Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar

Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar

   Har Ki Pauri (Hindi: हर की पौड़ी) is a famous ghat on the banks of the Ganges in Haridwar in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is believed to be one of the holiest Ghats in India. It is the first place where the holy river Ganga touches the plains after flowing through the Himalayan range. Har-Ki-Pauri is considered a site of immense religious importance. People from all over the world visit the site to offer their prayers and seek blessings. It is believed that those who take a dip in River Ganga can wash off all their sins. Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu are believed to have visited the Brahmakund in Har Ki Pauri in the Vedic times. According to the history, the place has a mark of Lord Vishnu’s footprint on a stone which is even present today. The ghat is on the west bank of Ganges canal through which the Ganges is diverted just to the north. Har Ki Pauri is also the area where thousands of pilgrims converge and the festivities commence during the Kumbha Mela.

Every evening, hundreds of devotees collect around Har ki Pauri and offer the Goddess Ganga their prayers and lit diyas, that float in Ganga’s bosom.

Ganga Aarti at Har Ki Pauri was started by Pundit Madan Mohan Malviya in the 1910s. Ganga Aarti means prayer for River Ganga. Prayers are dedicated to gods and goddesses. River Ganga is not just a river in India, It is Divine Mother. River Ganga gives life in the form of water. The same water also removes sins when you take a dip in its holy water. River Ganga also gives liberation to souls. Historically millions of people are living on the bank of the river Ganga. For agriculture, her water is still precious for India. River Ganga is considered goddess which was originally living in heaven. Lord Shiva held her to reduce her mighty flow. When Ganga flow on the remainings of ancestors of Bhagirath they got Moksha (Liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth). Following the same tradition still, Hindu people offer remainings of their dead relatives (after burning the body) to the river Ganga and expect the moksha for them. In the name of the saint