Haridwar

Haridwar is situated in the valleys of the Shivalik mountains, where the river  flows from the Himalayan Mountains and slowly travels over the meadows  and joins the Bay of Bengal. Haridwar is famous for its regular festivals Kumbha Mela and Ardhakumbha.

One main attraction of Haridwar is that every evening people light lamps and float them in the river which lights up the dark night and makes the whole place very beautiful. Haridwar stands on the rightside of the river Ganges. Tourists  are advised to be careful of the frauds who can cheat them out of their money.

Places of Interest:

Har Ki Paidi: This is Haridwar's most important  bathing spot. Every day thousands of people come here. In the evening an arati (ceremony performed in the worship of Gods by moving a lighted lamp around the idol in  a circular motion) is performed here.

Temple of Mansa Devi: This temple is on the Bilva Mountain. To go up, a trolley ropeway can be used or one can walk up the rock stairs. The view of Haridwar and the Ganges is very scenic from here.
 
Beauty Point: This point is on the Mansa Devi Temple Road about 2 kms away. This point is on the Mansa Devi Temple Road about 2 kms away.

Gurukul Kangri: This is on the Jwalapur By-pass Road. The Arya Samaj revolutionary,  Swamy Shraddanand founded this University. Once upon a time this University was very famous but now  most of the buildings there need to be restored. A museum here houses many ancient sculptures.

Temple of Bharathmatha: This is a multi-storeyed temple.

Neel Dhara Bird Sanctuary: In winter many rare and beautiful birds can be seen specially the Siberian  crane. A safari tour is organised to Neel Dhara from Cheela.

Cheela: 6 kms from Haridwar in the midst of the Shivalik Mountains is Cheela which is a must for nature lovers. Cheela comes in the periphery of the Rajaji National Park. The Tourism Department has a guest house here. In summer this is an excellent picnic spot.

Saptarishi: Here there is the Ashram of Saptarishi. This place is 5 kms from Har Ki Paidi on the Rishikesh Road. Here the river Ganges distributes itself into many small streams.

BHEL: Bharat Heavy Electricals LTD. has its factory in Haridwar. Built on many acres of land, BHEL is 4 kms from Parisar railway station. Here heavy duty motors, turbines, generators and machines are manufactured. Apart from this situated on the Rishikesh road are Shanti Kunj (temple of  Goddess Gayathri), Pavandham,  the Ashram of Bhupatwala, Vaishno devi and  the Temple of Bharatmata.

Shopping :
Handicrafts made with shells, pearls, rudraksha beads and cane. Hand woven mats, baskets and woollen clothes.

Tourists Season :  As such tourists come here all through the year. But taking the climate into consideration the best time is from September to June, specially the summer when bathing in the Ganges can really be enjoyed. July and August are  the rainy months.

Temperature:

  Guesthouses:

Distance from Cities and Towns:

Travel Plans:

Rail: Haridwar has direct rail service from most of the Indian Cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Varanasi,  Calcutta, Dehra Dun etc.

Road: Haridwar is linked with many cities like Delhi, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Agra, Shimla, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mathura etc. Bus services are available from most of the cities. There are taxi services from here to Mussoorie, Badrinath and Kedarnath.