Haridwar

Sacred city (tirtha) on the Ganges River
about 140 miles northeast of Delhi.
Haridwar is one of India’s Seven Sacred
Cities. Dying in one of these cities is
believed to ensure the final liberation of
one’s soul. It is located on the edge of the
Shiwalik Hills, the foothills to the
Himalayas, and is the place where the
Ganges is believed to leave the mountains and enter the northern Indian
plain. As with all the places where the
Ganges makes some natural transition,
Haridwar is considered especially holy,
and has been a pilgrimage destination
since at least the sixth century, when the
Chinese pilgrim Hsuan Tsang reported
enormous pilgrim crowds.
Haridwar’s primary importance is as
a bathing (snana) place, and it draws
large crowds on festival days. For centuries it has been an important site
for performing asthi-visarjana, the
last of the funerary rites (antyeshthi
samskara), in which the ashes of
the deceased are immersed in the
Ganges. Haridwar is also important as
the gateway to the pilgrimage sites in
the Garhwal region of the Himalayas,
and during the pilgrim season
(April–October) it serves as an important transit and supply point to places
farther up in the mountains.
Finally, Haridwar has a long history
as a dwelling place for ascetics. It is a
major center for several ascetic groups,
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Haridwar
particularly the Naga class of the
Dashanami Sanyasis, trader-soldiers
who are devotees (bhakta) of the god
Shiva. It also serves as the winter quarters for many ascetics who spend their
summers in the Himalayas. The presence of so many ascetics has had a profound effect on the city’s general
character, both in the hundreds of
ashrams that are spread throughout the
city, and in the prohibitions on the sale
of eggs, meat, and liquor.