After 5 hours of driving, we made our first stop 20km before Reshikesh, in a bigger town called Hardiwar. Hardiwar is one of the more important religious places in India because the Ganges passes through it.
We got here just before sundown at around 6pm and met our guide for this leg of the race. He was younger than the last one, seemed more comfortable talking in Hindi than English, and so directed most of his attention to Suji and not me.
He offered Suji the chance to do pujah (prayers) with a Brahmin (priest) on the Ganges, and she agreed. We were then taken across a bridge over the river, which is just breath takingly beautiful, and met a guy dressed in hipster clothes who introduced himself as the priest.
He took Suji down to the water, and together they discussed prayer packages: yes, there are different types of prayer/offerings you can buy, apparently. Having settled that, he was off for a bit and left us to soak the atmosphere in.
The place is amazing.
Hindus believe that the "Ganga" Is sacred, and that when you stand or bathe in, you can wash away your sins. At this location in India the water is coming straight from the Himmialyas, and so is much cleaner than other places like Varanasi in the south.
There are Brahmins everywhere, sitting on makeshift tables and each with his own alter to various gods. My understanding is people come to these priest and pay them to say a prayer for themselves, family, and friends. I don't know where the money goes, but I'm pretty sure its not to these guys- they definitely don't look to be rolling in the dough. Also, and this was part of Sujis package, you can pay to feed them as they don't buy their own meals. It's something like 50 rupees for one Brahmins dinner, which is usually some daal and rice.
Anyway, our guy comes back and takes Suji down into the river. There, he starts chanting the prayers and making the offerings, along the way asking for information about family and relationships to pray, accordingly.
Interesting fact: boyfriend/girlfriends are looked down upon in India, and Suji was asked whether I was her friend or fiancé. I went with friend since it seemed closer, but the guy apparently was unsatisfied and reminded her that you can't tell lies in the holy water (lol).
So he finishes with her, and then gets me to come down.
Now, I am fine with other peoples religious views, and don't mind watching ceremonies, but I get uncomfortable when they want me to participate. I'm not Hindu, don't believe in god, and feel like I'm demeaning the rites when I participate - its pure lip service to me, so why should I insult the people's views like that?
I still did it.
Thankfully, I got the cliffnotes prayer (Sujis took 15 mins, mine 5), but still had to stand in the water, which, let me tell you, in February is dead freezing. The guy asked me to keep the river in my mind as he prayed, and as cold as it was, there was no way I WASNT being reminded of where I stood.
So he says the prayers, and then at one hilarious point while in mid prayer, takes a tablet out of his jacket and checks it quickly, puts it back and finishes. The modern Brahmin knows how to multitask!
The ceremony ends with an offering to the river: a banana leaf-like boat carrying a candle, which is pushed out and sails down the river.
Then, while waiting for the goodies bag that accompies the prayers, the best part of the night happens.
Every evening, as the sun goes down, the priest perform the aarti - a fire ritual, where lamps soaked in ghee (curd) are lit on the shores of the Ganges and prayers are sung as they slowly burn out.
It's an experience.
The whole crowd becomes involved, singing the prayers, horns bellowing in the background.The priests offer the fire, swinging it up and down along the water, probably 20+ fires in all. The ghee is also scented, giving off a fairly sweet aroma.
People come down and hold the lamps, singing along, and then receive a blessing from the priest after. It's probably the closest I've come to a full on religious experience.
I absolutely loved it.
Things settled down then, and after some quick stall shopping, we were off to Reshikesh and a much needed rest at our hotel. Tomorrow we get to see more of this beautiful place and the Ganges.
Can't wait!
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