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Haridwar is one of the places where Kumbha-mala is taking place each
12 years. The other places are Allahabad (Prayag), Nasik and Ujjain.
Eating meat and fish and drinking of alcohol is prohibited there. On
the opposite side of the hill there are temples of Anjana devi and Chanda
devi. Cable railway is constructed there.
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Haridwar is located on the west bank of the river Ganges. "Haridwar"
literary means "the gate to Lord Hari", Lord Vishnu. It is
one of the seven most sacred places of India and in the Puranas it is
called Mayapuri-ksetra.
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A sight of Haridwar from the temple
of Chanda devi. |
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Deity of Chanda devi (Durga). |
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Deity of Durga devi. |
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Haridwar is quite busy place.
Hrisikesh, 20 km from there, is much more peaceful. |
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The bridge near the confluence
of Ganges's branches. |
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The river has a strong current in Haridwar. Therefore chains are spread
about 2 m from the river banks to protect people coming there to offer
flowers or take bath.
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The temple of Bhairavi devi. |
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Deity of Bhairavi devi. |
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Lakshmi Narayana Deity. |
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Lakshmi Narayana Deity. |
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In Rama-ashram one can get cheap
accommodation with a sight to the river. There are sculptures and other
scenes from Ramayana in the ashram complex. |
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Figure of demon Ravana is burned
at the end of the festival. |
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Hanumanji. |
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Radha- Bankibihariji. |
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There is a temple of Manasa devi on this hill. One can take a cable
railway to get there and have a sight of a beautiful flower garden.
There is a good sight of the town and Ganges from the top and in good
climatic condition even Himalaya's peaks are visible.
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Deity of Manasa devi. |
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Deity of Shri Varahadeva. |
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In summer, the weather is very
hot, but the Ganges is always pleasantly cold. |
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Bath in Ganges purifies not only
the body, but also the soul. It is said in the Vedas that even one bath
in Ganges can eradicate all sins. |
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„Har-ki-pauri” literary means
„legs of Lord Vishnu”. The ghat is also called Brahma-kund, since king
Sveta was performing penances there to get Lord Brahma's benediction. |
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Many people come to river banks to offer prayers, flowers and ghilamps
on leaves.
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Crowd is gradually gathering on
Har-ki-pauri ghat... |
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...and gets prepared for arati. |
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Harinam-sankirtan on Har-ki-pauri
ghat. |
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Sacred arati ceremony is regally held every evening. People are offering
ghilamps and flowers accompanied by music.
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Arati begins at 6 p.m. and gathered
crowd creates wonderful atmosphere. |
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Many people comes from all over
India to take part in this ceremony. |
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Arati is finished in about 15
minutes and the river is nicely glistening from the temple lights. |
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Courtyard of the temple.
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Deity of Lord Shiva, Parvati,
Ganesh and Murgan. In front of them there is Nandi, a bull carrier of
Lord Shiva. |
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Shanti-patik Mandir Samadhi. |
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Sadhus in front of samadhi. |
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Anjani devi Deity (Durga devi). |
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In front of Anjani devi temple. |
