Himanshu's Blog: Photowalking at Haridwar and Rishikesh

October 7, 2008

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So this was actually a leisure trip which got turned to a photowalk, considering the abundance of subjects around. On the morning of October 2nd, we started off from Sonipat at about 5 in the morning and barring a few hiccups (bribing traffic officers at a signal for jumping the light) reached Haridwar at about 1030 in the morning via road which is roughly a distance of 220 kms if you take the Samalakha - Shamli route from Sonipat.

The 'Ghats' were crowded as we anticipated owing to the long weekend ahead. However since it wasn't really a festival season at the Ganges, we could manage checking into a hotel nearby the Ghats (Har Ki Pauri) without much difficulty. The rooms and hotels around the Ghats are fairly OK and quite reasonable too. The city however is just as I remembered it from previous years, crowded and teeming with beggars and rickshaws and filthy streets. The saddening part is that though one can run into people from the Ganga Trust urging you to donate to the trust and services after every 5 meters and there is a donation box fixed to the ground at an equal distance, but no matter how hard one tried you can not see any garbage bins planted anywhere so I guess it is but natural that the sides of the roads are filthy.

However, I guess all such ideas and notions are put to rest the moment one steps into the river and has a dip. It is advised that one leaves his personal and precious belongings back at his lodgings while going in for a dip. Though there are Pandits sitting in rough shacks on the ghats who would be willing to watch over your stuff while you bathe in lieu of your consent for them performing their services (Pooja done and madatory Dakshina given). Also you should be clear about how and where are you going to change your wet clothes. If you are not too uncomfortable about changing your inner wear in open public view, you should not have any hassles.The changing room provided by the Ganga trust are better not explored. It is for the same reason we were bent on taking a room near the Ghats itself. You come out of the water, wrap a towel around you and then simply walk over to your place of stay and change your clothes there in peace.

The next day I woke up early and went to the Ghats specifically to capture the sun rise, however, it went cloudy and the sun didn't really come out in its full glory. But then I could manage capturing the morning Aarti on the Ghats and clicked quite a few interesting shots.

Our next stop from Haridwar was Rishikesh. A small township about 20 kms from Haridwar and made famous for its twin bridges (Laxman Jhoola and Ram Jhoola), Chotiwala restaurants and camping and rafting sites .

About 40 kms from Rishikesh is another famous temple of Lord Shiva. The place is called Neelkanth, the name originating from the mythological tale of 'Sagar Manthan' (Churning of the Sea) and Shiva drinking the poison coming out of it and in turn getting his throat blue due to effects of the poison. The route to this temple is simply amazing due to the natural beauty around and even if you are not too religious I suggest that you take this trip maybe just to enjoy the journey. The temple none the less is mesmerizing and tranquil as well.

Overall I would rate the trip at about 7 on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of its utility to de-stress myself and get away from the humdrum of routine life and I am sure had it not been for all the pictures that I shot it would have been a disaster.