Neeraj Jain, October 18, 2007
Recently, I got a chance to visit Rishikesh with my cousin. For those of you who do not know much about India, Rishikesh is a small hill district in Uttrakhand. Rishikesh is also a place from where “Beatles” drew all their inspiration.
We arrived in Rishikesh at around 11 AM. The moment we landed up at the bus station, a whole battery of autowallas surrounded us. They promised us to take us to all famous spots of Rishikesh at cheap rates. We knew that Rishikesh is a small place and we had a full day to spare in Rishikesh. So we decided to explore Rishikesh, all by ourselves. We deposited our luggage in the cloak room at the bus station.
We inquired about famous spots of Rishikesh from an autowallah. Then we walked up to the main road. From the main road, we took a shared auto up to Ram Jhoola. While we were in the auto, an elderly man told us that Shivpuri is only 11 km away. I had heard a lot about Shivpuri. Therefore, I decided to first visit Shivpuri and then visit famous spots in Rishikesh. The shared auto dropped us at Ram Jhoola. From there, we took another shared auto up to Laxman Jhoola. At Laxman Jhoola, we waited for the bus to take us to Shivpuri. After waiting for 30 minutes or so, we found a bus. The bus started climbing up the hills. We could see the crystal clear Ganga flowing down the hills.
When we reached Shivpuri, we were thrilled to find the amazingly clear transparent water. We could see the boulders and stones from the top of the Ganges water. Even Bisleri water cannot be more pure than this. We saw two couples enjoying an intimate bath there. Some soldiers from ITBP were also enjoying rafting there. Rafting is very expensive. However, if there is a large group, you can share the expenses. We were not carrying spare clothes. Therefore, we were also not in a position to enjoy bathing in clear water :-( However, we folded up our trousers and immersed our thighs in the water. The scenery was picturesque and the water cold. It was impossible to keep our legs submerged in water for more than 2-3 minutes. However, the cold water had a soothing effect on our legs. We could feel the comfort in our legs.
After Shivpuri, we headed straight for Laxman Jhoola. You cannot reach there in a vehicle. You need to walk up and down stairs for around 1 km before you finally reach there. What a sight Laxman Jhoola was! This jhoola connects two ends of Ganga without a single pillar in between. The bridge or the jhoola is held together by strong cables. When we set our feet on the Jhoola, we could feel the bridge moving. Even scooters and motorcycles run without fear over this moving bridge. There were langurs or white monkeys at the other end of the bridge. Speedboats were also there for boat lovers. You can also see the white sand here giving it a beach-like environment.
After Laxman Jhoola, we took a shared auto up to Ram Jhoola, our final destination in Rishikesh. Ram Jhoola is exactly like Laxman Jhoola; however, it was built earlier. Instead of going across Jhoola, we took a shared speedboat to go to other side of Ganges. It was getting dark; time for daily Arti. We first reached the Geeta bhawan. From Geeta Bhawan, you can buy any ayurvedic medicine. There is also a Gita press outlet there. There is also good number of yoga centers here. In addition, there are book shops and umpteen restaurants. The whole area looks like a mini Paharganj. At the Aarti site, there was a large gathering. There were red carpets, video cameras, and all that pomp and show. It appeared as if entire Rishikesh had come down for Aarti. We were getting late. We walked up to other side of the Ganges river through Ram Jhoola. The entire Gita Bhawan area was shining like a jewel. I wanted to stay in Rishikesh for few more days but time was not on our side. We took a shared auto to reach back to Rishikesh bus stand. We thanked God for giving us an opportunity to visit Rishikesh :)
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