Rishikesh - The abode of saint and sages

Hello friends,

Today I will tell you about my further visits in Rishikesh after the first day of my visit in Uttarakhand that I told in my second post. I re-entered Rishikesh on 24th of May after visiting Dehradun as I wrote in my previous post.

The most interesting and the exciting thing to do in Rishikesh was the river rafting. That was a thing which was a completely new experience for me. Here the river rafting is counted as the most adventurous thing. The boat is rafted from 18 Km away from Rishikesh i.e from Shivpuri to Laxman Jhula here. Here the boat is not only rafted by the guide present in the boat but by the passengers travelling in the raft.

River rafting at Rishikesh in Ganga river

The guide actually taught us how to raft in Ganga, how to cross the rapids that come in the way and what should be the strategy of a rafter during any miss-happening that occurs.

The people are completely protected by life jackets and helmets so as to avoid
any kind of accident that occurs during rafting.

It was actually a whole set of new experience for me. Moreover as it was an 18 Km rafting so was a very much adventurous and tiring experience, rafting a boat against the mighty waves of Ganga.

It is the main attraction of Rishikesh for the people who come here for the point of tourism. 

A place in Ganga where the rafters are allowed to freely jump in Ganga to
actually overcome the fear of water.

After this I explored some facts about Rishikesh. I came to know that it is a residential Headquarter of saints and sages. The Himalayas has been spread around this town. It is said when Raibhya Rishi did hard penances, God appeared by the name of "Hrishikesh" and this area was henceforth called by the name. Situated on the right bank of river Ganga, Rishikesh has additional significance being the base for commencing journey to the Himalayan shrines of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. The yoga centers of Rishikesh have enhanced the significance of the place, home tourists form all over the world visit this place to have lessons in yoga and meditation.

After this I visited the Laxman Jhula. It is the most artistic bridge hanging across the ganga river which is 3 Km off from Rishikesh. 

The famous Laxman Jhula at the Ganga river

This is a narrow hanging bridge on which only pedestrians mules and ponies are allowed to cross the bridge. It is said that at this place Shri Laxman performed Tapa. According to history the Laxman Jhula was built with jute ropes untill 1889, and then it was rebuilt with iron ropes.

On the side of this famous bridge there is a well-known temple of Shree
Ragunathji, i.e Shri Ram, who is said to have visited this beautiful place.

The newly constructed thirteen storeys temple is also a main attraction in Laxman Jhoola in which a large number of statues of Gods and Goddesses are visible on every storey.

But here also photography was restricted inside the temple so, could not take the photographs of Gods and Goddesses inside the temple.

The thirteen storeys temple

The artistic construction of this noteworthy and praiseworthy hanging bridge is the commendable works of expert engineers who can never be forgotten so long as this bridge remains in the world. This Laxman Jhoola was the main way for the people going to Gita Bhawan and Swarg ashram by turning to the right untill Ram Jhoola was built

Well I traveled about 1 Km to reach Ram Jhoola which was another noteworthy hanging bridge built by the modern technology, this has shorten the way of people going to Gita Bhawan in Rishikesh. It looks like the same Jhoola as Laxman Jhoola but the only difference that I noted was that it looks a bit more strong and larger than the Laxman Jhoola.  

Ram Jhoola in Rishikesh

Besides Ram Jhoola stands the famous Laxmi Narayan temple. The temple is a masterpiece of art and culture and depicts the aastha of people on God here. More than 90% people who visit Rishikesh are known to visit this temple as the atmosphere here is so religious that one cannot stop himself from stopping by the temple.

Laxmi Narayan Temple

Then comes the famous Gita Bhawan. In this Bhawan Chapters of the Gita and Ramayan have been described on its walls.

A pilgrim certainly feels if he is in the heaven because of the pleasureful atmosphere of the area.

Gita Bhawan is managed by a body of trustee, who have been affiliated to the famous Gita Press of Gorakhpur. The mission of this trust has been serving the Hindu society with full realization of moral and spiritual values of human life.

Gita Bhawan in Rishikesh

Statue of Lord Shiva at Gita Bhawan, just feels like Shiva is seeing everyoine
with his eyes, and showering his blessings.

After that I went to see the aarti of Ganga that is done in Rishikesh, at Parmarth Niketan, the famous place in Rishikesh for Ganga aarti. The aarti was so much pleasure giving that I could not stop myself from sitting there from start till end.

This is the video of aarti which is done at Rishikesh Ghat. Here first Hawan is done and then the aarti of Ganga river is done. The aarti is done in avery systematic way here.  

The aarti is done every dawn at 7 pm. This ghat is also visited by many celebrities and not only by common people. Aarti is preceded daily by a hawan that is performed for the peace of all the sins of the people that are present in the hawan. 

That's all for the day. Now in my next post I will tell you about my experiences in Haridwar.

Thank You