“Cha yeee garam …. Pani bottle.. ”
Tanni woke up to find the tea vendor marketing his product and preparing tea for a co-passenger early in the morning. Then Tanni realized that she had spent the entire night in the upper berth of Coach HA1 of 12327 UP – Upasana Express. This was her temporary address since last 16 hours when they left Howrah station.
They?
Tanni, her school friends Dora, Megha and Tanni’s sister Munni. After their final semester, Tanni and her friends had decided to go out and see the country. They had a long list of tourist places starting from hill station to sea beach and after lot of discussion, they finally settled for the holy city of Hardwar. The ancient city is located at the foothills of Shivalik ranges of the Himalaya on the right bank of river Ganges in the Indian state of Uttarakhand which is also known as Devbhoomi.
Dora’s grandfather (dadu) is very friendly with Dora’s friends. As they discussed with Dadu about Hardwar, he gave them lot of information and told that in ancient Hindu scripts, the city is referred to as Mayapuri, Gangadwar or Kapilsthan. There are lot of mythological stories associated with the place. Dadu told few of these stories but what attracted the girls was the geographical location of the place and the description of natural beauty. This place is also the gateway to what is known as chota char dham namely Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, though that is not in the plan this time.
It seemed that selecting destination is a tough job, but now they realized that they have the tougher job that is to convince their parents. Indian parents particularly Bengalee parents cannot think of letting their children go on a tour only with friends without any supervision. What will happen if they eat ice cream and catch cold or may be consume roadside food and fell ill!! Another big problem was to get permission to take Tanni’s sister Munni. Munni is in 9th standard now but Tanni is not ready to leave city leaving her back at home.
Finally, after lots of emotional drama, they all convinced their parents agreeing to all of their conditions and got the permission to go out together for the first time. Tanni immediately booked the train ticket and Dora started looking for a good accommodation near Har ki pauri. There were lots of Ganga facing hotels, but the reviews of Hotel Teerth caught their attention. They have Ganga facing private balcony with every room. Dora called up the hotel and booked two Ganga facing rooms on the 4th floor of the hotel.
Then every day seemed to be a year as they were eagerly waiting for the travel date. Whenever they called each other, the discussion revolved round tour planning and many a times discussed the same think again and again. This discussion became a means of virtual Hardwar tour.
Finally, the day had arrived when they took the cab and rushed to Howrah Station. The train was late by an hour, and without wasting the time, they thoughtfully utilized the time eating various junk foods which they normally do not get to eat. Afterall, they are no longer under the supervision of their parents.
Traveling alone for the first time is special by itself. Now they can take their own decision. It will be a lie, if I say that they were completely fearless but excitement was giving them confidence to win over the fear.
Finally, the train whistled and left Howrah station at 2PM, 1 hour after the scheduled time. But Tanni and her friends were not bothered about delay. After all, their teachers are not waiting at Hardwar to question them on being late.
The voice of tea vendor brought Tanni back from her memories to reality. Dora, Megha and Munni were still asleep. The aunty sitting in the side lower was looking out of the windowpane with the cup of tea in her hand. Tanni felt amused looking at the uncle sleeping in the side upper berth. He had been sleeping since the train started moving from Howrah. How can one sleep so long? – wondered Tanni.
Tanni climbed down from her berth and got fresh. By that time Dora also got up and woke up Megha and Munni.
The train was running very fast. Looked like it had made up for the delayed start and was ready to hit Lucknow as per schedule. The name Lucknow reminded them of Biriyani, but the scheduled arrival was too early for lunch.
“Let’s have sandwich and banana in breakfast”, said Dora. Tanni was reluctant to eat banana, but Munni reminded her of what she promised to her parents. After breakfast, they got engaged in their friendly chat on so-called very important topics. Munni was looking outside and at times looking at mobile to find where on earth they are now.
Finally, around 4PM, they reached Hardwar station being late by 25 minutes. It is a small but neat station with a big statue of Lord Shiva in front of the station.
