After the brief stopover at Rudraprayag on our way back
from Syalsaur, we imbued the glimpse of the River Ganges and the mesmerizing
valleys cocooning it, one last time, before returning back to the nature
ravaged city life.We stopped at the
same small eatery, this time also before reaching Devprayag and had some snacks
etc. and a nice hot cup of Coffee.Thereafter, we boarded our Car and began the last leg of our journey,
which was uneventful till we actually reached Haridwar.In Haridwar, in order to locate headed for the
Hotel where in had made the booking.As
the town of Haridwar had grown immensely over the years and we could not trace
out the once familiar land marks, we used the Google map, which confounded us
further through its messages and finally after resorting back to the old, tried
and tested method of asking the local Rickshaw wallahs for directions, we
finally reached our destined Hotel in Haridwar at about 3.00 P.M.After checking in and thereafter partaking
some light snacks and coffee, we prepared for attending the evening Ganga aarti
that commences at 6.00 P.M.
As the River Ganga meanders towards the plains, so does the road running alongside
Haridwar, whose literal meaning would be ‘Gateway of
Gods’ is one of the oldest surviving human habitations on Earth.It has
been proved by archaeological findings that terracotta culture was existing in
this region of in & around Haridwar during 1700 B.C. and 1800 B.C. Historically,
this region was ruled by Maurya Empire from 322 BC to 185 BC and later it
came under the rule of Kushan Empire. The place also finds mention in the
treatise of ancient Chinese traveler Huen T’sang, who had visited India in 629
AD. At that time Haridwar was part of the kingdom of the King Harshvardhan (590
to 647). The city was also invaded by Timur Lang (1336–1405), a Turkish King on
January 13, 1399. First Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak (1469–1539) bathed at the famed
'Kushwan Ghat' on Baisakhi Day. Later in the 16th century Haridwar came under reign
of Mughals and emperors like Akbar and Jehangir stamped their domination here.
According to Ain-e-Akbari Mughal Emperor, Akbar drank water from the Ganges
River collected from Haridwar, which he called 'the water of immortality'.
The cold evening has set in and River Ganga flows by Haridwar
The congregation waits on banks of River Ganga for the Aarti to start in Haridwar
Mythologically also Haridwar finds mention in many of
the ancient Hindu scriptures, according to Kedarkhand of Skanda Purana, the ancient great
King named as Shwet did long penance on the bank of river Ganges at Haridwar.
The Brahma pleased with his devotion & blessed that the place will be
special place with blessing from all gods and bathing here will be very
fruitful to devotees. Raja Vikramaditya's brother Bhratuhari has also done
penance here. In his memory, King Vikramaditya built a “Paudi (pawadi)”/ step
way here, which later became famous as Har Ki Paudi or Har Ki Pauri. Apart from
this Guru Datatrey had also spent great amount of time here in meditation.
Haridwar is mentioned in various other ancient Indian scriptures of Purans,
Upanishads and Mahabharata, where it finds mention as a Mayapur, Kapilsthan,
Mokshdwar or Gangadwar. In Mahabharata great sage Dhaumya had also mentioned
Haridwar (Gangadwar) as a major pilgrimage town to Yudhisthira. Sage Kapila also lived here in an ashram, so
this place was also known as Kapilsthan. The tradition which was established by
King Bhagirath is now followed by thousands of Hindu devotees, who bring the
ashes of their departed family members, in hope of their salvation by the water
of river Ganges.
The preparations for the evening Ganga Aarti have begun on ghats of Hridwar
The Ganga Aarti begins on ghats of Haridwar
An interesting aspect of the Pandits (Priests) of the
Haridwar is that they have kept the genealogy records of most of the Hindu
population, which is maintained in hand written vahis (hand crafted note books).
These records are updated on each visit to the city by the families and are a
repository of vast family trees of family in entire India. Further, it is
believed that the nectar (Amrit), which was one of the fourteen valuable condiments
that came out during the churning of the Sea by both the Devas & Ashuras
i.e. Samundra Manthan, this nectar was sprinkled at 12 places in the entire
universe. Out of that 12 places 08 places are in heaven and only 04 places on
earth. Har-Ki-Pauri
in Haridwar was one of the four places where Amrit was
sprinkled on mother earth. As a result, every 12 years Khumbh Mela comes to
Haridwar by turn as it is also held at other three places of Ujjain, Allahabad
(Sangam) and Nashik and draws immense crowds. The Ardha Kumbha Mela comes
once in every six years.
The pandits offering sacred lamp for seeking blessings after Ganga aarti in Haridwar
Accordingly, the Ganga aarti held at Har ki pauri has
both historical and mythological importance as explained hereinabove.However, the Pandas have now made it into a
money spinning exercise, as they try to extort money from pilgrims on premise
of keeping the banks/ghats of Ganga River clean, stating that the local
municipality does not contribute to its up-keep.We dodged past these vermin’s and proceeded
to watch the Ganga Aarti, where I found the priests being loud and uncivilized
while interacting with both foreigners and Indian devotees.However, I took cover under a stair case and
filmed the proceedings, which it appears is losing its sheen, as it is
performed in same manner as it was performed 10 years ago or even twenty years
ago, juxtaposed to the innovation that is taking place in Rishikesh, akin to
Varanasi aarti.After enjoying the Ganga
Aarti at Haridwar and having had some delectable sweetmeats on the way back to
Hotel, we wrapped up our winter vacations for the year.
Evening aarti taking place in adjoining temples on Ganga banks of Haridwar
