Hindu devotees fed long grasses to ribbon-adorned sacred cows as thousands of pilgrims bathed in India’s ultra-holy Ganges River to wash away their sins and cure ailments. Some soaking adherents tightly gripped iron chains secured to concrete stairs so the fast-rushing flow from the Himalayas wouldn’t fatally sweep them downstream. A young man with no legs determinedly rolled himself on a wheeled board to recite a mantra at the river’s edge. Frail elderly women, swathed in headscarves and saris, worshipped while sitting on puddled pavement near corroded metal changing lockers plastered with ads for Glow & Lovely skin cream. Men’s wet underwear briefs hung drying, an odd sight in this modest society.
Along the marigold-flecked river banks, white-cloaked Hindu priests conducted rites for families’ ancestors, whose ashes were sprinkled into the Ganges. Numerous vendors sold empty orange and clear plastic jugs that followers filled to take revered water home. Barbers, equipped with shearing scissors and razors, squatted atop mats waiting to give children their first haircut, a hallowed ceremony that eliminates bad karma of past lives and ends with the kids’ shorn locks tossed into the Ganges. Pilgrims also threw in coins as offerings, some later retrieved by impoverished people to survive.
The holy ghat Har Ki Pauri is a popular spot along the Ganges in the Hindu pilgrimage city of Haridwar. (Photo by Norma Meyer)Understandably, I had whiplash trying to absorb vibrant, bustling Haridwar, a prime Hindu religious mecca lined with ghats, which are steps leading to the Ganges River (known as Ganga in India).
“It is not just a river, it is a goddess in the form of a river,” explained my local guide, Subhash Dobhal. In Hinduism, the deity Ganga is an eminent mother figure who purifies, pardons, and provides moksha, the ultimate eternal bliss.
The Ram Tirath Temple, near Amritsar in the Punjab state, has deep Hindu mythological roots and is linked to a medieval epic. (Photo by Norma Meyer) Sacred cows are sometimes given as gifts to priests who perform rituals along the Ganges. These cattle are in the pilgrimage city of Haridwar. (Photo by Norma Meyer) A monk lights prayer lamps in a room at the Dalai Lama’s temple in Dharamshala, India. (Photo by Norma Meyer) In Haridwar, India, a merchant peddles fruit to shopping pilgrims. (Photo by Norma Meyer) Empty plastic bottles of all sizes are sold along the Ganges River in Haridwar so pilgrims can take home the holy water. (Photo by Norma Meyer) Food-seeking langur monkeys often wait dangerously close to trains briefly stopping in Shimla. (Photo by Norma Meyer) Show Caption1 of 6The Ram Tirath Temple, near Amritsar in the Punjab state, has deep Hindu mythological roots and is linked to a medieval epic. (Photo by Norma Meyer) ExpandThis marked the soulful start of an intoxicating 13-day Exodus Adventure Travels odyssey through northern India; admittedly I became enamored with the country on my initial visit 12 years ago. During this “Foothills of the Himalaya” itinerary, we’d be immersed in the Beatles’ zen, the Dalai Lama, contemplative Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh temples, captivating customs, buzzing bazaars and remote mountain hamlets. There were just four other travelers — an American and three Brits — on my small-group Exodus tour that journeyed by three trains (once a strapping macaque monkey jumped on a carriage’s open window but was scared off by screaming passengers), hired cars, motorized tuk-tuks, and our feet (periodically shoeless to show respect).
Pilgrims and others gather on the waterfront facing the Ganges River in sacred city Haridwar, India. (Photo by Norma Meyer)Mostly, especially for winding daylong road trips, our usual driver ferried us in a comfy Indian-built Force Traveller van, deftly navigating endless cardiac-arresting hairpin cliffside turns, head-on trucks and buses, and cattle, dogs and furry primates in zig-zagging horn-blaring mayhem. Fortunately, our van’s windshield sported a decal of cobra-draped, trident-wielding Lord Shiva, a Hindu god esteemed for his protective power. (Prices for the “Foothills” tour from $2,100, all-inclusive except for some meals; exodustravels.com).
One note about the spicy vegetarian food — it warmed the belly and heart. En route to the city of Shimla, we slurped lentil dal at the rural She Haat cafe run by 20 now self-reliant village women who cooked regional Himachali fare in a wood-fired mud oven and crafted earrings and baskets out of fallen pine tree needles to support themselves. Another occasion, in the spiritual hub of Amritsar, we witnessed a humble volunteer-manned kitchen at a Sikh shrine feeding up to 100,000 people a day 24/7 for free. The sheer goodness of it all brought tears to my eyes.