Hardwar station is connected with most of the big cities of North India by rail. There is no airport in Hardwar and anyone planning to travel by air, have to use Jolly Grant Airport of Dehradun which is the closest airport, around 59 KM away from the city. Regular car and bus services connect both the cities. Also, the city is close to the capital of India, New Delhi, and is well connected to the Capital by highway.
From station, they took a battery-operated rickshaw which dropped them about 500 meter from their hotel, as rickshaws were not allowed enter ghat side road at that time of the day. The girls were already prepared, and they were travelling light. On reaching hotel, Tanni, who had all the identity cards, got the check in formalities completed in 5 minutes.
They were allotted two double bedrooms. Tanni and Munni took one of them and Megha and Dora in the other. The rooms were next to each other, and they decided to spend maximum time together to get the most out of the tour. Their luggage was shifted to their respective rooms and as soon as they entered the rooms, their heart was filled with joy looking at the fast-flowing river Ganga from their rooms. Both the rooms were medium sized simple rooms, but what made them extra ordinary was the view from the room as well as the adjoining balcony.
They were very hungry and Megha immediately took over the responsibility of her favourite task of ordering food. While they got fresh, veg pakoras and tea for Megha were on the table. Munni had already started eating without wasting time.
They finished their food sitting at the balcony, watching the reflection of halogens glowing on the opposite bank of the river. When Tanni picked up the last pakora from the dish and thought of enjoying the flavour for quite some time, a monkey came from nowhere, snatched it and jumped on a branch of a tree and vanished. Tanni got angry and shouted at the monkey which did not even care to respond.
The pavement at Har ki Pauri was so crowded by pilgrims, tourists and vendors that it seemed to be a mini fair going on. Dora opened her diary where she had already noted the places to visit.
There are lot of places which cannot be covered in 3 days, and so they have short listed few of them with one or two as add on if time permits.
“Listen, tomorrow is a Sunday and looking at the crowd, be rest assured that all the popular places will be over-crowded. So, let’s not make any big plan tomorrow. We can walk here and visit the ghats and enjoy the atmosphere.”, said Tanni. Dora nodded her head while looking at her diary. But Megha insisted on visiting Mansa Devi Temple and Chandi Devi temple on the very next day. Their discussion was interrupted by the bell from a temple. Sandhya aarti has started at every temple and river bank. Megha looked depressed at the thought of not visiting Mansa Devi temple. Finally, they convinced Megha saying that they would dip in Ganges on the next day.
After 8PM, they went out for a short walk on the pavement to feel the atmosphere. It was really a wonderful feeling. The entire area was lit up like any cricket stadium and clean, transparent swift flowing river water seemed to be playing a happy tune.
Dora, who was reading some books about Hardwar and Hrishikesh since last few days, told, “There is a barrage upstream which controls the water flow. It was initially designed for irrigation but later it is also being used for hydroelectric power generation. The same barrage controls the water flow to Brahma kund and adjoining ghats. The water in Ganga canal is controlled from there to provide a consistent water supply.”
“But how come the water is so clear?” asked Tanni.
“It is because of two reasons. On one hand, the water is just coming from mountains and silt content is low and on the other hand there is a maintenance of 2 weeks every year when the water is stopped or controlled from flowing to Brahma kund between Dussera and Diwali. During this time of the year, the riverbed is cleaned, and any maintenance of riverbank is carried out”, Dora replied.
Dora also added that it is one of the four cities where Kumbha mela takes place. During the mela, the entire city is crowded by pilgrims and saints from all over India. As they walked, they saw some typical saints having long beard and hair, and body covered with ash.
Munni was interested to have some food at Chotiwala restaurant, but others stopped her saying dinner is already ordered and they will have it soon. They will taste roadside food from the next day.
Next morning, around 5AM, they woke up hearing bells from nearby temple. Sun is yet to rise but pilgrims are already taking dip in the cold fast flowing water. Though it was end of March, the temperature was quite low. The cold wind made them shiver. It was a wonderful feeling which a person who experienced it can only understand. They took off the bed sheet and wrapped it all around.
Around 6 AM, four of them left hotel, took a walk along the Ganges, and finally went to have some kachouri and lassi. The shop did not look impressive, but the food was very tasty. They felt like they have never had such tasty kachouri.
