Haridwar

Haridwar is the main doorway to the four chardham pilgrimage destinations. It is located in the foot hills of the Shiwaliks. It is a divine place for pilgrims arriving in Uttarakhand. Haridwar occupies its area on the banks of the holy river Ganga. Char dham yatra comprises of traveling to destinations Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnathji, Badrinathji. Haridwar is also known by titles like Gangadwar, Tapowan and Mayapuri. Pilgrims also call it "The Gateway Of Chardham", "The Spiritual Land Of Hindus" etc. The rishis named it Haridwar. As in the Hindu mythos it is also known as Kalilsthan. The well known Kumbh Mela is organized in Haridwar once after every 12 years and the Ardha Kumbh Mela comes after 6 years. Apart from being a sacred place, it is also very much popular for arts, science and culture. The holiest of all, the great Ganga River flows through it.

Mythologically, during the fight between Gods and Demons to get "Amrit" a few drops fell at four different locations on earth. Haridwar is one of them. The remaining ones are Prayag, Nasik and Ujjain. All these places are popular sacred destinations for pilgrimage in Uttarakhand. Haridwar occupies an area of 12 sq. km, located at an elevation of 2,927 mts. above sea level. Munies, Rishis, men, women, sages and children visit here to take a holy dip in the Ganga at Haridwar.

It is one of the towns where the sacred river Ganga flows from mountains touching the plains. Haridwar district occupies 2,360 sq. km. area. Geographically, Haridwar is situated in Northern India in Uttarakhand state. Shivalik Mountains covers an area of 20,000 sq. km. In Haridwar Ganges is the main source of water which also formulates many distributaries in small span. The climate and vegetation varies with variance in elevation. Ice and bare rocks covers the highest elevations here. Its latitude and longitude are 29.58 degree north and 78.13 degree east respectively. The Haridwar district came into being on 28th December 1988.

Jolly Grant is the nearest airport from Dehradun. After arriving at the airport, you can hire a taxi or a jeep to reach Haridwar. The holy city also well connected with trains to all the big cities in India. Traveling to Haridwar by train is an experience in itself. Pilgrims can also make their journey by bus route. The national highway no. 45 crosses the Haridwar city and links it with India's capital city Delhi.