Haridwar Waterfront

I just thought I would post these pictures showing how Haridwar has arranged its Ganga area. It is quite nicely done. This first picture is taken from the gondola lift to Manasa Devi. You can see the old Ganga bed on the far side and the canal segment running next to the town. The main highway runs in between the two waterways, but there is also a nice green park in that space. The main Kumbha Mela tent city is on the far side of the bridge that crosses the Ganga to the upper left of the picture.

This picture is taken from the Hardwar city side looking toward the above mentioned green area between the canal and old Ganges bed. Ghats line both sides of the canal.

This image shows a painted slogan on the ghat wall. It says "India's soul resides in its holy places. The development of the holy places is India's development."


Looking upstream from a bridge, the name of which I forget. There are quite a few bridges crisscrossing the canal portion of the Ganga, which is where most of the bathing goes on. Many were built just for the Kumbha and most are for pedestrian traffic alone. Most come to bathe at Harki Pauri, which is in this direction but cannot be seen on the photo.

Looking downstream from the same bridge. The park is on the left side.

Another view from the same ghat as above.

Here is a scene of the original Ganga bed, with donkeys bringing stones across.

On the whole, I was quite favorably impressed by Haridwar. Clearly a great amount of money has come in for the Kumbha Mela, but the money appears to have been well used. There are still spots that are glaringly unkept, but much of the riverfront is in good condition and is being kept clean.

If only Vrindavan could be kept so nicely.