“It was late noon. As the aeroplane was nearing Jolly Grant Airport Dehradun I could see Himalayan trees on the mountains…the airport is small but beautiful surrounded by lush vegetations. My mother and I came out of the airport building. I saw some foreigners going to prepaid taxi counter and some Indians walking with their luggage. I was looking for “ola” cabs. Asked some people and that said I might get it outside airport. We started walking. I think I walked for nearly 2kms and I had luggage. As the weather was pleasant I was not tired….but worried about vehicle. I thought I made a wrong decision.”
I booked a cab and it said it would reach at 7.30pm. It got postponed after few minutes and then I cancelled booking. We were waiting for the vehicle on the road. It was getting dark. Luckily one small vehicle (autorickshaw type) arrived with few passengers in it. We boarded and the driver said he would drop us at “Vahania Chowk”. There’s possibility of getting vehicle for Hardwar from the chowk. I took the risk. At Vahania Chowk we waited and waited, some vehicles crossed us but none would take us to Haridwar. Then one school bus stopped…..”hurray”….I felt I was the happiest person in the world that moment. It charged only Rs.50 per head. After getting down from bus at Haridwar we took a rickshaw and reached our prebooked hotel.
After keeping our luggage we went out to have our dinner. Most of the shops were closed. We returned back to our room after having dinner at one hotel and had good sleep.
Next morning we went to visit Har ki Pouri. It was very near to our hotel. People were taking bath in the Ganges. There are chains near the ghats so that people can take bath without any difficulty of facing the strong current.
There is a statue of Maa Ganga in the middle of the river and on the bank there is Lord Shiva statue facing opposite.
Iconic landmark of Haridwar – Raja Birla Tower was constructed by Raja Baldev Das Birla in 1938. On it’s four sides clocks are there. At night this tower is lightened.
Then we booked a cab through hotel owner for Rishikesh visit. On the way saw some small temples. Bought “rudraksh mala” from a shop owned by Uttarakhand Govt. Our first longtime stop was at Daksheshwar Mahadev Temple. The way to the temple is narrow. It is said that Mata Sati gave up her life here when her husband was insulted by her father Daksha. Later Lord shiva took life of Daksha.
Maa Anandamayee Ashram is a must-visit place. We roamed around the Ashram and felt relaxed. There is one shop for buying “Fatik” jewellery which is said to have special effect in reducing body heat. My mother said many years back Maa Anandamayee visited Agartala. My mother went to see her but was very unfortunate as it was very crowdy. We prayed near Samadhi.
Then we went to Harihar Ashram – Mahamrityunjay Mahadev temple. Silently I recited Mahamrityunjay mantra. Moved round replica of twelve Jyotirlinga.
As we reached Rishikesh we saw Lord Ram statue and came acorss many Ram Laxman temples.
Trayambakeshwar temple also known as tera manzil mandir is 13 storied temple on the bank of river Ganga. Worth visiting.
Then we kept on visiting other places – temples on the way.
On the way I liked one restaurant where a man in different style was sitting in front of the restaurant. Definitely this is a good business policy – to attract the customers.
In Rishikesh inexpensive but trendy jewellery can be found. I always look for such jewellery which can be worn with any kind of dress.
Then we went to Gita Bhawan. You can buy holybook the Gita and many other things from the shop located at the entrance of the building.
It was relatively a hot day. We continued our walking and reached Parmarth Niketan. Sat there for sometime. The premise is very beautiful.
After refreshing ourselves at Parmarth Niketan we started walking again. Both at Haridwar and Rishikesh rudraksh necklace is very commonly found.
While coming back we bought peacock feather fan (used during puja/worshipping) and embarcked on Ram Jhola.
We reached at the gate for Tribeni Ghat. We left the car there and walked. Climbed down the stairs to reach Tribeni Ghat. As it was post-monsoon season, the river was flowing with heavy current.
After seeing Tribeni Ghat our driver took us to Bharat Mata temple. You have to remove shoes at shoe keeping point and then enter Bharat Mata temple.
There were other small temples on the way back to Haridwar like Shivanand Dham, India Temple etc.
But among them I liked Pavan Dham – Sheesh Mahal very much because of it’s glass work. The temple is very neat and clean.
Next morning we had to catch our flight at noon. So hurriedly went to Manasa Devi Mandir after getting ropeway ticket for this temple only. There is also another way to reach the temple – through climbing stairs and then walking. It takes time but worthy if you want to explore the surrounding area.
After seeing Manasa Devi temple I really wanted to visit Chandi Mata temple . As we did get our ticket earlier thinking we would be late for the flight, again rushed to the ticket counter for ropeway ticket to Chandi Mata temple.
After seeing Chandi Mata temple came back to the hotel and boarded on our prebooked cab. Said temporary “good bye” to Uttarakhand as “I know I will be coming back to this awesome place soon”.
Boarded flight for Delhi and then to Kolkata for our next stop at a small village of West Bengal.
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