By then, it was 8 AM, and the Sun was shining harsh on their skin. Who will believe that just 3 hours back, they were shivering?
Changing their dress at hotel room, they came back to the riverbank. With slight fear and lot of excitement, they dipped their feet in the icy cold water. They lifted their legs immediately as it felt like a shock. They gathered some courage and tried again, and this time a little more. Finally in 4th attempt, Tanni was standing in water holding the chain which is designed for safety. Tanni and Munni are very good swimmers. Dora and Megha also know swimming to some extent and with the help of Tanni and chain, they also managed to take dip. It was a lifetime experience. After spending almost 30 minutes there, they went back to hotel and had their lunch.
After a short rest with some indoor games, in the afternoon, they went to watch Ganga Aarti. This is one of the oldest Ganga Aarti and is very popular. So, people go near Brahma Kund almost 2 hours before the actual event. All the main ghats were crowded and people were standing there for hours. They also occupied a seat for almost 2 hours. The sound of river water and mantra echoed from all direction arousing a spiritual feeling in the mind of Tanni. Though it was tiring to seat in one position for hours without moving, still the patience paid off. There were large LCD screens for audience who could not get front rows.
Post aarti, they went to a sweet shop to have rabri. It was awesome and they have never had such tasty rabri in their hometown.
The plan for next day was to go to Hrishikesh. Hrishikesh is also known as Yoga Nagari. It is a hilly town around 28 KM from Hardwar, where there are number of ashrams focussing on yoga training as primary programme. Not only Indians, but many foreigners also visit Hrishikesh and stay there for a prolonged period to learn yoga.
Megha was so excited that she could not sleep the whole night. Early in the morning, she went to the balcony hearing the bell from the nearby temple. The sound of bell was echoing from all around. The cold fresh pollution free air had a divine presence. Meanwhile her friends also joined her. They stood there speechless for almost 15 minutes watching the waves of the river. They wished if they could hold the moment for a little longer.
The Sun rose between the mountain ranges and the golden light of the rising Sun reflected on the river water. Munni took some snaps and then they went back to their room. After breakfast, they booked a car from reception to go to Hrishikesh. The car charged 4500 INR for a day tour and back. The pickup and drop zone for cars and autos were on the other side of the river. There were narrow bridges for pedestrian to cross the river.
The way to Hrishikesh was full of natural beauty particularly the dense forest of Rajaji National Park which spreads across on both sides of the highway. Dora got excited seeing this and wanted to spend a day there. Unfortunately, they did not have enough time to spend there. Dora noted down in her small diary. She is creating a list of spots which she wanted to visit but could not manage in this tour. This is a sort of her travel wishlist. Tanni peeped into the diary and smiled.
“Don’t worry, Dora, next time we will make it.”, said Tanni smiling. She can read Dora’s mind.
Gradually the car left plain land and started going uphill. Soon, they were able to see the greenish blue water of river Ganges on their right side, way down the road. Munni was excited. She took out her camera and captured the scenic beauty. After almost half an hour of drive and managing though huge traffic, they reached Lakshman Jhula, a suspension bridge. It is believed that Lord Rama’s brother, Lakshman used a jute rope to cross the river at this place. The present bridge was completed in 1929 by the British. Considering the poor condition of the bridge, vehicle movement is completely restricted over the bridge since last few years. An alternative bridge is under construction just beside this bridge.
While crossing the bridge, they found some vendors selling food for feeding fish. They bought 2 packets of food to feed fish. The took a number of snaps standing on the bridge.
On reaching the other side of the bridge, Dora and Tanni were very eager to go downhill and dip their feet in the river water. They found a slopy area full of loose soil and it was very dangerous to use the path to go down. They were very eager to take this challenge. Megha asked them not to go but Dora and Tanni did not listen. Munni stayed back with Megha at the top. The soil below their feet was so loose that at every step it seemed they will roll down. At the end of the path, there were rocks, and they have to climb down. As they completed their mini trekking and reached riverbed, they were surprised to see Megha and Munni standing there and smiling.
