Rishikesh & Haridwar Continued

We had no idea of what to expect in Haridwar. We were told that the night ceremony is amazing. So we reluctantly followed our guide to the Har-Ki-Pairi (The Footstep of God) Ghat. Unfortunately, no one told us that Haridwar is one of the most sacred cities in Hinduism where people come to wash away their sins in the Ganges River. Therefore, our first impressions were rather fierce and confusing. People were everywhere. This child was trying to sell you milk to pour into the river while another was trying to reach your forehead to put some paint on it. Another guy was trying to explain the ganga aarti (river worship ceremony) for a nice price. The sheer amount of people was indescribable. People were bathing, others were waiting for the ceremony to start, and others were trying to reach the Har-Ki-Pairi. This was the crowded India we had been expecting.

Several of us bought an organic basket of flowers to place in the river for the river ceremony. Every night people flock here to leave an offering to the Goddess Ganga. (Every river in India is considered a goddess).

As the sun set, the bells rang and the prayers began.. Then huge flames were lit and everyone lit their puja (offering- for us, it was the basket of flowers with a candle) and places them in the river. There must have been hundred of flowers in the river. It was mesmerizing. Several of us also poured a little milk in the Ganges River and washed our feet in the river in order to wash away our sins. Becky hopes it worked!

The final event of the night cannot be ignored. Before venturing back to Dehradun on the dark, rather dangerous roads of India, we stopped to use the bathroom. Just about every girl on the bus got out and lined up at the facility. Some kids behind the gas station kept yelling something at us. No one understood them. One child grabbed his older relative who told us that we were using the men’s bathroom. Our guide had misled us yet again… oh well… Only Krys had actually used the men’s bathroom. The rest of us ventured to the women’s toilets on the other side of the gas station.