Haridwar

A closer look at Haridwar

Haridwar is where the Ganga finally leaves the mountains and spills onto the plains, and the whole character of the city comes from that moment. The name means "gateway to God" — and depending on which spelling you use, gateway to Hari or to Har — which is exactly what it has been for pilgrims heading north for centuries. It is one of the four cities that host the Kumbh Mela, one of the seven holiest cities in Hinduism, and the place every Char Dham journey has traditionally begun. It is also, for us, simply home: our office sits at Devpura Chowk, a few minutes from the ghats.

The heart of it is Har Ki Pauri, the ghat where Vishnu is said to have left a footprint and where the Ganga Aarti happens every evening at dusk. Priests raise tiered brass lamps, bells and drums start, the crowd sings, and hundreds of leaf-boats carrying flowers and a small flame are set on the water and pulled downstream in a moving line of light. It is loud, crowded and completely disarming; we have watched it hundreds of times and it still works. Because we are local, we can get you to a good vantage point before the crush rather than after it.

Above the city, two hilltop temples face each other across the river. Mansa Devi, reached by a short cable car from near Har Ki Pauri, is where wishes are tied to a sacred tree as threads; Chandi Devi sits on Neel Parvat on the opposite bank with its own ropeway and a wider view over the whole city. Along with Maya Devi, these form the Siddhapeeths of Haridwar, and doing all three plus the aarti makes a full and very satisfying day. Add Bharat Mata Mandir, the multi-storey temple to the nation, and the sprawling Patanjali Yogpeeth on the outskirts if you have longer.

Most guests treat Haridwar as one night before heading up, which we think is a mistake. Give it two: spend a morning at the ghats when they are almost empty and the bathers are locals rather than tour groups, walk the Moti Bazaar for brass, rudraksha and street food, take an early-morning jeep into Rajaji National Park which starts barely fifteen minutes away, and let the evening aarti be the end of an unhurried day rather than something you rushed in for. October to March is the most comfortable window; the monsoon is dramatic and the summer is genuinely hot.