Haridwar

The ‘Gateway to the Gods’ is one sobriquet of Haridwar, and very a fitting one for the point at which Mother Ganga emerges from the Himalayas and begins her journey down into the plains. At this point the fast-running Ganges is a clear glacial blue, still relatively pure before the heavy industry of northern India has taken its toll. Haridwar is a member of the Sapta Puri, one of the seven holiest cities in Hindu India. It is one of four sites where droplets of Amrit, the Elixir of Immortality, were spilled by passing celestial bird Garuda, and as such the waters of the Ganges here are deeply auspicious. Yatra (pilgrimage) season lasts all summer, grows exponentially during the annual Magh Mela, and then explodes every twelve years during the Haridwar Kumbh Mela, at which point more than 10 million Hindu pilgrims descend on the city.