The Himalayan Foothills

A long desire to visit the foothills of Himalayas was finally fulfilled early this year. Even though a short stint, but the trip to Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world has been a memorable one. Halfway around the world now, in a quiet corner of my room, I can visualize the turquoise green waters of the river Ganga meandering through the foothills of the Himalayas giving me a sense of peace and calmness. Here I describe our 2-day trip to Haridwar, Rishikesh and Devprayag.

Day 1: We reached New Delhi Airport in the wee hours of the morning after a long international flight. As we sipped hot tea from the clay mugs (kulhar chai), we eagerly waited for our driver to show up. At 5:30 am in the morning Rahul our excellent driver who soon became our guide and friend called to say he was waiting in the parking lot. Thus started our journey to Rishikesh on a cloudy rainy day! Zooming through the almost empty roads of the city, soon we found ourselves driving on the well done Delhi-Meerut expressway with fields of sugarcane on either side, listening to Hindi Bollywood songs on FM radio. What a wonderful world!

Our first halt was Cheetal Grand, where we stopped for breakfast. The taste of a simple omelette and freshly baked bread with hot tea was just awesome. The beautiful garden outside was full of flowers; the delicate petunias a bit droopy from the rain.

Roorkee: The next stop was Roorkee. We stopped to explore the oldest engineering college in the country. I would highly recommend visiting this impressive British era college (now Indian Institute of Technology, IIT). The institution (that started as the Thomason College of Civil Engineering) was founded in 1847 by James Thomason, the Lieutenant-Governor of the North Western Provinces, to train engineers and surveyors during the construction of the Ganges Canal. The campus is surprisingly very green with a variety of trees lining the roads and sprawling gardens full of flowers. Here I noticed the lovely Sita Ashoka trees in full bloom.

As we hit the road again, we crossed the impressive Patanjali Yogpeeth. This  is an impressive yoga institute founded by the famous yoga guru Ramdev and named after the Rishi Patanjali. The institute is involved in research and development of Yoga and Ayurveda. I had heard a lot about it. Soonafter the traffic started getting bad as we hit the congested roads leading to Haridwar town. It is here we got our first glimpse of the river Ganga as we crossed Har ki Pauri which is believed to be the place where river Ganga leaves the mountains. We decided to come back later and headed towards our destination. I would highly recommend traveling by road to Haridwar if you enjoy doing sight seeing on the way.

We arrived at the hotel overlooking the Ganga. It was still overcast and  drizzling, but the view of the mountains and the river from the hotel was just spectacular! Since it was a short trip we did not want to waste time. Instead of exploring Rishikesh that day we decided to witness the famous Ganga Aarti that evening at Haridwar. By late afternoon after a delicious vegetarian meal at the lovely rooftop restaurant of the Ellbee hotel (https://www.ellbeehotels.com/ellbee_ganga_view/index) we made our way to Haridwar to witness the famous Ganga Aarti. 

Haridwar: We spend sometime exploring the area around Har Ki Pauri, walking along the narrow lanes of Moti Bazar. Teeming with people from all over the country the narrow lanes were lined with small shops selling pickles, ayurvedic herbs, rudraksha garlands, colorful bangles, and clothes among many other things. The pooja items on sale included well crafted idols and utensils made of copper and brass. Last but not the least there were numerous vendors selling mouthwatering sweets, and savory items. This is an excellent way to know a new place and culture, food and the people around.

Har Ki Pauri: We soon headed back to the Har ki Pauri area. This sacred spot on the banks of river Ganga attract thousands of devotees everyday. They feel blessed to take a dip in the holy Ganga at this spot. The famous Hindu gatherings of Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh also take place at Har ki Pauri. The world famous Ganga Aarti takes place in the Brahmakund ghat of Har ki Pauri. The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds as it got ready to set for the day. The ghat had already become crowded. If you want to witness the Aarti you have to come to this area almost 2 hours before to grab a good spot. Initially a bit impatient, I settled myself on the cemented wet ground cushioned between a crowd of people under the vast cloudy sky and next to the rapidly flowing Ganga. My eyes were fixated on the activities happening on the other side of the river. It is amazingly to see such a huge crowd gathered just to witness the Ganga Aarti.

