India, Main Menu, Religion, Travel

Ocean of Faith – Har ki Pauri, Haridwar

Posted by Sid's Photologue on September 14, 2015March 1, 2026

Haridwar is regarded as one of the seven holiest places (Sapta Puri) to Hindus. The name of the town has two spellings: Har-dwar and Hari-dwar. Each of these names has its own connotation. Har refers to “Lord Shiva” and Dwara means “gate” or “gateway”. Thus Hardwar stands for “Gateway to Lord Shiva”.

On the other hand, Hari means “Lord Vishnu”. So, Hari-dwar stands for ” The Gateway to Lord Vishnu”. In order to reach Badrinath, one of the four Char Dhams, with a temple of Lord Vishnu, Haridwar is a typical place to start a pilgrim’s journey. Therefore, the name Haridwar.

In ancient times, the town was also referred to as Gangadwára (गंगाद्वार), the place where the Ganges descends to the plains.

The River Ganga, after flowing for 250 kilometres from its source at Gaumukh at the edge of the Gangotri Glacier, enters the Indo-Gangetic Plains of North India for the first time at Haridwar, which gave the city its ancient name, Gangadwára.

According to the mythology of Samudra manthan, Haridwar is one of four sites where drops of Amrit, (the elixir of immortality), accidentally spilled over from the pitcher while being carried by the celestial bird Garuda…..

Brahma Kund, the spot where the Amrit fell, is located at Har ki Pauri and is considered to be the most sacred ghat of Haridwar. (I got my hands on this rare pic of Bramha Kund at Har Ki Pauri, taken in 1880. Pic credits : Columbia University; Licensed under Public Domain via Commons)

The main river flows through the east side & Brahma Kund is located on its west bank. Previously, the ghat used to witness dry river beds during the summer days & drought years…… (Another rare pic of Ganga ghats at Haridwar, taken in 1886. Pic credits : Samuel Bourne – British Library; Licensed under Public Domain via Commons)

…..a problem which was solved by damming the river & creating a canal through which a portion of the Ganga river is diverted to the north, linking its water to its the west bank…….

….this ensures year round, flowing waters at the sacred ghat.

Har Ki Pauri; also referred to as Jai Ganga Maa Har Ki Pauri (हर की पौड़ी), literally means “Steps of Lord Shiva”. Lord Shiva is believed to have visited the Brahmakund in Har Ki Pauri in the Vedic times……

The current ghat, is believed to be built by King Vikramaditya in in 1st century BC in the memory of his brother, Bharthari who had come to meditate here on the bank of the Ganga.

Founded by Madan Mohan Malviya in 1905, Ganga Mahasabha, an Indian organization dedicated to the Ganga river, manages the Brahma Kund & Har Ki Pauri ghats. The area covered with people is actually an island called, Malviya Dwip, named after Madan Mohan Malviya. One can also see the Birla Tower, built in 1936.

Year round, this place is full of people, gathered from all across India….. from all strata of the society……

…..some with curiosity…..

…& some with faith….

The sermons starts late afternoon, preaching on some of the key social matters, delivered through the spiritual messages.

I was really glad when I heard, one such message that was being conveyed, was the “Clean Ganga Mission”…..

Hoards of people listened attentively…some enthralled…..others in spiritual allegiance….

A perfect example of “crowd funding” ! Emotional pitch by the volunteers of Ganga Mahasabha on the ‘Clean Ganga Project’. Within just 5 minutes I saw this guy collecting around Rs. 5,000 from just this section of the crowd. There were such guys, situated every 10 meters, through the entire stretch of a km of the ghat. Imagine the ‘donation’ they collected in one evening !!!!!

As the last rays of the sun leaves the canvas of the sky……

Har Ki Pauri comes alive with thousands & thousands of people, who are here, not just for the sermons….but to witness the most sacred moment of the evening…..

……The Ganga Aarti……

….where the devotion meets the divinity…..

Every evening, (be it rain or snow), the pandits performs aarti to worship Mother Ganga, the holiest river of India.

With the ringing of bells, chanting of hymns, & the saffron reflections on the water……..the entire atmosphere transforms into a magical spirituality…..

The initial spell of hymns changed into the familiar recorded aarti songs….exactly same which I had heard in 1994, when I last visited Haridwar.T-series & Anuradha Paudwal still rules here.

Spectacular…isn’t it?

This congregation of devotees not only funds the ‘business’ of religion…….

…….but also supports the local economy in a big way !

…be it plastic jars to ‘collect’ the holy water to satiate the desires for immortality…..

….or to satiate the mortal needs of the hungry tummies…….

It meets everyone’s needs !!!

A venture into the Himalayas is not a mere journey. it is a “Yatra”, a pilgrimage………..a pilgrimage to the inner conscience….a pilgrimage to purify the mind & soul…..a pilgrimage to attain the spiritual oneness……

One Comment Add yours

Anjali says:

September 21, 2015 at 10:38 am

This is amazing Siddharth.. Cheers!!

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