for us to float from the hotel. We took one rickshaw, after a very long time I sat in the back of a rickshaw.. so much fun. I was so tired that I wanted to have food and sleep.
You have to be on the ghats of Ganga to feel what I felt. I was dead tired, we had food. The food tasted like back home. We got the management to get the food on the ghats. As I said we were tired but the minute I saw Ganga, I wanted to be in the water again. We had food and again at 10:30 bhuji and me landed in the cold water. The water is ice chilled in the night. I was shivering and then everything got allright. Anu chachi lighted the diyas, bhuji passed it to me and I was putting the diyas in water. In darkness, the diya was the only light in the water, I cannot even describe the beauty of the diya floating in the water. Around 11 in the night we decided to call quits and sleep. I kept sitting on the ghats till 1. The water has different moods at different time of the day.
We got up in the morning and started our journey towards Rishikesh. We had only one more to go, so had to cut the Rishikesh trip short. Rishikesh is a holy city for Hindus located in the foothills of the Himalaya in northern India. It is located about 25 kilometers away from another holy city, Haridwar. The river leaves the Shivalik mountains Himalayas, and flows out into the plains of northern India.
Several temples, ancient as well as new, can be found along the banks of the Ganga in Rishikesh. There is lakshman Jhula and Ram Jhula. Lakshman Jhula is the older of the two and when you go on top of it and see the Ganga from there, you really come to know how mighty it is. When I returned to Haridwar I realized Ganga ji becomes small compared to Rishikesh. The reason being it gets divided when it enters Haridwar. We didn’t have time for water sports. I don’t regret that though. We climbed 15 floors of a temple in Rishikesh to see beautiful idols, the view from the top was mind blowing. Cameras are allowed, though we cann’t click the idols. So happy clicking as you go up.
After a round of Rishikesh town, we headed back to Haridwar. Here we went to the “Saapt rishi Ashram” Anu Chachi introduced us to the place. People who know me would have vouched for the fact that I cannot stay there for half an hour. However, contrary to my own belief, I slept under one of the trees. It was a beautiful experience. The ashram has its own ghat and as usual we sat there, dipped our legs in water. We did puja and took a round of the place. Now it is time to go back to the hotel, we went to the hotel and were so tired that decided to retire early. However, we ended up on the ghats again.
Next day we went to the Manasa Devi. We went to the temple by the ropeway (a wonderful experience that costed us around Rs.50). From the temple, you get excellent views of the river and Haridwar. After visiting the temple, we checked out of the hotel, vowing to come back again.
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