Haridwar

We don't have Hindi classes on the weekend, so this weekend I took a trip to Haridwar, a holy city on the Ganges river.

Rachel, Lily and I took a cab down the mountain to Deridun, which took 1.5 hours and cost Rs600 ($15.00). From there we took a bus to Haridwar, which took 2 hours and cost Rs35 (About 85 cents).

We found a hotel on Upper Road
We went out to eat at a restaurant called Big Ben. We had an amazing dish called Kashmiri Dumaloo - yum! Also Big Ben had a basin-style toilet with footholds on the basin - so instead of sitting, or squatting (like the Indian style toilet) you step up onto the basin, and then squat.

We walked around the bara bazaar (big market) and eventually turned right and came out at the Ganges. The Ganges is a holy river that is 2,510 kilometers. People make pilgrimages to Haridvar, as well as Rishikesh (a nearby holy city known for its many white hippie tourists and frequented by Israeli's), and especially Varnassi. Each night at sundown, there is a Puja (ceremony) in Haridwar on the Ganges, so we attended.


The sheer number of people there was overwhelming.
They chanted prayers to the Ganges in Hindi, and at times thew up their hands in unison. Some washed themselves in the river, several drank the water (to cleanse themselves of sin). Many people bought leaf bowls with flowers in them, set them on fire, and sent them down the river as offerings to the Gods. The whole ceremony was quite incredible to watch. Although I didn't understand what was going on, I was very moved by observing people praying and chanting.


We had dinner with an Israeli girl we met, one of the few white people we saw in Haridwar. The next morning we went to a temple on top of a small mountain, which we had to take a cable car to get to. There were so many people going to the temple, and everyone crammed into metal line barricades (like they have a an amusement park). After we got into the line, we no longer feared being trampled, and enjoyed seeing the different alters and puja's inside.

We took a bus back to Deridun, and a bus up the mountain to Mussoorie, where we arrived just in time to see the festival in honor of Krishna's birthday. Kids were dressed in full makeup and jewelry on floats, and put on performances for the many spectators.
Their costumes were incredible and put any of my past Halloween costumes to shame. Some of the kids sat motionless, posed with a flute or balancing on stacked pots for several hours. It was very cool to watch.