Large statue of Hanuman, the monkey god, with some other gods inside his chest...
I returned to Rishikesh, this time to the more Indian area of Ram Jula, to take yoga and tabla classes. An inexpensive rafting trip down the Ganges River was refreshing, but I didn't stay long as the temperatures were too hot.
Daily evening aarti along the River Ganga...
Courtyard at Sri Ved Niketan Ashram. Private room with bathroom and two daily yoga classes and meditation class for 3$ a day.
Rishikesh is known as the world capital of yoga and is filled with temples, ashrams and yoga courses along the green Ganges River. Almost every westerner I met doing yoga in Kerala had plans to come to Rishikesh for yoga at some point. Rishikesh is about 25 kms upstream from Haridwar. The sacred waters of the Ganges are quite rejuvenating here. While here, I attended yoga classes and studied some tabla. I stayed in Lakshman Jula, the part of Rishikesh furthest upstream and the area most filled with white tourists.
Haridwar is like Varanasi Light. It too is a major Hindu pilgrimage destination along the Ganges River with lots of pilgrims praying and holy men smoking hash along the sacred river, yet Haridwar is much smaller and there are no corpses being burned next to the water. Plus it's upstream where the river enters the plains from the mountains so the sacred Ganges' water is freezing, fully rejuvenating and relatively clean. Haridwar also hosts humanity's largest festival, Kumbh Mela, which brought together more than 70 million visitors in 2003 and takes place every 12 years.
Receiving blessing
Donation boxes and altars
There were plenty of officials in Haridwar soliciting donations from pilgrims and tourists. They were especially active before the daily evening aarti as seen here...They way they spoke and then went around the crown reminded me of the guys collecting money in the mega-churches of the Bible Belt. Yet here in Haridwar some of these money collectors were quite aggressive. After encouraging one to come over for a blessing and prasad, the priests also demanded money. One guy grabbed ahold of my arm and demanded money in a crowded temple and so I gave him a rupee coin (like two cents) before I managed to squirm away.
These guys would provide a receipt so that you had proof of your donation's legitimacy and to have evidence of your devotion I guess?
Aarti at dusk in Haridwar, a vivid religious celebration lining the banks of the River Ganges.
The riverside was busy with activity. Hindus come from all over the country to get in the water and purify themselves.
Following the evening aarti, Indians gathered around to touch the sacred fire and to spread its energy into themselves.
So many humans begging...old ladies, holy men, boys and girls missing limbs...supposedly it is common for beggar children to be maimed at a young age so that they will earn more begging. And there are a wide variety of amputees with their hands stretched out in Haridwar...
Staircases to the ghats were lined with beggars.
I love the ORANGE that is everywhere in India...on these temples, the clothes of holy men, etc.
Fresh orange and pineapple juice
red tikka powder
Shaving on the street
Though it often seems that trash pick-up does not exist in India, here it is in action...
Varanasi is called the city of burning and learning. Burning because corpses are cremated along the Ganges River. It is believed that if one is burned alongside the Ganges one can attain moksha or liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Learning because Varanasi has always been a city of academic and spiritual education. Some say Varanasi is the world's oldest city. And it's a pretty intense place: corpses, hawkers, saddhus, beggars, beggar-saddhus, beggars missing various limbs, baby beggars, children beggars, tourists, pilgrims, locals, cows, urine, feces, lots of garbage and myriad stenches, all crammed next to the holy Ganges River. The smells in India are often so very overwhelming. The powerful stench of urine, feces and garbage can sometimes be amazing...amazing that smells can be so awful and so strong. Sometimes my nostrils feel like I'm being assaulted, but I'm definitely becoming more habituated. Sometimes on the roadways or train, there is an industrial type smell in the air, like burning plastic or burning rubber that hurts your head to breathe. You just know that it's toxic, but it's the norm for so many Indians. In the photo above, this saddhu posed for me in exchange for ten rupees. He insisted that I give him more money. I used to sort of romanticize saddhus as mystical spiritual men, but most (not all) that I see remind me more of washed up junkies and beggars of America - laying on the sidewalk beseeching passersby for money and smoking hash. (I'm waaay behind in keeping my blog updated; these photos are from February - still with my parents and their tour group.)
Sunrise on the Ganges
This guy was selling DVDs from this boat and running a TV from a generator.
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calling, and they'll give each new traveler a $100 discount off their
first trip. That's in addition to any other savings that are available.
The Ghats are steps leading down to the water's edge.
Dhobis (laundry-persons) doing laundry.
Three on a bike, including one with no pants
Burning corpses
Receiving candles to drop into the river to make a wish...(or something like that).
Mom and Dad wearing the orange scarves. Orange is the color of those who choose to renounce worldly things.
The evening aarti (devotional ceremony) seen from the river
Dreamy pictures and visual accounts of international travel, organic farms and backpacking trips. Everything is Everything because all things are interconnected.
Large statue of Hanuman, the monkey god, with some other gods inside his chest...
I returned to Rishikesh, this time to the more Indian area of Ram Jula, to take yoga and tabla classes. An inexpensive rafting trip down the Ganges River was refreshing, but I didn't stay long as the temperatures were too hot.
Daily evening aarti along the River Ganga...
Courtyard at Sri Ved Niketan Ashram. Private room with bathroom and two daily yoga classes and meditation class for 3$ a day.
Varanasi is called the city of burning and learning. Burning because corpses are cremated along the Ganges River. It is believed that if one is burned alongside the Ganges one can attain moksha or liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Learning because Varanasi has always been a city of academic and spiritual education. Some say Varanasi is the world's oldest city. And it's a pretty intense place: corpses, hawkers, saddhus, beggars, beggar-saddhus, beggars missing various limbs, baby beggars, children beggars, tourists, pilgrims, locals, cows, urine, feces, lots of garbage and myriad stenches, all crammed next to the holy Ganges River. The smells in India are often so very overwhelming. The powerful stench of urine, feces and garbage can sometimes be amazing...amazing that smells can be so awful and so strong. Sometimes my nostrils feel like I'm being assaulted, but I'm definitely becoming more habituated. Sometimes on the roadways or train, there is an industrial type smell in the air, like burning plastic or burning rubber that hurts your head to breathe. You just know that it's toxic, but it's the norm for so many Indians. In the photo above, this saddhu posed for me in exchange for ten rupees. He insisted that I give him more money. I used to sort of romanticize saddhus as mystical spiritual men, but most (not all) that I see remind me more of washed up junkies and beggars of America - laying on the sidewalk beseeching passersby for money and smoking hash. (I'm waaay behind in keeping my blog updated; these photos are from February - still with my parents and their tour group.)
Sunrise on the Ganges
This guy was selling DVDs from this boat and running a TV from a generator.
The Ghats are steps leading down to the water's edge.
Dhobis (laundry-persons) doing laundry.
Three on a bike, including one with no pants
Burning corpses
Receiving candles to drop into the river to make a wish...(or something like that).
Mom and Dad wearing the orange scarves. Orange is the color of those who choose to renounce worldly things.
The evening aarti (devotional ceremony) seen from the river