Rishikesh, the Lonely Planet calls it the Yoga capital of the Universe so I quite fancied a few days there and we were both interested in it’s history as an important pilgrim town close to the source of the Ganges.
We fell into a pattern of early morning yoga(for me), lazy mornings and a wander round the colourful Swarg Ashram in the afternoons and evenings. This was energetic enough for us as we had now come down from the mountains and temperatures where in the mid 30’s everyday.
Swarg Ashram it on the bank of the Ganges and as the name suggests is the location of Ashrams, bathing ghats and many items bearing the OM symbol. There were many Hindu pilgrims and sadhus but also a large percentage of Westerners some of whom wanted to very loudly tell anyone in earshot how spiritually fulfilled and enlightened they felt after 3 days at the ashram, we were very happy for them if not a little sceptical!
The river Ganges. From what we’ve heard of Varanasi it’s a whole lot cleaner up here closer to the source.
Footbridge over the river, also for the use of cows, bicycles and horn honking motorbikes (of course!)
Bathing at the ghat.
An interesting place to people watch.
The pilgrims give Puja (prayers or offerings) at the Ganga Aarti, a ceremony held each evening at sunset.
Hopefully this isn’t the biggest fire engine in town.
Rishikesh got a real notoriety leg up when the Beatles stayed at the Maharishi Mahesh Yoga Ashram and wrote some of the White Album. It’s been closed since 2007 but we thought it was possible to look around, unfortunately it was firmly closed.
Our next stop was Hariidwar around 80km further north, this is considered the actual source of the Ganges as it flows from the Himalayas and the ashrams and ceremonies are attended by alot more Indian Hindus than foreign tourists.
As we finished dinner a procession started in the street making it’s way through the bazaar to the Har-Ki-Pari Ghat.
Down at the ghat there was an amazing atmosphere, the river in very fast flowing here but this doesn’t deter the hardcore pilgrims who still risk a quick dip in the river while hanging on to the bank.
We spoke to a family of 14 (3 generations) on holiday from Gujarat who told us that we had chosen to come on the most holy day of the month so it was extra busy. We’re glad we did it was a great event to witness.
Well done samosa anyone?
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