Haridwar is situated in the valleys of the Shivalik mountains, where the river flows from the Himalayan Mountains and slowly travels over the meadows and joins the Bay of Bengal. Haridwar is famous for its regular festivals Kumbha Mela and Ardhakumbha.
One main attraction of Haridwar is that every evening people light lamps and float them in the river which lights up the dark night and makes the whole place very beautiful. Haridwar stands on the rightside of the river Ganges. Tourists are advised to be careful of the frauds who can cheat them out of their money.
Places of Interest:
Har Ki Paidi: This is Haridwar’s most important bathing spot. Every day thousands of people come here. In the evening an arati (ceremony performed in the worship of Gods by moving a lighted lamp around the idol in a circular motion) is performed here.
Temple of Mansa Devi: This temple is on the Bilva Mountain. To go up, a trolley ropeway can be used or one can walk up the rock stairs. The view of Haridwar and the Ganges is very scenic from here.
Beauty Point: This point is on the Mansa Devi Temple Road about 2 kms away.
Gurukul Kangri: This is on the Jwalapur By-pass Road. The Arya Samaj revolutionary, Swamy Shraddanand founded this University. Once upon a time this University was very famous but now most of the buildings there need to be restored. A museum here houses many ancient sculptures