A Memorable Trip to Haridwar

04 Jan 2021 by Sandhya Singh

Arrived at Haridwar

After covering the distance of 216 km approx... We traveled all the way from Delhi to Haridwar. And at this very point, our spiritual and adventures was all set to start. We reached Haridwar railway station and from there we hired a taxi to reach our very destination, the taxi was going on smoothly on the longest highway that is NH7 the first thing we saw around us was the holy water of the river Ganga.

We felt like the water was accompanying us to our destination. We get to see a fleet of cows on the road and crowd of saints who were giving blessings and chanting mantras and at that very moment, we could feel the spirituality and positiveness in the environment.

We crossed Har Ki Pauri and saw a big and divine statue of Lord Shiva. Finlay, we reached our destination and firstly we had a hot cup of masala tea to enjoy the chilling morning.

The Evening Aarti at Har ki Pauri

We got excited about attending the Ganga aarti of Har Ki Pauri. All our tiredness of traveling was lost within no time as we planned to attend evening aarti at Ganga Ghats. We saw saints sitting near Ghats and then an old couple approached us for taking their picture which reminded me of old-time when there were no selfie features in our smartphones. Perhaps then we noticed the bright orange color all around us in the sky and the view of setting sun was really magnificent.

Finally, the chanting of mantras started with an aarti in the hands of old saints who were worshiping river Ganga and suddenly the atmosphere there became spiritual all at once. The aarti and silence in that environment there continued for almost half an hour. The mythological importance of Har Ki Pauri is lord Shiva and lord Vishnu is said to visit this holy place and blessed this place.

Each day sunrise and sunset time of Haridwar becomes spiritual saints holding and rotating the heavy lamps of fire and chanting prayers ‘Har Har Gange’ on the loudspeaker. We felt silent calmness and most relaxed on the bank of river Ganga and found the environment of Ganga aarti magical and felt very blessed.

As soon as the aarti started all the floral lamps were seen floating over the holly river which seems like sparkle over water. We were in no time got surrounded by a lot of people who were there just to attend Ganga aarti and at that very point, I came to realize that it is not important to have some heritage sites or monuments to attract tourist a simple calm, silent character of the environment and local people can also attract a lot of tourists.

Visit other famous temples of Haridwar

A new day a new blissful morning started with a cup of hot tea and a view of river Ganga from our hotel. We were all set to visit further magnificent temples of Haridwar. We reached the holy temple of Mansa Devi (it is said that goddess Mansa came from lord Bramha, and you can get all your wishes fulfilled there) we took a cable car to reach the temple which is on Bilva Parvat.

After that, we moved forward to visit Chandi Devi Temple located on Neel parvat and took a cable car to reach the height of 208 meters and visited the holy temple of goddess Chandi. We came to know about some other holly temples of Haridwar and was anxious to visit them. Then we visited the temple with 8 floors which were dedicated to Indian motherland named Bharat Mata Mandir located near shapt rishi aashram.

We visited shapt rishi ghat about which it is said that seven rishi were in practice and river Ganga then divided into seven parts as the saints do not get distracted due to it. We visited Maya Devi temple it is an ancient shrine of maya devi which is approx. 11 century-old ( Haridwar was earlier on the name of this goddess that is MAYAPURI). We went to few more temples which we got to see in a row with Bharat mata mandir.

Each temple was having its own spiritual importance and significance. It was really a great experience to visit all the temple and we all felt blessed.

Places to shop from in Haridwar

Jwalapur Market

Jwalapur is a wholesome market near the Haridwar railway station. The quality of spices can be guessed from its smell only, you can get a variety of spices at reasonable prices and also you can buy stuff for yourself as well as for your home. You can get a variety of home decor. Different and latest designs of sarees and ethnic wear are available in this market.

Bara Bazar

This market is located on the railway station road. You can get a variety of idols of god and goddess in this market. All stuff related to spiritual activity can easily be found in this market. You can also buy edible items in the form of ‘Prashad’ and even you can take it for your relatives and friends.

Kankhal market

Kankhal market is yet another market located in the south of the Haridwar town. Where you can get everything from idols of gods, home decors as well as ethnic and western wear. You can also buy accessories made out of sandalwood and rudraksha.

Har Ki Pauri Market

The market can be seen on banks of river Ganga, from this market I personally love to buy handmade pickles and that taste of pickle mouth-watering. You can buy attractive mirror work made out of seashells which look really fetching, and you can get different sizes of containers for taking holly water of River Ganga with you. Other spirituality related stuff are also easily available in this market.

Where can you stay in Haridwar

You can get a variety of hotels and dharamshalas to choose from according to your budget. To get the best view of river Ganga and stay close to this holy place I choose hotel Suryauday from a wide range of choice of hotels. All the services were well coordinated the staff of the hotel was really helpful.

But you can also choose ‘hotel Reddison Blu’ which is 4-star hotel in Haridwar offering EP and CP plan. ‘Hotel Golden Tulip’ is also yet another 3 star hotel located near tirath dham Shantikunj offering EP, CP, MAP and AP Plan, hotel Great Ganga is also great 2-star hotel for budget clients, offering EP, CP, MAP and AP Plan. There are many Dharamshalas and ashram for the one who can’t afford hotel-like ‘Shantikunj’, ‘Ummia Dham’. You can always choose from these places of accommodation as per your comfort.

Its Food time

You seriously can’t resist the aroma of tasty food that you get to smell on the streets of Haridwar. Though we wanted not to eat fast food as we reach Ranipur mode our hunger was at its height it was an uncontrollable condition and finally, we reached ‘OM FAST FOOD’ shop on ordered some of the Chinese and South Indian food. Noodle, chilly paneer and paneer dosa these all food items were so luscious.

The taste was heavenly good. Then we moved further and found a shop which appeared as a cake land for me. So many yummy and creamy cakes and pastries were there on the display it can easily fetch your attention in one sight. We bought two pastries and it was toothsome.

The shop was named as ‘CAKES & BAKES’. Just opposite this shop there was a shop named ‘MAHARAJA’, there were so many varieties of oven-baked foods that can drive you crazy in just one bite.

Rajaji National Park – a nearby attraction of Haridwar

The total land of Rajaji National park is 820 km in the foothills of Himalayas. It is home to many wildlife like Bengal tigers, leopards, Asian elephants, deer, striped hyenas etc. This comprises of three mountain ranges that are Rajaji range, Chilla range and Motichoore Range.

There are more than 300 species of birds, 20 species of mammals, and also it attracts a lot of wildlife. Jeep safari, canter safari and elephant safari using which you can take the whole view of National Park. The best time to visit this park is from 15th of November to 15th of June.

Cost of Permits for Indians is Rs.150 per visit of about 3 hours and for foreigners its Rs.600 per person per visit for foreigners in Chila Range, which is the showcase of Rajaji National Park.

 

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