Ganga Aarti: Perhaps the most important event related to the holy river, Ganga Aarti starts with chanting of hymns in Sanskrit. As the sun sets, a group of priests gather near the water and along with all other priests in the many temples adjoining the river pray and show gratitude and respect to the river asking for it’s blessings holding huge lighted brass lamps. The priests dressed in orange, the fire from the multi tier brass lamps, the chanting of mantras in chorus, the ringing of bells and blowing of conch shells, the bright marigold flowers, the refection of the lamp fire on the holy river generates a different kind of vibrant energy that though spiritual is hard to explain. Witnessing this 15 minute ritual at dusk, sitting on the wet ground amidst an unknown crowd made me feel so humble and submissive to mother nature. After the Aarti, in turn, I offered my respect by floating a small oil lamp (diya) with flowers into the rapidly flowing river, a common ritual among devotees who come to witness the event. This was an incredible experience!

Day 2: DevPrayag: The next day we headed out very early in the morning for Devprayag. Devprayag (means “Godly Confluence” in Sanskrit) is another sacred town in the state of Uttarakhand, India, and is the last of the Panch Prayags (five confluences) of Alaknanda River https://uttarakhandtourism.gov.in/destination/devprayag). It is around 70 kms from Rishikesh. We went up the winding roads into the mountains, with the Ganga on our right but way down the cliff! I was in awe of the dramatic landscape of the magnificent Himalayas. We made small stops on the way to enjoy the beauty around and also walk all the way to the rocky banks of the river wherever possible.

The sacred rivers of Alaknanda and the Bhagirathi join to form the Ganga in Devprayag. You can walk all the way down to the confluence. It’s a bit strenuous going down the steep road and again climbing up to the main road, but totally worth it!

Rishikesh is called the gateway to the Garhwal Himalayas and to the Char Dham (the 4 Hindu pilgrimage sites), namely Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yaminotri. We made it back downhill to the hotel just in time to witness the Ganga Aarti at Triveni ghat. Three sacred rivers meet at this spot, the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, that justifies the name Triveni. Even though a decent crowd gather every evening at sunset to witness the aarti, the scenario here is a bit different from Har Ki Pauri. You can watch the ritual on the river banks, while enjoying the cool evening breeze. This was more serene. Live music and bhajans (hymns) greeted us as we were escorted by the hotel staff to front row seats to witness another memorable ceremony in the calm and peaceful backdrop of the mountains and the holy river. At sunset, the Vedic chants filled the air as priests in uniform held huge lighted lamps moved them in a certain motion and prayed to river Ganga.

We walked down the river after sunset to take a stroll in the famous suspension bridge “Ram Jhula”. Walking in the crowd on the swaying bridge we landed on the other side of Ganga. Like Haridwar the lanes were lined with busy shops in the evening hour. We spotted many yoga ashrams, gurukuls and music schools along our way and were lucky to hear some evening practice sessions from the music schools. The energy at this place had a blend of meditation, spirituality and yoga. But Rishikesh is not only about this. The unique natural beauty of the river and the green mountains attract a lot of nature enthusiasts ( wild life and bird watching), and adventure sports lovers. Rishikesh has it all! You have to just pick the reason for your visit. The people are very friendly and the local food is out of the world! We ended our Day 2 with an elaborate meal at the Famous Chotiwala.

Day 3: The clouds had cleared and the early morning view from the hotel roof top restaurant was perfect. The morning fog cleared slowly to a bright sunny day. It was time to say good bye! If you have a couple of days, I would highly recommend a visit to the Himalayan foothills. It has so much to offer. You just pick your reason to visit this wonderful place!