A trip to places like Haridwar and Rishikesh is always a source of peace,joy and spirituality and when we went to these places this month, it was no different.We had some free time and I along with my two other friends decided to visit Haridwar as well as Rishikesh for a short 4 day trip.As I had spent my childhood in a nearby town,naturally these places were well travelled by me .
Day-1:Bus to Haridwar
We got up early in the morning,at around 0445,hurriedly got dressed up,called each other and ran off to the ISBT at kashmiri gate to catch an early bus to Haridwar.I was extremely careful to catch the bus as early as possible because of the traffic at the border growing up a few hours later.We expected to catch the bus at around 0700,but as it always happens,we were delayed by around 30 minutes and managed to board the bus as 0730.It was a smooth journey,early in the morning a lot of fresh air poured in,later as it was not too hot,we enjoyed riding the bus in the bright sunshine,and reached Haridwar at around 1330.Immediately we walked off to the ghat at Har-ki-Pauri.We needed to have a bath in the Ganga.As soon as I entered in the water,I was surprised because of the low water levels!It was only knee high.I couldn't bath there.My friends entered later and had some fun in that knee deep water.Meanwhile,I kept looking for some depth and finally found one place.When they came out,I just ran off to that place.The water was higher..a little above the waist and I could bathe comfortably.Then we just sat down to relax at the ghat and at around 1500 leaved the place.We had to reach Shanti-kunj,as we planned to stay in the peaceful and divine place for this trip.We got out on the wrong side,and tried to negotiate for the auto rickshaw,but it did not work.Finally we reached the other end of the river and got an auto to the place.As we reached there,and it was my first trip to Shanti-kunj,we were moved by the atmosphere there.It is a huge place,with lots and lots of humans.It's like a colony.We were shown our hall,and arranged for our beds and then had some food(We were too hungry).In the evening,we got out for the Ganga aarti,but sadly we arrived a few minutes late!The aarti was concluding and I felt bad.We stayed there for an hour or so.then returned back to our shelter..At night,we had our dinner in the canteen and it was awesome.The food there is cheap but delicious.
People in the Shanti-kunj,sleep just after 2100,so there was quietness all around.We too were tired and slept off immediately.
Day-2:Rishikesh-the yoga capital of the world
Rishikesh needs no description.If any Indian city is famous in the world for yoga,meditation, spirituality and hence frequented by foreigners for the same,it is Rishikesh.At some places in Rishikesh,you can very likely find more foreigners than Indians.We again started off early in the morning,at around 0700,(I like the splash of fresh air when travelling in the morning).We reached there before 0800,and that meant we had one full day to experience peace of the mind.We got off at ram-jhula and I like an amateur guide started describing the importance of that structure to my friends(they might have been bored!).we sat down for a few minutes,then got off to the other end,the main part of the city.We roamed around the city like any typical tourist,praising the beauty and serenity of the place.We then visited some ashrams scattered all around the banks of ganga.It was around 1100,and we decided to have a bath.There was strong wind blowing,which was chilling us(there are mountains all around),but we had to go into the river at any cost.So we took off our clothes,and sat on the bank,trying to figure out who will go first..Then a Sadhu came and motivated us to dive in(we were going to do so anyways,but he sort of catalysed the situation).So I went it first,my feet were freezing initially and with the wind,I felt like I could be carried away.But as soon as I took the first dip,all uncomfortable things vanished.I felt the joy,I always feel bathing in the Ganga.Soon both of my friends joined me in the river.We had quite a lot of fun bathing there..A few meters down the river a foreign girl was sitting on the bank looking at us.She must have been enjoying the sight of three young boys bathing in the river..having fun, throwing water at each other..We got out..wiped ourselves and sat in the sun for a few minutes.The wind was having no effect now.It was a relaxing experience.As soon as our clothes dried..we set out to Laxman Jhula,which is 2KM upstream.
