Haridwar: "Where the Soul Meets Divinity," Subhasish Choudhury

I have always been fond of the Hindu religious places and festivals but have never been out of the Kamakhya or Mata Bari (Agartala), to experience the Dharmic enclaves that exist till date, in their historical glorious forms across the length and breadth of India.

First of all, Kumbh Mela, which actually combines the shops and all other arrangements for treating the huge congregation of Hindu people is set to take place from 1 April 2021. But the days for Kumbh Snan, which actually follows the Hindu calender and not the administration set dates, have already begun from January 14, i.e; from Sankranti only.

Haridwar during Kumbh is a splendid place to visit. The buildings coloured in several light and dark shades of Saffron, is in itself a treat for the eyes of the Dharmic visitors. The maintainance of the ghats also add as a big credit for the Haridwar municipalty. The ghats are 24*7 neat and clean and are covered with steel barriers, in order to prevent people from getting drowned or washed away with the strong flow of Ganga. The Ganga Aarti, which takes place in the evening, begins with the oath of saving Ganga and to refrain ourselves from polluting the mother river. The food is too cheap out there in Haridwar and one can have a healthy meal in just 50 rupees. The shops in Haridwar provide you with 4 rotis, Rice and three different veg curries at just Rs.50.

Speaking from the view point of spirituality, Haridwar provides you with mental peace. You would possibly forget about all your mental stress and the daily wars that you have to fight in order to survive in the outer world. The Bhajans keep your mind and soul refreshed all around the Dev Nagari. One evening, at the Ganga ghat in Haridwar would help you achieve the level of peace, that you might have never experienced before. Having Ganga just a few steps away from you, with excellent level of lightings, clean environment, accompanied by cool breeze and Bhajans is a lifetime moment and one should not miss spending the time in solidarity, if they happen to visit Haridwar.

However, company matters in every journey and I had some of my oldest or trusted companions, who happen to share a similar state of mind regarding Dharma to company me in the journey. Snehangshu Chakrabarty, Nitish Tiwari, Akash Dubey have made the journey worth enjoying. Also, Akash’s mother and sister kept on feeding us with the huge store of food, that they carried on for the journey, which obviously requires a special mention.

The advice, that I would like to leave the audience with is that, do keep your tickets booked and confirmed, even for the return journey in advance. If you miss on the tickets, your journey could get spoiled at any moment.