Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
+Previous: Ganga Aarti at Rishikesh
+Next: Rishikesh to Kaudiyala
+Go to beginning of the series
A walk around Swargashram, Ram Jhoola and Laxman Jhoola has many interesting things to offer. The most prominent are the Babas(mendicants) who are seen everywhere. You notice them sitting quietly in a corner doing nothing, reading a book or watching the people walking past, or silently meditating. A few may ask you for a small donation or a cuppa chai. And some of them would be selling odd things that might interest the strolling tourist. Come evening and you are likely to see them studying some scriptures or sitting on the bank of Ganges chatting. I kept seeing them everyday and they looked the same and seemed to do the same thing everyday. Sometimes it is difficult to say if a person is indeed a Baba or not, but they all look the same and they are almost always called as Baba, so it would not really matter.
And some of them seemed to be special. You could feel an aura of peace around them. This Baba would sit here everyday, a little ahead of Ramjhoola, selling a few odd things and with a weighing machine, for using which he would charge a rupee. In my few days of stay Rishikesh, I might have passed him a hundred times, but I never saw him lift his head out of the book and look around to see what is going on in the world. And even when I took his photograph, I am fairly sure he never noticed. I decided to get myself weighed, and when I gave him a Rs.10 bill, he spoke to me softly and slowly asking for a smaller denomination. As soon as our transaction was over, he was back to being buried in his book.
He had a greater variety of gear to sell. Plastic toys, flutes, a few interesting stones in his box, and more.
A few of them seem to be more active. I see them making a conversation with a fruit vendor or the chai shop guy, or sometime smoking away to glory, cigarette after cigarette and breaking occasionally only for a conversation or to sip his chai.
Afternoons are for a siesta!
Some of the Babas turn up at the Ganga aarti and watch silently, standing from behind. It is interesting to catch them in the warm light of the Aarti after sunset.
This is an image that has stayed in my memory. As the baba looks, the sign with the arrow mark above him reads ‘dharma marga’ or ‘divine path'(roughly translated, for th e lack of better words). As I was taking this image, it reminded me the oft-repeated words of Krishna in the Gita – To walk in dharma marga!
More on Rishikesh at paintedstork.com
* Rishikesh photo gallery
* Arriving at Rishikesh.
* Walking around Laxman Jhula
* Ganga Aarthi at Rishikesh
* Photo Essay: Babas of Rishikesh
* Rishikesh to Kaudiyala
* About Rishikesh
Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
+Previous: Rishikesh and Laxman Jhula
+Next: Babas of Rishikesh
+Go to beginning of the series
Evening in Rishikesh are for sitting by the Ganges and while away your time. I had a good coffee at Madras Cafe and walked along the quite ghats to spend the time till sunset. Later in the evening, I headed towards Parmarth Niketan Ashram to witness the daily evening ritual of Ganga Aarti.
The place where the aarti is held
The aarti is a pleasant ritual of worshipping the Ganga. Around 50-100 people visit the aarti on any day. I have witnessed Ganga Aarati in other places like Haridwar and Varanasi too, but they are a crowded noisy ritual with loud screaming speakers, people troubling you to make donations or hawkers trying to sell something highly overpriced. The Aarathi at Rishikesh is a contrast to it, held in a small place with a few people and is a relatively quite affair. You can sit quietly in a corner and witness the ritual or join the crowds singing Bhajans with them.
Also see:
* Ganga Aarti in Haridwar
* Ganga Aarti in Varanasi
People assembled for the Aarati
The aarati happens at a very picturesque place on the banks of Ganga, in front of a Shiva statue built on the river. You see some activity beginning at the riverbank around 5pm. People start cleaning up the area, lay carpets in preparation for the aarati. A few people are seen selling deep or diya – a flower bowl with a wick lamp to be floated down the river during the Aarti after prayers. It starts at 5.30pm, with children studying Veda, the Bhajan singers and the performers walking into the ghat in front of Parmarth Niketan. It begins with Bhajans and prayers for ‘Gangaji’ and Shiva.