The religious people go there because of the Laxma jhula itself,the adrenaline junkies go there for things like rafting,while adventure seeking people go there just for some adventure.It is a peaceful road to there,infested by monkeys and langoors,who can't let you pass if you are carrying any food and they happen to know that.On the roadside,we found a lot of poster advertising various yoga programs,which is not very unusual(we were in the yoga capital).We reached there.The difference between ram jhula and laxman jhula is that the latter is smaller in size yet at a given time,you'll find twice as many people there.It means,if you plan to stand at the jhula itself,and try to watch the river flow by'peacefully' you'll fail..And to add to that,you have hundreds of monkeys all over.I fed the monkeys there(it is a very good experience,especially the pleasure you feel when the baby monkey takes something from the hand just like a human baby).Then hunger knocked my stomach too.So we started looking for some place which provided home like food.It is not very difficult to find such a place in the entire Uttrakhand.We found a place just near the Laxman Jhula..there was a nice woman who was cooking for people in a simple looking hut and we sat there and had our food.
We then got down from there and got down to the river bank.It is extremely peaceful there..You can sit there for hours watching the river pass by..We too sat there for around 2 hours.It also provided time for the food to be digested and the mental calm that we experienced there,it is remarkable.
We then returned at the Ram jhula and as we had plenty of time decided to take a boat ride around the river..After that we returned to Haridwar.We had missed the aarti by a few minutes,the previous evening..so wen reached there just in time.We took our positions alongwith thousands others.The proceedings began at around 1800,with mantra chanting.After that all of us prayed to the mother-river ganga(Yes,thousands of us)The sound of the prayer was astonishing bringing tears in my eyes immediately.Ever since childhood,the ganga aarti at Haridwar used to be the highlight of our visit there,and even today tears automatically come to my eyes whenever I witness it.So after praying,we all took the pledge to never pollute the river(it too is a daily routine),and then the aarti started.I was moved.As soon as it finished,we too offered evening praying to the river(it consists of an earthen lamp,some flowers etc).
After the aarti,we returned back to the Shanti-kunj.While returning we had some tea.One of my friends was so impressed by the quality of that tea that he mentioned it again and again all through the trip.We had food just in time,before 2100,and again as we were tired went to sleep as soon as we reached our beds.
Day-3:Chandi devi temple temple(plus a lot of adventure)
Day 3 was going to be the most boring day of our trip.It was supposed to be a day off,to relax not go out far and just visit a few local places.I was not expecting much fun,but as it turned out it was the most exciting day in our entire 4 day trip.What happened I don't know,but how it happened,I certainly do.And yes it was totally unexpected.
We got up early,and had our tea and breakfast and then we started visiting place there at Shanti-kunj itself.As I already mentioned it is a huge place and if you want to visit every corner,you have to set a day aside just for that.We then,got out of there and expecting a boring day tried to have some fun in the ganga river.We filled a bottle of water and started playing some throwing games in the water.Stones on the water surface hurt a little but the fun was more important.(Later,after I returned I realized one of the stones hurt me in the ankle,it pains even after a week!)After,having fun for around an hour in the water,we got out and went to the market for food.We found a place which offered some delicious food.After that,we returned at the ghat and relaxed for a few minutes.After our clothes dried,we started off to visit the Chandi devi temple temple.It is a temple situated on a hilltop 2 KM outside the main town of Haridwar on the other side.In my childhood,my parents never visited the temple and I soon realized why.It is a difficult path up to there,the climb is steep and not a lot of humans meet you on the way.We reached the foothill,and started the climb.We were not expecting a lot from it,but when three people of our age and type meet,there is always a lot of unexpectedness.We started off alright,there was a well defined ascent road,and we followed it for a few metres.Immediately,our enthusiasm was shaken when we saw the zigzag path of the climb all the way to the top.
Then we saw a few rocks,which could be climbed fairly easily and it could save a lot of time.It was straight as opposed to the zigzag concrete path.One of us was wearing slippers.I felt for him.I was in sports attire,and the other one too was wearing sports shoes.But we were excited.We climbed,and soon reached a higher point.At these places little competitions help.A 6-7 young people group was moving ahead of us.There were 3 girls with them too,we decided to overtake and surprise them again and again.They were following the concrete path,while we were climbing rocks in a straight direction.So we could overtake them.They had to circle around quite a lot.We managed to reach the top just at the time they did,but we did a lot of resting and relaxing in between!
When we reached the top,at the temple,we were recharged.None of us was tired at all.Probably just because of the energy there.We entered the temple,offered some prasad and then just sat down for a few minutes.The entire town of Haridwar was visible from the hilltop.The view of the town,alongwith Ganga flowing alongside was breathtaking.
