Rishikesh, yoga capital of the world
Rishikesh, also known as the yoga capital of the world, is a town in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand state. It is situated at the foothills of Garhwal himalayan range surrounded by the Shivalik range. Rishikesh is 35 kms far from Haridwar, 90 Kms from Mussoorie, 25 Kms far from Jolly Grant airport Dehradun, and 240 km from New Delhi.
The glorious attraction of Rishikesh is none other than the great river Ganges herself, running rapidly throughout the city. In the ancient time and still so many yogis, rishis, sages and sannyasis were attracted to Rishikesh to practise yoga in this peaceful location. Since then, Rishikesh has been known as an abode of sages. Rishikesh is a holy town with so many Ashrams. Rishikesh is world famous for yoga, which itself explains the fact that it is the yoga capital of the world. Every year during the month of march one week long International yoga festival is hosted by Rishikesh.Every year the state tourism department along with Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board in Rishikesh takes effort to bring together the practitioners of Yoga. In the midst of the beautiful Himalayas in Rishikesh along the banks of river Ganga, many learned saints and yogis have practised yoga and now in this serene sanctified lands, crowds from international locales practise holistic science.
View this post on Instagram
Rishikesh is a pocket bomb for both spiritual and adventure lovers. Rishikesh is also known as the gateway to the Char Dham. Char Dham is four popular holy temples on the hills (Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri) Thousands of people attract every year to Rishikesh for spiritual relief, peace, learn yoga, adventure and to take a dip for salvation. It is believed that by meditation in Rishikesh one can get “Moksha” (liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth) as well as holy dip in the river Ganges.In evening beautiful Ganga aarti is organised at Parmarth Niketan and Triveni Ghat. The Brahmin Pundits (priests) perform Ganga Puja with Vedic hymns, sound of hands clapping and the drums. Hundreds of people come to witness this Pooja and offer leaf bowls which are filled with flowers and small oil lamps to the goddess. The small sparkling lights, floating lamps, river Ganges and auspicious atmosphere creates such a magnificent view and feeling that can attract anyone to join the prayer even the visitors from outside India who can’t understand the vedic songs.
Rishikesh is known to be one of the most thrilling and adventuous places in the whole world. One of the most prevalent adventure activities that should not be missed is white water rafting on the river Ganga. Unlike Haridwar, the river is not calm here, rather it’s quite furious.Taking the advantage of this furious Ganga, Rishikesh offers the best rapids in the world. The rafting routes range from easy to difficult grades. The best rafting length here is between Rishikesh to Kaudiyala. Planning for this adventure sports, the best time to travel to Rishikesh is from September to April. Another fun sport to experience while in Rishikesh is Air Safari. Air safari with the help of experienced pilots who operate the powered parachutes will help you soar to amazing heights in the sky. A powered parachute is a type of aircraft that is ultra-light and consists of a motor and wheels along with a parachute. Bungee Jumping another adventorous sport wherein you would jump from a tall structure while being connected to an elastic cord. The venue for this activity is Mohanchatti in Rishikesh. Trekking, camping, cliff jumping, paragliding, rappelling and rock climbing are some other adventures you should try in rishikesh at least once in a lifetime.
Some other places of interest in rishikesh are triveni ghat, also known as bathing ghat located on the bank of river ganga, bharat temple which is a great temple of lord vishnu, lakshman jhula and ram jhula, kailash niketan temple, neelkanth mahadev and swarg ashram which contains mesmerising statues for which people specially visit this amazing place.
It is quite interesting to shop in rishikesh for its uniqueness. Rishikesh is noted for its Shekhawati paintings and miniatures which are available in the “open air art gallery”. The other items in the shopping list includes carved wooden furniture, semi precious stones, astrological stones, ayurvedic medicines and junk jewellery. Some of the few reliable shops in rishikesh are government approved handloom shops, khadi Bhandar, Garhwal wool and craft shops.
Since we came to know so much about the beauty and greatness of Rishikesh, i’d suggest you to visit such an amazing place at least once in your lifetime.
0 Comments