the yoga capital of india, rishikesh is a town in uttaranchal, northern india where the ganga river cuts through. revered by Hindus, the ganga or ganges river, provides spiritual cleansing of one’s bad karma once a believer bathes in it. the place is a haven for yogis, sadhus and ashrams.
in a pop culture context, rishikesh was once a haunt for the famed Beatles. the fab four used to make a pilgrimage at an ashram here which my friend and i searched for under the midday sun in futile.
rishikesh’s popular attractions, apart from the sadhus meditating by the river banks, is the suspended Lakshmanjula Bridge. rishikesh is also a base for pilgrimage and treks, as well as white water rafting, none of which i did because my weekend here was supposed to be a relaxing, do-nothing-but-be-enjoy-the-peace kind of weekend. i’ve gone to rishikesh a couple of times because it’s conveniently an overnight bus away. we left delhi at around 11pm and arrived at four in the morning to the stillness of the river. it almost looked like a sheet of glass.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | ganges river, rishikesh, uttaranchal, yoga