Diya being sold for the aarti
It is interesting to watch the children as the ritual progresses. They look bright and alive in their saffron robes. Some of them appear oblivious of the whole thing and drift into their own world. A few start a conversation within themselves. Some continue singing the Bhajans with an uninterested face and a few are motionless, just sitting there or staring blankly. There are some who are completely immersed in the Bhajans and join everyone with full enthusiasm, singing and clapping loudly with the rhythm.
Children Praying at the Aarti
As the sun sets and it gets slightly darker, the Shiva statue is lighted up and it looks beautiful. The aarti continues with lamps in various shapes and sizes lighted up, and passed on from people to people.
Shiva statue lit after sunset
Performing the Aarti
The whole place lights up to a spirited mood with lamps swinging in the hands of people. It lasts for an hour and winds up around 6.30 in the evening with the notes of “jai jai radharamana hari bol…”
More on Rishikesh at paintedstork.com
* Rishikesh photo gallery
* Arriving at Rishikesh.
* Walking around Laxman Jhula
* Ganga Aarthi at Rishikesh
* Photo Essay: Babas of Rishikesh
* Rishikesh to Kaudiyala
* About Rishikesh
Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
+Previous: Beginning of the journey
+Next: Ganga Aarti at Rishikesh
+Go to beginning of the series
I headed towards Laxman Jhula next morning. Laxman Jhula is a quite and serene place that is separated from the noise and hurry of the town of Rishikesh just a few kilometers away. The Jhula itself is a cable stayed bridge across the Ganges. Laxman Jhula has a few temples located around it, including the tall Trayambakeshwar temple. Temples apart, Ganges and the surrounding scenery look beautiful, with the river flowing out from the mountains into the plains of North India.
Ganga flowing out of foothills into Rishikesh
Laxman Jhula with temples in the backdrop
As I walk towards the bridge, I notice a man with an interesting make-up and ask him for a few photographs. He obliges gladly, and then makes a justified request for a token donation for his service. He mumbles a few words later in Hindi which I don’t understand well. I think he invited me to his Ashram and asked me to have lunch before I proceed, but I am not sure.
The man with the interesting makeup
You see three kinds of people around the Jhula. The tourists, hawkers and the babas. Some tourists are here to see the place, and some are here to experience the peace that Rishikesh offers. A few more stay on to learn Yoga or music. Rishikesh, with so many Ashrams and Yoga teaching centers justifiably dons the name of ‘Yoga Capital of the World’.
And there is variety in the things that hawkers sell. It may be a small place but there is everything that the tourist would look for. There are hotels, guest houses, restaurants, shops selling souvenirs like gems and jewelleries and shawls, money changers and everything else. Some one is baking fresh cookies across the bridge and I buy a few. An old man is baking fresh papads and they are tempting on this cold morning.
Fresh Cookies! The banner in front says fresh, hot and tasty!
As I cross the bridge and walk further, the shops give way to mango orchards and Ashrams in the middle of forest. A few noisy jungle babblers are hopping from tree to tree. I reach to Ram Jhula, another footbridge across the river akilometer downstream. The footbridges are meant for pedestrians, but two wheelers squeeze their way along, and sometimes cows feel like crossing the river too.
Swargashram is the area beyond Ram Jhoola, a quite and serene place filled with Ashrams. The small path in Swargashram area runs right next to the river, and is crowded with shops, restaurants, and internet centers on one side and ashrams on the other side. I walk past some bigger ashrams of Rishikesh like the Geeta Bhavan and Parmarth Niketan. A hoarding in front of Parmarth Niketan announced the annual Yoga festival which was about to happen on the next month(first week of March). I loved the Swargashram, its quiteness and vibes, and the Ganga flowing right next to it, and immediately checked into a neat and tidy hotel behind Parmarth Niketan.
More on Rishikesh at paintedstork.com
* Rishikesh photo gallery
* Arriving at Rishikesh.
* Walking around Laxman Jhula
* Ganga Aarthi at Rishikesh
* Photo Essay: Babas of Rishikesh
* Rishikesh to Kaudiyala
* About Rishikesh