By Acarya dasa, All-India Padayatra leader
Padayatra reached Haridwar on May 5, 2022. Haridwar is an ancient city and important Hindu pilgrimage site in northern India’s Uttarakhand state where the river Ganges leaves the mountains to flow across the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Har ki Pauri, a ghat on the banks of the Ganges in Haridwar believed to be the holy river’s point of exit from the Himalayan foothills, is the centre of attraction for devotees.
According to legend, Haridwar is one of four sites, the other three being Ujjain, Nashik and Prayagraj (Allahabad), where drops of amrita (nectar) spilt from a Kumbha carried by Garuda during the churning of the milk ocean. Brahma-kunda, the sacred spot in Haridwar where the amrita fell, is located at Har ki Pauri and is where the renowned Ganga arati is performed. The biggest Hindu fairs, Kumbh and Ardha Kumbh, also take place at Har ki Pauri and it is believed Lord Vishnu visited here, attracting pilgrims to take bath in Brahma-kunda.
Accommodation for us was arranged at Shri Krishna Mandir, ISKCON Haridwar. The day after our arrival we went for darshan of mother Ganga and a holy dip and also performed sankirtan in the city. We stayed in Haridwar through May 9 as it was Janu Saptami on that day. Maharaja Bagirath had been successful in bringing mother Ganga from the heavenly planets and was making the way from the Himalayas for her to flow. The sage Janu Muni became disturbed in his meditation by the holy river as she entered his asrama and was so enraged he swallowed all the water. As Maharaja Bagirath passed by the hermitage, he realized mother Ganga was no longer following him and prayed to Janu Muni to free her. The sage released her from his right ear on Janu Saptami. That evening we all attended arati of mother Ganga.
We will keep our chariot at the Haridwar ISKCON temple and four padayatris will also stay there to serve Sri Sri Nitai-Gaurasundar and the oxen, while on May 10 the rest of us will move towards Rishikesh and after a one-day stay will make for Badrinath dhama. We hope to reach Badrinath, the first of the four principal pilgrim destinations in Uttarakhand, by May 30 and then go for the remaining dhamas of Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
I pray to all the Vaishnavas to bless us for our char dhama yatra.
