RISHIKESH AND THE RIVER GANGA, UTTAR PRADESH

Rishikesh (population 82,000) represents the gateway to the Himalayas and the "Yoga Capital of the World". It abounds in natural splendour. The spectacle of the Ganga rushing through the Himalayan foothills is an awesome sight. Along its banks, you find a lot of ashrams and many bleary-eyed sadhus (holy men). Unfortunately the town is also a favorite place for many hippies from all over the world.
In Rishikesh you should visit the Triveni Ghat, especially interesting during dawn, when people make offerings to the river and feed the surprisingly large fish. After sunset, priests set floating lamps on the water in the Ganga Aarti (river worship) ceremony. A walk over the suspension bridge Lakshman Jhula is also a must - you have a great view to the banks of the river Ganges and the feeling while walking over the oscillating bridge is not to be sneezed. On the west bank you'll find the old Lakshman Temple.

The Ganga, especially, is the river of India, beloved of her
people, round which are intertwined her memories, her hopes
and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her
defeats. She has been a symbol of India's age-long culture
and civilization, ever changing, ever flowing, and yet ever
the same Ganga.

- Jawaharlal Nehru, First Prime Minister of India, born
in Allahabad on the Ganges

The Ganga is a major river of the Indian subcontinent, associated in myth and reality with the land and people of India as well as neighbouring countries like Bangladesh.
Water from the Ganga has the recursive property that any water mixed with even the minutest quantity of Ganga water becomes Ganga water, and inherits its healing and other holy properties. Also, despite its many impurities, Ganga water does not rot or stink if stored for several days.

Below you find some pictures of my rafting-trip to Rishikesh and to learn more about my weekend there, read the Online Diary of April 23 - 29, 2001.