Bathing in the Ganga
Haridwar - Choks made a pretty good suggestion... at the beginning of each blog, I will put the city's name of where we are. Today, we did some "toursity" stuff in Haridwar. First, we went up to the Mansa Devi Mandhir. It's up on a mountain.. you have to take one of those "ski-lifts" up there.. you know... the ones that they have at amusement parks? We made it up there... and were herded through the mandhir. Nothing too spectacular... except the views from the mandhir were pretty phenomenal. You could see the Ganga weaving its way through the land...
The highlight of the day was around 3:30 pm... it was hot, and we were tired. I definitely wanted to bathe in the Ganga at some point... and I convinced Sampat to bring along a towel as well. So, we went to Har Ki Pairi (the main ghat area in Haridwar.. probably one of the MOST visited
Hindu spiritual sites in all of India), and... next thing you know... we both jumped into the water. =) The Ganga in Haridwar is still pretty clean... it's where the "Ganga emerges from the Himalayas", so the water is still really cold and fresh. I heard that by the time the Ganga reaches Calcutta, it's pretty hard to distinguish from the sewer. But not here... after we get over the "freezingness" of the water.. 1.. 2... 3.. we both ducked our heads under the water. Haha.. we weren't really ready for the freezing water rushing up our nose! The flow is pretty fast here, and they have chains that you hold on to... I struggled a little to make my way back. 
After drying off, we stayed in the the Har Ki Pairi area, as we also wanted to experience the famous "Ganga Aarti" that everyone kept talking about. At this point, I had a pretty think goatee as well, and I remember Sagar telling us that getting a shave was such a wonderful experience.... so we decided to find someone to give us a shave along the banks of the Ganga. We made sure they used a new blade... and they were off shaving away. I can't remember the last time I had a shave this close... but I also don't remember the last time it burned that much!
Around 7 pm, the Aarti occurred... pretty cool sight... sooo many tourists, sadhus, and devotees from all over India. It's really powerful to think that at one point in their lives, my parents also bathed here in the Ganga and saw the Aarti, and all that... and now, I'm here. They probably never imagined that.
The highlight of the day was around 3:30 pm... it was hot, and we were tired. I definitely wanted to bathe in the Ganga at some point... and I convinced Sampat to bring along a towel as well. So, we went to Har Ki Pairi (the main ghat area in Haridwar.. probably one of the MOST visited
Hindu spiritual sites in all of India), and... next thing you know... we both jumped into the water. =) The Ganga in Haridwar is still pretty clean... it's where the "Ganga emerges from the Himalayas", so the water is still really cold and fresh. I heard that by the time the Ganga reaches Calcutta, it's pretty hard to distinguish from the sewer. But not here... after we get over the "freezingness" of the water.. 1.. 2... 3.. we both ducked our heads under the water. Haha.. we weren't really ready for the freezing water rushing up our nose! The flow is pretty fast here, and they have chains that you hold on to... I struggled a little to make my way back. 
After drying off, we stayed in the the Har Ki Pairi area, as we also wanted to experience the famous "Ganga Aarti" that everyone kept talking about. At this point, I had a pretty think goatee as well, and I remember Sagar telling us that getting a shave was such a wonderful experience.... so we decided to find someone to give us a shave along the banks of the Ganga. We made sure they used a new blade... and they were off shaving away. I can't remember the last time I had a shave this close... but I also don't remember the last time it burned that much!
Around 7 pm, the Aarti occurred... pretty cool sight... sooo many tourists, sadhus, and devotees from all over India. It's really powerful to think that at one point in their lives, my parents also bathed here in the Ganga and saw the Aarti, and all that... and now, I'm here. They probably never imagined that.
posted by Raj Kanani | 9:50 AM
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