Haridwar , the Gateway to the Divine
Jai Gurudev !
The very thought of the name , Haridwar & Rishikesh sounds very holy and sacred for Hindus. With much of excitement ,we stepped on the holy land of Haridwar , where Ganges enters the plains of India from it's high Himalayas . Could see a number of tributaries of Ganges on the way to the hotel we had booked in Haridwar by Panicker travel agency.
Outside the hotel , quite a number of people were seen sitting on either side / platform of the road , all clad in saffron robes. Later , got to know from the hotel staff , Haridwar houses a lot of ashrams, which provide free food and that's the reason we could find few bunches of street dwellers , spotted elsewhere in that region.
As we reached Haridwar in the evening, the time was just right for the Ganga arathi puja and we rushed to the ghat , where Ganga arathi is performed in a larger scale.
On reaching the ghat , climbing down a series of steps , we landed on the banks of River Ganges. The mere glance of the Ganga water gave a divine feeling. Already a lot of people were sitting on the banks of the holy river , properly floored ,guarded by a number of security staffs. We approached the central point ,just opposite to the small Ganga devi temple situated on the banks , where the pujas & arathi would be performed.And we took our seat on the platform.
After certain puja rituals , we witnessed different types of arathis, that were performed by a couple of Pandits to the Holy mother Ganga at the banks . In the background, the famous Ganga arathi song were being aired in the loudspeakers around. With the onset of the dusk, the bright arathi , the striking flame going around in circles was a spectacular sight causing goosebumps . And pilgrims light the small mud lamps, place them on a plate with flower petals surrounded and leave them gently on the river as a divine offering to the Goddess Ganga . This custom is basically done as an act of gratitude towards the Mother Ganga , who provides livelihood to the people .The lamps are sold there itself. We also took great joy , offering the lit lamp and flowers to the Mother Ganga .A special feeling indeed. Earlier happened to watch this arathi ritual in the TV and felt highly impressed by the whole ritual , song and the puja, which happens for half an hour or so. But , seeing it live is something very special and highly uplifting. Also , never wanted to miss the wonderful opportunity of sitting on the steps close to the river and chanted Guru puja mantras and meditated for few mins with immense gratitude towards the Mother Ganges who sustains lives in the whole of northern region.The background songs that are played during aratis are selected in such a way that people take vows not to pollute Ganga. Ganga looked clean and more pristine at that spot.
Also , we got to see some aged saints about 3, 4 numbers seeking alms to the visitors, giving us an opportunity to offer them . Just a few steps ahead, on a high pedestal, spotted the idols of Adi Shankaracharya teaching His 4 disciples captivated my eyes . For a moment, had a feeling , these Gurus had given darshan to us in the form of the saints seeking alms , whom we came across a moment ago.Master never leaves a student at any point of time.Only the student has to raise his consciousness to feel that connection. What a strange and divine connection !!.
After making the due prostrations to the Mother Ganga, we left the place for dinner , located few restaurants on the street side.Thoroughly relished the authentic north indian style stuffed parathas and sabjis .Also savored the hot badam milk in the earthenware glasses in one of the stalls located there .
The next day , we visited the Chandi devi temple and Manasa devi temple ,both located on two different hill tops located close to each other .Both the temples, we visited using the cable car approach instead of the walkways climbing barefoot uphill .Even after alighting the cable car , one needs to climb numerous steps to get the darshan of the powerful Goddesses. Though felt little strenuous ,it was altogether a new and great experience . One custom practised by the pundits inside the shrine took us by a shocking surprise.The pundits used to ask us to bend down before the deity and give us a nice beating on our back with the help of a wooden stick and also then tie a red color thread on our wrist after which we give our dakshinas/offerings on the arati plate. wondering the reasons for this peculiar practice.
Was also wondering why the Goddesses had selected the hill tops as their abode. Perhaps , they want to shower their blessings on the devotees , who generally reside in their lower state of consciousness, so that they could climb up to them seated at a much higher pedestal in the plane of divine consciousness .
Haridwar is surely a punya bhoomi , as it has got lots of spiritual significance as mentioned in the ancient Hindu scriptures and carries a lot of positive and subtle vibrations , which influences the spiritual growth in the seekers and non seekers as well..
We stayed one night in Haidwar .The next day morning, we took a holy dip in the ghat there .It was a cool morning.The water in the ghat was flowing with huge enthusiasm and joy like an youthful being.They had laid safety steel bars as boundaries to ensure the pilgrims a safe dip. The sun had just come up with a bright yellow shine . The holy dip in Ganga river is believed to wash away our past sins.On taking the holy dip our mind gets refreshed and our soul gets rejuvenated literally. After returning to the hotel , we had the breakfast and started off to the next holy place , Rishikesh in the travel agency van.
The very name, Rishikesh invoked some divine energy in us , probably because of it's ancient divine connection. The first place , we visited in Rishikesh was Sivananda ashram , which is located on the entrance itself on a slopy and hilly terrain. It houses the samadhi of Sivananada Swamiji.
Also the ashram houses temples of Lord Shiva and other deities.We could also find many hoardings carrying Swamiji's words of wisdom. Peace and tranquility waves could be felt inside the ashram. As such the whole of Rishikesh , the divine vibrations could be felt.
Rishikesh houses many ashrams. Many sages and saints are believed to have left their positive energies in Rishikesh. Laxman Jhula and Ram Jhula ,
the bridges over the river Ganga is a wonderful eye catching sight.
Walking through the bridge and looking down the river and the overall view of Rishikesh is a thrilling experience. Many foreigners and many sages are spotted in plenty. It is the yoga capital of India with many yoga training centres.
We crossed the river Ganga in a motor boat and also got a chance to take a dip in the holy Ganga confluence . The sacred feeling continues all over Rishikesh and Haridwar. We also purchased some genuine government authorised rudraksha malas and spatika malas in Rishikesh .
Missed visiting the Art of living retreat center at the banks of Ganga as it is located far off from main place and that was not in our planned tour itinerary
Visiting the sacred Rishikesh and Haridwar gives a feeling of getting in touch with our own inner self , one cannot deny this fact , however less sensitive he or she may be.
Felt very blessed to have touched the punya bhumis.
Jai Gurudev !!
