Haridwar – the eternal city, straddles the ancient and the modern with consummate ease. With a recorded history of more than 2, 000 years, it is one of the 7 holiest cities of India. Haridwar is the doorway to heaven – and is the starting point for the holy Char Dham yatra covering Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. With the Har-ki-pauri, one of the holiest bathing ghats, Ganga Aarti and several Jain and Hindu temples, it is one of the 4 places to celebrate the Mahakhumb – considered the largest congregation of humans on the planet. But there’s much more to Haridwar – it is the home of Ayurveda and the Gurukul form of education. The pandas (pundits) here record the genealogy (family tree) of Indian families. It is the location where the Ganges leaves the Himalayas and enters the plains and is a place of unmatched greenery and beauty.
