Ganges, the life line of North India, starts at a humble origin from Gangotri glacier from the Dhouladhar range of the Himalayas! Mythology describes Ganga as the Consort of Lord Shiva and the epic Mahabharata says Ganga is the mother of Bhishma.
Stories from the great epic Mahabharata stays evergreen for me, mainly because it brings back vivid memories of childhood, where my grandpa used to tell us stories in such a way that we could feel as if it was happening in real-time! It was no wonder that the first time I saw Ganges flowing majestically at the foothills of Rishikesh, the yoga capital of the world, it was like dejavu.
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| Ganges - from Rishikesh - Lakshman Jula bridge in the background |
She leaves the mountain terrain and enters the Indo Gangetic Plains at Har Ka Pauri in Hardiwar, Uttrakhant and travels more than 2500 KM in India and merges in the Bay of Bengal. Unfortunately, the crystal clear water starts getting polluted as it flows down the mountains. But, At one end of the spectrum, people keep polluting and at the same time they offer tribute to her at several places twice a day. Ramblings apart, it was a great experience to see the tribute, popularly known as Ganga arathy.
We planned to see the Ganga arathy at Har ka puri, Haridwar. There is also a temple for Ganga.
Though the ritual takes place in a canal of Ganga, she flows with great force. There were thousands of people waiting in both sides of the bank. We were on the side of the bank where the priests and the deity were.
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| Ganga canal @ Har ka Pauri, Haridwar |
As the crowd was heavy, we were wondering how to get closer. At that time, we were approached by a local who was offering to take us nearer. Having traveled to several cities in this part of the country, obviously we knew that he was a tout who would be leading us to a local priest. So, we told him that we were not interested in any pooja, but he said that it is enough if we bought the lamp and flowers for Rs 10. Though we were aware that we may have to pay more once we get closer, we took a chance in the hope of watching up close. Well, the tout handed us over to a local priest, who said we can pay anything we wish to perform the pooja.
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| Pandits of Ganga Sabha chanting slokhas before Ganga Aarthi |
The Ganga arathy is performed twice a day, at sunrise and sunset by the priests of Ganga sabha. The timing differs during summer and winter. While the priests chant slokas in praise and thanking her, rituals happen in front of the idol of Goddess Ganga.
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The whole ritual takes about an hour. As we attended the evening session during winter, it started and around 5.30 PM and after the chant, the priests offered auspicious things like haldi, milk, honey, sugar, curd, ghee and flowers in small quantities. At the same time, the local priest made us do sangalp and asked us to light and float the lamp.
Now, the aarthy too started. The whole place looked divine and heavenly. The aarthy is performed few times, using tiered wick lamps.
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| First round of aarthy |
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| Maha aarthy |
As the ceremony was coming to an end, the local priest started demanding high fee and after haggling we ended up paying Rs 200.
Even after the end of the ceremony, we could feel the positive vibes and lingered around the banks for a while. It was a spectacular experience.
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