“How could you reach here so fast?” asked Dora.
“Because we are not blind like both of you. There were stairs over there and you can easily use them to come down.”, said Megha laughing.
“Really! But we were enjoying trekking.”, replied Tanni who is not willing to accept defeat.
They hired a speed boat for a short ride, which they enjoyed a lot. Unlike the water at Har ki Pauri, here the water seems very still. The water is crystal clear and greenish blue in colour and the riverbed is full of pebbles. They looked for fish to feed, but they could not spot one. May be the vibration of speed boat had scared them away.
Starting from Lakshman Jhula till Ram Jhula is a trail through nature. Though it was a man-made road, but the road is surrounded on both sides by lot of trees and some of the trees were full of beautiful flowers. No gardener takes care of them. These are nature’s own garden. Though the beauty was mesmerising, still it was quite far, and they kept on walking and chatting. Munni was singing softly while walking and others were listening and appreciating. Finally, after walking for an hour, they reached Ram Jhula which is another suspension bridge.
They had their lunch at Chotiwala restaurant which is one of the oldest eatery of that area. The creator of this restaurant had a shaved head with a small area of their head bearing hair tied and pointed upwards which is called Choti in Hindi. The name Chotiwala means a person having choti on his head. He is no more but he had made it a brand symbol. To give a nostalgic feeling, the present owner who is most likely their descendant, have hired a person with shaved head and long antenna type hair pointing upward. The person was sitting still on a seat outside the restaurant.
Dora and Megha started arguing as Dora initially thought that it was a statue and not a living person, sitting still, dressed like the person in picture. Tanni settled the conflict and told it is a living person and took a selfie with him.
After having lunch, they visited Paramarth Niketan, an ashram near Ram Jhula with artistic decoration. The flowers and decoration took them back to the days of our mythological stories where Gurus used to have similar ashram.
Outside the ashram, there was a huge statue of Lord Shiva. Every evening Ganga aarti takes place here. But unfortunately, they cannot stay back till evening. So, Dora took a note in her travel wishlist.
It took more than 1 hour for them to return to their hotel at Hardwar. All of them were very tired. They ordered some pakora and sat in the balcony. They could hear the chanting of mantra from Brahma kund as it was time for evening aarti. They kept on talking and teasing one another and did not even notice that it was almost 9 PM until the restaurant guy called upon for any dinner order. They ordered their dinner and planned to go out for a walk till the dinner is ready to be served.
Finally, after dinner as they lay down on their bed, even though they were tired, they could not sleep. The memories of entire day kept on flashing in front of their eyes, and they kept on discussing the same. It seemed that this is the best day they spent together.
Next morning, they went to Bilvkeshwar Shiva temple which was around 10 minutes from Har ki Pauri by a battery driven rickshaw. This place was less crowded and was surrounded by a jungle. It looked like a nature’s blessing within a city and the natural beauty is well maintained, may be due to less foot fall. The temple is not too big and is situated on top of a small hill. They spent almost 2 hours there. Just behind the temple, there was a shady area with some very old structures. The sound of dry leaves and pleasant breeze seemed as if it is nature’s opera.
On returning from temple, they took dip in the river. The water was so cold that even after returning room, they were not required to switch on fan. That evening was left for relaxation and for eating street food. Tanni had 2 glasses of lassi while Munni ate rabri. Dora and Megha were more inclined to taste Kachouri once again. They walked till clock tower, sat on the steps for some time and crossed the bridges again and again. It was the last evening at Hardwar and they were trying to take the most out of it. It seemed that had Lord Brahma came and offered them some boon, they would have asked an extra day here.
The next morning was a real surprise for Megha. Though Mansa Devi temple could not be added in the main plan due to shortage of time, but it was in the add-on list. Tanni and Dora planned a trek to Mansa Devi temple but did not disclose it to their friend as they wanted to see the sudden expression in Megha’s face. They knew Megha was fond of trekking, and they did not want to dishearten her.
