Rishikesh : Spiritual Adventure

Rishikesh the adventure capital of India was our next destination after Roopkund trek. After thrilling experience of Roopkund, we prepared ourselves for another adventure which was white water rafting. Focus of this long vacation was on Roopkund, so I could not gather much information about Rishikesh. So far we only knew that, Rishikesh is famous for adventurous activities like rafting, bungee, kayaking, cliff jumping and many more. But when we touched there I felt divine and spiritual vibes in that air.

After a long journey of almost 10 hrs, from Lohajung - base camp of Roopkund trek, we reached Rishikesh. So far in my life I had never experienced such a thrill while traveling on road. Highways generally are of at least four lanes with dividers but Badrinath-Rishikesh highway was of two lanes without any dividers and add to this, one side of the road was accompanied by babbling river flowing through the deep valley. We were on the edges of our seats throughout the journey, a small mistake by driver and we would have freed our souls in the holy river Ganga.

It was Saturday evening, a weekend time so roads were flooded with full of people. One thing I noticed that streets were buzzing with full of foreigners. Being very close to Delhi, Rishikesh is very famous gateway for holidays. Somehow with the help from one gentle man, we managed to get a decent hotel to stay, which was desperately needed after a weeklong trekking and thrilling experience of road traveling. Due to lot of churning, our bodies were crying for rest, so decided to take a rest that night.

Next morning we became ready to sail through the gusty waves of river Ganga. I had an experience of rafting, but when saw the flow of the river, I got butterflies in my stomach. After some basic training we started our rafting, at first rapid, cold water of Ganga splashed on our face, what a refreshing feeling it was. Later on we jumped out of the boat and had a fun of swimming for some time. I thought finally "Ganga main dubki lag gayi" and it swept away all my sins, to start new life.

That day I realized the importance of the river Ganga on the life Indians. Originating at the Gangotri glacier, bhagirathi comes babbling through the valleys of Himalaya. At Devaprayag, she meets her sister alaknanda and becomes the famous river Ganga. Narrow riverbed of Ganga becomes wide at Rishikesh and makes herself ready for fulfilling the thirst of everyone, whoever comes on the banks. Uttarakhand is also known as Devbhumi, with full of temples, flourished with nature and very kind people aptly justifies the name. Rishikesh is one of the peaceful place in Uttarakhand, where adventure meets spirituality. Both are the divine gateways to attain peace of mind. So far I discussed the adventurous side of Rishikesh but there is other side to it. Rishikesh is also known as "World capital of Yoga". There are many ashrams, gurukuls which teaches and practices the yoga since ages. The main reason why many people across the world comes here in Rishikesh to learn the yoga. The name Rishikesh, formed from the two words "Rishika" means senses and "ish" means master so the one who master his senses is Rishikesh and that can be attained through Yoga.