Haridwar

Haridwar is the point where the Ganges leaves the hills for the plains, one of the seven sacred cities and one of the four that host the Kumbh Mela. Its centre is Har Ki Pauri, a set of ghats where a footprint in stone is said to be Vishnu's and where the river runs fast enough that bathers hold chains set into the steps. At dusk the Ganga aarti is performed here: priests swing tiered oil lamps in unison to bells and chanting while thousands watch from the steps and floating lamps in leaf bowls are set on the current and carried downstream in a line of small flames.

History

Haridwar, formerly Mayapuri, means "gateway to Vishnu", as pilgrims set out from here for Badrinath, while Hardwar can be read as "gateway to Shiva", the start of the way to Kedarnath and Mount Kailash. Legend says it was here that the goddess Ganga descended when Shiva released the river from his hair, and the Ganges, after 253 kilometres from its source at Gaumukh, enters the plains here for the first time, which gave the city its ancient name, Gangadwára (Wikipedia, Haridwar).

What to look for

• Har Ki Pauri - the main ghats with chains for bathers in the fast current.
• The evening aarti - tiered lamps swung by priests at dusk.
• The floating lamps - leaf bowls of flame carried off on the current.
• The hilltop temples - Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi, reached by cable car.

When to go

October to March for comfortable weather; the aarti happens every evening around sunset and the ghats fill an hour before. Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh years bring immense crowds.

What to expect

Crowds at aarti are dense and pushing is normal; belongings need watching. Donation collectors work the steps insistently. The current is genuinely dangerous for anyone entering the water.

Nearby

Rishikesh lies north; Rajaji National Park is east.