Enraptured in Rishikesh
Murals by street artists now fill the onetime lecture hall of the Indian ashram where the Beatles once stayed. (Photo by Norma Meyer)After climbing a steep path, we entered grounds of the decaying, abandoned ashram where the Beatles famously stayed for a brief stint in 1968 and prolifically penned many of their “White Album” songs. The Fab Four came to the 18-acre forested retreat, known as the Chaurasi Kutiya Ashram, to reset and study the popular Transcendental Meditation with its charismatic celebrity guru, the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
The Maharishi closed his ashram in the 1970s — it’s currently on the fringes of a tiger reserve — but ghosts eerily infiltrate decrepit lecture halls and other buildings spread over a jungly hilltop perched above the Ganges in the city of Rishikesh. Except for the ashram’s graffiti and striking graphic murals depicting or related to the Beatles — and painted by street artists and trespassers decades later — you’d never know the iconic band repeatedly uttered “Namaste” on the premises. Or that they created a remarkable slew of hits there including “Back in the U.S.S.R,” “Blackbird,” and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”
The house where the Beatles slept and wrote during their short but famous stay at a yogi’s ashram near Rishikesh, India. (Photo by Norma Meyer)These days, the multi-room private compound where the Beatles worked and slept still stands but it’s a wreck — paint has peeled, plaster crumbled, walls are mildewed, glass windows are missing, bathtubs are in broken pieces, and the carpeting and furniture are gone. Yet, there’s something strangely cool about letting it be; in America this might be renovated into some garish, overpriced, commercial Beatle Om Land featuring Nehru jacket-garbed lookalikes.
The Gyuto Tantric Monastery is designed in Tibetan-style architecture.The Dalai Lama, who lives nearby in Dharamshala, has taught at the Buddhist monastery. (Photo by Norma Meyer) The picturesque city of Shimla, in the Himalayan foothills, was once the summer capital for British India during colonial rule. (Photo by Norma Meyer) In Shimla, red ribbons are left by prosperity-wishing devotees at the hilltop Tara Devi Temple, with a view of the Himalayas. (Photo by Norma Meyer) Intriguing graffiti art covers abandoned buildings, such as this one, at the Indian ashram where the Beatles studied with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. (Photo by Norma Meyer) The chair used by the Dalai Lama when he delivers sermons at his temple complex in Dharamshala. (Photo by Norma Meyer) Show Caption1 of 5The Gyuto Tantric Monastery is designed in Tibetan-style architecture.The Dalai Lama, who lives nearby in Dharamshala, has taught at the Buddhist monastery. (Photo by Norma Meyer) ExpandPaul McCartney’s then-girlfriend Jane Asher and the other Beatles’ wives were also at the ashram, along with Mia Farrow and her sister Prudence. John Lennon wrote “Dear Prudence” because the younger Farrow was so fixated on meditating she barely left her hut. When allegations swirled that the Maharishi made unwanted advances toward Mia Farrow, the disgusted, disillusioned Lennon composed “Sexy Sadie,” a veiled condemnation of the guru.
Sacred cows also like to sunbathe at a beach along the Ganges River in Rishikesh, India. (Photo by Norma Meyer)A couple miles away, I next strolled narrow lanes in “yoga capital of the world” Rishikesh; I didn’t see anyone doing the downward dog pose but I did dodge meandering bovines and speeding motorbikes by storefronts peddling sandalwood incense, wire scalp massagers, pajama-ish kurtas, mala prayer beads, and bronze statues of elephant god Ganesha. I also never spotted a Beatle souvenir although a sign on a dump site plugged The Beatles Cafe at another location serving chickpea sattu drinks; in Hindi the ad also confirmed “fodder for cows is available.”
Hindu priests perform an aarti ceremony along the Ganges River in the city of Rishikesh. (Photo by Norma Meyer)That evening, on the crowded but calm banks of the Ganges, five Hindu priests mesmerizingly performed the daily sunset aarti, a beautiful ancient tradition honoring the river and expressing gratitude. Accompanied by ringing bells, ethereal music and chanting hymns, the priests gracefully moved their arms in unison, holding up various flaming brass lamps during the 45-minute serene and powerful ritual. “This is like your Thanksgiving. Only it’s done every night,” our guide Dobhal said.
Awed in Amritsar
In the city of Amritsar, the Golden Temple complex includes the main Sikh shrine, religious halls and an enormous community kitchen. (Photo by Norma Meyer)Close to Pakistan’s border, in the village of Khur Manian, we laughingly bounced to loud, raucous Punjabi music while riding in the back of a tractor past goats and wheat and garlic fields. The farm vehicle belonged to our turbaned Sikh host, Jagroop Singh, and his family; joyful relatives joined us onboard, including Singh’s gleeful children and 5-year-old pigtailed niece. All this happened before, with the aid of a boombox, Singh and the little girls taught me to crazily dance Punjabi-style in their welcoming home occupied by three generations.
When we first arrived, Singh’s wife and a neighbor fried up yummy crispy onion and potato pakoras, presented with steaming masala chai tea. We learned about the Sikh religion which believes in one God and follows teachings of 10 deceased human gurus with an emphasis on equality and defending the oppressed. Singh, who would be our local guide, always wore the five traits of a pious Sikh man — uncut hair (symbolizing strength and holiness and topped by the identifying turban), a steel bracelet, wooden comb, sheathed dagger and a baggy undergarment dating back to the Sikhs’ warrior days on horses.
“I have turbans in 20 colors,” Singh revealed with a big smile. “Although I always buy a new one for weddings.”
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