After the visit to the temple,we went out on the hilltop exploring.We reached a few metres away where a little path was leading somewhere.We then,set out and reached another top.There was a monkey sitting there alone.Compared to others from his species,he was a silent one.He didn't make faces on looking at us and also took some candy I offered to him happily.There was a bench too with 'laila-majnu' marking on it,sitting at the edge of the top.It was a good spot to have a few photographs,for memories.The day which was expected to be boring was already turning out to be an adventurous one,thanks to the path we took and it became even more exciting once we descended form the hill.
As we spent some time up there,we started getting familiar with the place.So when we had to descent,we didn't even think of the concrete path.We deliberately chose the little travelled,rocky but straight path.There was a lot of vegetation there and we were aware of snakes and other small animals popping out here and there. So just to be sure,I used to throw the slippers of my friend ahead of us a few metres to rule out any misadventure.As expected the descent was much easier,and we were down in 3-4 straight descents.When we got down,we met another group of young people.They too tried to to ascend on the same path,but we advised them against that as they had a few girls among them and some were wearing heels!
The descent was much more adventurous and joyful,as we later recalled.At the foot of the hill,we again had some tea and then reached to the ghat for the aarti.One of my friends was not much interested,so he chose to return to Shanti-kunj instead.The other friend accompanied him.I stayed at the ghat,watched the aarti(again),and then headed out to the market to buy some souvenir from the trip.I got incense stick stands,from the market at a reasonable price and then returned back to our shelter.We then had our food,and slept off immediately.
Day-4:Kotdwar,Kanva aashram and return to Delhi.
The places we visited or the fun we had on the 4th day,could not be possible had I not been to those places frequently during my childhood.Yes it is a lonely looking place and tourists rarely visit .Yet,when we reached we were awe-struck.
We got up early in the morning as we had to say goodbye to Haridwar that day itself and before it was 0730,we were way out of Shanti-kunj,heading towards a little town-Najibabad.But before were boarded the shared car to Najibabad,we had to take a bath(our final on the trip) in the river Ganga.We were not afraid of the cold anymore,and we without any hesitation dived in the river,had a bath,then had some tea and left for Najibabad.The road to Najibabad is well maintained and vehicles often drive at speeds around a 100kph.It was a very exciting 50 minute ride and after we reached Najibabad,we had to board a different bus/train/jeep to Kotdwar.It is a tiny hill station 25 km from Najibabad.We reached there by bus.We deposited my bulky bag there at the station.The guy there was very strict about the timings and warned us to reclaim the bag before 1600.We then set out for kalalghati,which is 12 km from Kotdwar.If one has to visit kanva aashram,this is the place to get down.After that it is a 2km walk from there through the village.We reached there and set out for kanva aashram.It is a very significant place,as it was the place where king Bharat(our country is named after him) was born and spent his childhood.When we were there 7 years ago,there was a Baba there.I doubted whether he'd be there this time around too.As it turned out,he was there,as active as before.He narrated us the significance of this place,the history,mythology as well as current politics surrounding it.We were sitting in his little aashram,and rain started pouring.Watching the rain pour down,while in the hills is a really breathtaking experience.My friends were a little worried about our return,but the rain halted after some minutes.We then went ahead a few 100 metres.There is a place that is famous for being the very spot where mother Sati sat in tapasya in order to marry Lord Shiva.We visited the little temple and the tree there too.After that we had to return.We had some tea,the 1600 deadline was far from over and in a relaxed manner,we reached the Kotdwar railway station.Kotdwar is also famous for a hanuman temple.We used to visit it a lot in childhood.
But we were tired,besides my friends' cellphones too were giving up,and it meant we had to stay at the station for the next 5 hours.It is a little station with just a single platform.the station is very clean by the standards of indian railways,and one doesn't get bored as easily.We headed out twice in between to have some tea.We then had our food just outside the station in the market.
And after some time our wait was over,and we boarded our train.There was a family who were very confused once the train arrived.We later poked some jokes at them once we were inside the train.After that there was not much,we had to sleep and once we woke up,we'd have been in or near Delhi.I woke up at 0600 and reached delhi 1.5 hours later.With that our 4 day trip came to an end leaving a lot of happy memories behind.
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