Haridwar
I came to Haridwar, a town a few hours north of Delhi, for three main reasons: its repuation as being relatively free from annoying people, its excellent yoga and meditation centres, and the Ganges river.
I spent most of today walking beside the Ganges. Here, near its source in the Himalayas, the river is wide, fast-flowing, and beautifully clear. One can quickly understand why the Ganges is deeply beloved.
As for the yoga and meditation centres, the quick summary is that they don't accept tourists dropping in for a day or two. I learned this yesterday in an epic journey in search of a yoga class. The tourist office sent me to a university, the university people said to go to the ashram next door, I met some very kind and hospitable graduate students in yoga (in India, you can get a Masters or PhD in yoga), and one of the recent graduates gave me a tour of the ashram.
My goodness, what an ashram. The Shantikunj ashram in Haridwar has about 5000 residents, housed in apartment blocks. It has its own temples, gardens, and a meditation hall that's like an amphitheatre with three-dimensional mountain scenery on its stage. People stay there for months at a time to do yoga and meditation.
I took an autorickshaw back to my hotel, the Haveli Hari Ganga. I gave the non-English-speaking driver the address, but he still took me to the Hotel Ganga and then the Hotel Hari Ganga, and then then a field on the other side of the river to ask directions, and then got out and walked me across a pedestrian-only bridge. Ten days ago all this would have scared the living daylights out of me, but now that I'm more used to the impromptu nature of life in India we both laughed.
So no yoga yesterday, but getting there was fun.
I spent most of today walking beside the Ganges. Here, near its source in the Himalayas, the river is wide, fast-flowing, and beautifully clear. One can quickly understand why the Ganges is deeply beloved.
As for the yoga and meditation centres, the quick summary is that they don't accept tourists dropping in for a day or two. I learned this yesterday in an epic journey in search of a yoga class. The tourist office sent me to a university, the university people said to go to the ashram next door, I met some very kind and hospitable graduate students in yoga (in India, you can get a Masters or PhD in yoga), and one of the recent graduates gave me a tour of the ashram.
My goodness, what an ashram. The Shantikunj ashram in Haridwar has about 5000 residents, housed in apartment blocks. It has its own temples, gardens, and a meditation hall that's like an amphitheatre with three-dimensional mountain scenery on its stage. People stay there for months at a time to do yoga and meditation.
I took an autorickshaw back to my hotel, the Haveli Hari Ganga. I gave the non-English-speaking driver the address, but he still took me to the Hotel Ganga and then the Hotel Hari Ganga, and then then a field on the other side of the river to ask directions, and then got out and walked me across a pedestrian-only bridge. Ten days ago all this would have scared the living daylights out of me, but now that I'm more used to the impromptu nature of life in India we both laughed.
So no yoga yesterday, but getting there was fun.
posted by Su-Laine at 6:07 a.m.
5 Comments:
wish you well for your journey in India. I came to your site in search of experiences at Haridwar. I used to frequent Roorkee during my summer vacations in India.
good luck
I've seen some travellers have wrong views about Haridwar, may be because of they went there during offseasons... just fill spirituality in your mind and heart before getting there... this is the place, where the frequency of pilgrims from all over India is very High... just log on to this portal once... Haridwar Hotel Guide and make your visit to Haridwar sometimes again
Haridwar & Rishikesh are the worst places i have visited in my life...u call it sacred...u call it religious...i am a brahmin...i true hindu...a firm believer in god...but the situation i saw in Haridwar Rishikesh was beyond my imagination...local holigans all over the city...uncanny police...complete loss of law & order...lack of mamagement & administration...and the most important...the priests...observe them and u w'll find them passing lewed comments...giving bad looks to femeles....and they can even kill u for money...its a good place with shit all over now...god save this place...I would recomend place like puri & rameshwaram instead...
Well i think it is one of the best places on earth. the difference of perception may be there but i still feel that haridwar is one of the best.
know more about haridwar at
http://haridwarcity.in
complete resource on city of haridwar
haridwar is best holy city of hindus in north india. But the travellers dont have good experience. I belong to uttrakhand and visit haridwar 5-6 times a year. The ricksaw walah and vikram wala charge different for locals and tourist. I think govt should check out the situation and people themselves should try to stop this
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