In
the not too distant past Rishikesh was a quiet spiritual centre renowned for
its ashrams and sadhu's. Now it is a circus - an enjoyable circus - but still a
circus. The charm is still there but it is shared with hundreds of others doing
the yatra trail - only when you cross the Ganges and enter the Swarg Ashram do
you find the Rishikesh you are looking for. It’s a quiet place of cobbled lanes
and orchards where holy men sit in contemplation and pilgrims make offerings to
life size Hindu gods. Of course Swarg Ashram is only reached by the spectacular
Rhamjhula Bridge with its views of the sparkling Ganges, Himalayan foothills
and holy ghats along its banks.
The difference
between here and say Agra or Jaipur is that it caters mainly for Indian
tourists. So there is none of the 'in-your-face' hawker aggression that is so
prevalent in those towns. That means you can walk around unmolested and enjoy
the town. The best way to reach Swarg Ashram is across the Rhamjhula bridge
whose western approaches can be reached by autorickshaw from the bus stand for
20 rupees or a vikram (open topped van) for just 5 rupees. Auto rickshaws
congregate at the start of the bridge also a few stalls selling
corn-on-the-cob, thalis and marble statues. But before the start of the bridge
is a platform where you can look up and downstream - and what a view.....
Himalayan
foothills tower over the Ganges, cloaked up to their summits in green sal
forests. The carpet of vegetation rolls down to the river’s edge and is dotted
with temples, ashrams and grey stone ghats (bathing steps). At this point the
Ganges is reasonably narrow, only about fifty feet across, and was a brown
muddy torrent swollen by the monsoon rains. Upstream it rounds a bend and
cliffs and forests fall down to the river’s edge. Great boulders were strewn
along the shallows and pilgrims purified themselves by washing in the holy
river.
But spanning the
Ganges are the ropes and girders of the Rhamjhula suspension bridge (see
photo)The tide of Indian humanity strolling across was incredible - families
posing for photos, women in purdah, sadhus and fakirs, hippies, cows and
motorbikes. It sways beneath you as you cross and the Ganges can be seen
through the slats between your feet - it is not for the nervous. On the other
side was a terraced area overlooking the bridge. Hindi music blared from stalls
and there were lifelike statues of the Hindu pantheon - Parvati, Vishnu, Shiva,
Durga and Ganesh. The whole scene enchanted me - you can see why people travel
thousands of miles to visit Rishikesh.
If you follow
the lanes uphill, past the armies of sadhus, beggars and huge monkeys, you
enter the area composed of ashrams and temples. Before the real trek uphill to
the Sri Nabootha temples is a bright blue statue of the god Shiva and his consort
Devi (see photo) that is so well carved it almost looks baroque. Then push on
through the mango orchards (watch the monkeys around here) to the Sri Nabootha
temple. This is a very modern temple tucked away in the forest and is built on
fourteen levels. Devotees ascend using staircases and walkways ringing bells as
they ascend each level. The tinkling of these instruments can be heard all over
Rishikesh.
To enter the
temple you must remove your shoes and socks and risk your feet against the hot
stone. The temple is on 14 levels with the view of Rishikesh and the Ganges
getting better as you ascend. There are statues of Hanuman, Devi and Shiva
positioned on each level. As everyone around you is overcome with genuine
respect for these idols it is very hard to remain estranged. After a while I
found myself bobbing, clasping my palms together and saying "nameste"
to each idol.
After ten
minutes of climbing we reached the top of the temple where there was a final
shrine to Shiva. In a small room a Brahmin priest was seated cross legged over
a table with candles and incense. We joined him in supplication and added
prayers to the god Shiva. It was a beautiful experience and one I'll never
forget.
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