Haridwar was never on my list of places to visit in India .... It only happened because a good friend of mine was going to get married to a boy from Haridwar...now I've been to India several times and not once I actually heard of this place as I never thought anything was worth seeing in this small city. But boy was I wrong.......  

From Delhi we took a shatabi train which was fairly comfortable to say the least and it took us around 4 hours to reach the city of Haridwar. With a temperature of 15 degrees it wasn't too cold and was quiet pleasant. At the train station we were greeted by the warm and very friendly hotel staff. I was travelling with some of the brides friends that were from Japan so we did stick out like a sore thumb. 

On the way to the hotel I still didn't think much of this place it just looked like any other city in north india and was wondering to myself besides the wedding what do I do here for 4 days... 

I was greeted by Amy the bride to be being Japanese she already looked very indian and it was so good to see her and to finally meet her mom. She tells me then that I need to help her friends find some Indian outfits for the wedding and that I would need to go into town. So we got freshened up had a lovely vegetarian lunch at hotel, lots of dhall, naan, cottage cheese which I don't eat! And rice flavoured with cumin seeds... 

Prem the groom called and said that his friends will be picking us up and would help take us around. We went to a place called Jawalpur which was not too for from the Ganga river so no meat or alcohol was to be sold within this 10 km radius... This was when they told me about the holy city and a place called Har ki pauri. Which means " the foot of lord Shiva" a very important deity in Hinduism. 

We went shopping at a one stop centre called fashion bazaar and got some really nice outfits for the wedding. The selections were really good and i never expected it for a small town... The tailor got it all altered and ready in time for the wedding the very next day. The staff were really helpful and the owner gave us a good discount too.

We then thought of going to witness The sunset prayer that takes place every evening. Unfortunately we were too late so we had to keep that for the next day or so. 

The next day we went to Har ki pauri in the morning.... The view of the river from far was breathtaking... I thought it was going to be dirty and would smell but much to the contrary it looked so clean and alive and there was no smell.

Having read that it is the 2nd most polluted river in the world it did scare me. I saw people dipping in and doing the rituals and yet I didn't dare even put my feet in, however as I got closer to the banks of the river I was drawn to actually put my feet in at least. 

I don't know what it was but I said to myself "hey I came all the way to the most scared river in the world, I'm just going to get some blessings keep the faith and nothing will go wrong" and so I did ..... It was cold running water... It wasn't that bad .... It felt good doing it... :) 

The wedding was experience by itself... It started at 7 in the evening and finished  at 5 in the morning..... No its not what you think!! It wasn't party all night! Well it started with what seemed like a full on  5 km dance floor where you just keep dancing while the groom sits on a chariot of horses and people just keeping dancing and singing along with a live band! This is what they called the Barat. 

I too joined in the merriment till my feet hurt! It was rather fun though and the Japanese were all having so much fun. We reached the hotel where the groom was greeted by the brides entourage and was welcomed in. The bride my friend Amy, looked stunning as a bride should be.., a Japanese Indian doll .... Prem is a lucky man! They exchanged garlands, people ate, people danced and then there was a break. The actual ceremony would only start 3 am! Wow! That was something different. So Amy changed into her 2nd outfit and we all waited for actual ceremony to begin... By that time everyone was in a circle and fast asleep! This was indeed an experience for me! It was amusing to watch to say the least, with all the language barriers and what not. 

The next day we had a lazy morning and afternoon and decided to make it for the evening prayers at Har ki pauri .... And we left thinking we'll be on time this time but much to our dismay we were late once again! We really needed to earn this and I was beginning think this prayer must be something special! So we wandered around took some pictures and tried various local street food! 

 Rishikesh was planned for the following day and it was our last day. We had to do the sunset prayer too so everything was planned and the timing was set. 

As we headed towards another holy city said to be the place where lord Shiva paid penance after killing the bad demon Ravana. We stopped by a temple known to be pavarthi's birth place and home. She is lord Shiva's wife. It was a peaceful temple and very clean. The atmosphere surrounding this place was really nice. 

Rishikesh was a nice hilly place which was even colder than expected. Other than praying and meditating here the most popular activity is water rafting. Not something I would want to do during winter though. There were bridges that we saw, the one I liked the most the Ram Jhula ... Known to be a swing for the lords. The scenery was surreal .... Overlooking the Ganga river was simply breathtaking. 

We rushed back to make it to Har ki pauri for the evening arti, it was our last day and we couldn't miss it this time. As the saying goes 3 times lucky and so we were. It was the most amazing experience that I have had. 

The prayers are still ringing in my ears. It was calm and peaceful and as the sun was setting the Temple grounds and the river looked alive and full of energy. It was indeed very special and it made you feel like you had a connection with the man up there for a second. The chants, the prayers, the songs and lights and flowers floating along the river was divine... The holy city indeed. From the people to the river... It was a magical experience I must say and a must to visit if India.