As usual, on last day also they woke up early with the bells ringing every where at the time of morning aarti. Today, instead of enjoying from balcony, they quickly left hotel and went to Brahma Kund. Ganga aarti was going on and the ghats were less crowded compared to evening. The faint light of dawn, the bright flood lights, the reflection of pradeep, the echo of bells and the chanting of mantra created a divine atmosphere. It seemed that the entire spiritual power of the World concentrated there to have this unique experience.
After aarti, Dora and Tanni started walking towards Mansa Devi temple on Bilva hill and asked Megha and Munni to follow them. They were not told about the plan. There could have taken the shortcut but it will involve lot of stairs. So, they decided to go through the motorable road by walking and then come down through those stairs.
As Megha understood that they are going up Bilva hill to visit Mansa Devi temple, she was extremely excited. The view of entire town along with the river from the top of the hill clearly compensated the pain of walking uphill. Munni took a number of snaps from various heights. Monkeys were playing here and there and swinging on the branches of the trees. Two of them almost blocked their road suspecting them to be carrying some food. But as they showed their empty hand, the intelligent animal allowed them to move on.
The red coloured temple, which they were able to see from their hotel, was too crowded even though it was early morning on a weekday. While returning, they walked down those flight of stairs. It was not at all impressive as the way was surrounded by temporary shops on both sides and was not so clean. However, the view of the town was still impressive. At places, pilgrims were feeding monkeys who is also considered as God by Hindus. Dora wanted to take photo, but Tanni asked her not to take out mobile as monkeys can snatch it. On their way back to hotel, they had kachouri and lassi. Though they were tired reaching the hotel, Tanni was eager to take a dip in the Ganges for the last time in this trip.
All the girls agreed. They took bath in the chilling water. The rest of the day was spent packing the bags. As the train was scheduled at 11PM, they decided to go out in the evening for some shopping from moti bazar which was just behind the hotel. After having their lunch, when the girls entered Tanni’s room, they found her writing something.
As Dora peeped, she found that Tanni was taking notes of the entire tour which she might be using for writing a travelogue.
Megha asked Dora, “Tell us about your travel wishlist?”
“Lot of places, the most important being Rajaji National Park. Let’s plan a char dham tour sometime in next 2 years.” Said Dora.
Tanni almost snatched the word and said, “I was also thinking the same. We have not visited Chandi Devi temple, Bharat Mata temple, which we can cover in that tour.”
Megha got excited and said, “Yes char dham! We will trek to Kedarnath by foot. It will be a novel experience.”
All agreed. Munni said, “Di, let’s drive from Kolkata next time. By then, I might have my own driving license.”
Tanni looked at her and laughed. “Well, let’s see if that is a good plan. It will need lot of time as we have to take number of night breaks. Also, before trekking, we will need full rest. We can plan based on situation.”
After dinner, they cleared hotel bills and left hotel bidding goodbye to the Ganges. The river is flowing in same spirit as first day. But the river is no longer playing the happy tune as it used to.
Reaching station, they had to wait for around 30 minutes and then they boarded 12328 DOWN Upasana Express. This time the train was on schedule. They also did not want any delay and wanted to go back to their home. Now they have started missing their parents and are longing to meet them.
Yes, Haridwar is generally safe for solo travelers. However, it is always easier to get accommodation in any hotel if you go with family or friends. If you travel alone then few hotels might contact your family before giving you room.
The best time to visit Rishikesh is from September to November and from February to May when the weather is pleasant and suitable for outdoor activities.
No, river rafting is primarily conducted in Rishikesh, not Haridwar. Rishikesh offers a thrilling river rafting experience in the Ganges. But it will take maximum 1.5 hour for you to reach Rishikesh from Hardwar
No, both Haridwar and Rishikesh are known for their vegetarian cuisine. You’ll find a wide range of delicious vegetarian dishes to savor. However I have seen non-vegetarian road side dhaba on way between Haridwar and Rishikesh or on way to Rishikesh.
Haridwar and Rishikesh are well-connected by road and rail networks. The nearest airport is in Dehradun. For details, please follow the link below
How to reach Haridwar – when to visit and where to stay – See My India (india-mydreamland.com)
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