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.
Yoga and meditation teachers
temples...
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.
