Rishkesh Blog

We were thoroughly exasperated with the taxing Hyderabad heat and scared at the thought that this might just be the first flush, we were desperately looking for a cooler heaven and get away from the routine. So as soon as the school planned an 8 day excursion trip to Delhi-Rishikesh- Mussorie, I did not spare a second thought before saying a yes. I never visited Uttarakhand, but always heard a lot about this place from friends and family. Since we wanted adventurous trip, the choice of place was very apt. We began our journey in the early hours of 19th September. Our trip was organised by Himashree tours and trekkers, we were of 12 staff accompanying 60 Students. Soon we boarded our train to Delhi only to reach the next day. After a long journey, we finally reached Dilwalon ki Shehar ‘Delhi’ on 20th September. Delhi is beautiful. Delhi is irresistible and Delhi is memorable. “Yeh Shehar nahi Mehfil hai”. As we reached New Delhi railway station, We were greeted by the tour organisers Mr Devendra and Mr Pramod, We started travelling in the busy streets of Delhi, having a peek a boo at the sky scrapers, the India gate and many more. We had to reach our destination the ‘The Indian Mountaineering Foundation’ (IMF). IMF is an apex national body which organises and supports mountaineering and rock climbing expeditions at high altitudes in the Himalayas. We quickly freshen up and have a delightful meal and make ourselves ready for the adventure. Before, that we were taken to an auditorium where, we were educated about the IMF, its history and all about those people who climbed the Everest. Indeed, it was an interesting video which keeps you glued to the screen. Adjacent to the auditorium is a Museum, which showcases the photographs, instruments and all those which are used by climbers during their expedition to the Everest. Their Outdoor setup has artificial walls, activity areas, and adding to the charm of this space are the well-manicured lawns around the area. The first thing that strikes us about IMF is the high energy around the space. There are serious climbers making it seem like a child’s play, awe struck beginners like me were looking on in complete enthrallment. Their outdoor set up has artificial rock climbing walls on which climbers can challenge themselves. First- timers begin by attempting the beginner’s wall, which has closely placed markers or hooks for an easier climb. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an experienced climber or a first-timer at the wall. It’s not about body weight, exercise, but more about girth, strength and will. As our students started to climb to new heights, we realised how the task was not just a physical one, but one of the mind as well. Pushing their bodies, huffing and puffing all the way, the encouraging shouts from their friends made few of them get a grip and reach the top. Finally, it was time to leave, we board our buses to reach ‘The Baha’i House of Worship’ famously called as ‘The Lotus temple’. The temple looks like a lotus flower and is made of marble, cement, dolomite and sand. The temple has no restrictions for visitors and is open to people from all religions. Lotus is a symbol of peace, purity, love and immorality which makes the flower an important icon in Indian culture and society. After meditating inside the temple for few minutes, we were completely refreshed. As the Clock ticks 7 pm and the sun starts to set down, we find ourselves struck in the Delhi traffic, to reach India gate. After a tiresome journey, we finally reach the ‘India Gate’. India gate is a war memorial dedicated to honour the soldiers of the undivided Indian army who died during the World War I. After having a walk around the place, clicking few photographs, it was time for us to leave Delhi and board our train to Haridwar. We soon boarded the Janshatabdi express to reach our next destination Haridwar. On the morning of 21st Sep, at around 7am we reach Haridwar. We were soon shifted into mini buses which will be taking us to Rishikesh, our camping site. After travelling for an hour through the hills, valleys, mountains and alongside the Holy Ganga River, we finally reach Rishikesh. The land of sages and of adventure. A place where spirituality meets leisure: it’s Rishikesh located in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, a part of Uttarakhand. We were quite excited to start our camping and adventures. We soon had to get down a hill with our luggage’s, cross a small temporary bridge build on the river and finally climb up to reach out to our camping site. Though it looked so beautiful, but climbing up the hill was an arduous task. As soon as we reach the River side resort, which was situated adjacent to the Rajaji national Park, we were mesmerised to see the beautiful trees, the birds chirping and hopping across the tree limb. We were captivated to see the serene environment and were looking forward for our three day stay in this blissful place. The manager of the resort greeted us with a welcome drink. The students were divided into groups and were allotted their rooms. Some of the boys preferred staying in the tents. We soon get inside, unpack our luggage and take a quick bath in the chilling water and gather for a brunch. After taking rest for an hour, we start our trek to the Patna Waterfalls. It is an uphill, around 2Km and there are no defined paths, only a foot path, took us 25-30 minutes to reach, but the hike and the end-sight was worth the time and the effort. The minute we got under the water, all the tiredness vanished. The water was so refreshing, pure and serene. We had to soon climb down and hurry up as we had to reach Ganga ghat to see the Ganga aarti. We walked through the markets of Rishikesh and then crossed the Laxman jhoola and it is resplendent. The view from the Ghats below is stunning. Walking on the Laxman jhoola across the Ganga is something which we absolutely enjoyed. We reach the other end and prepare ourselves to watch the Ganga Aarti. The aarti starts with chanting of bhajan, beating drums, bells and diyas offering to the Ganga. The Ghat was lightened up at the time of Maha Aarti. It feels good to sit on the banks of the Ganga and enjoy the cool breeze from the river. After the aarti we head back to our resort. The day ended with dinner and the students danced to their favourite tunes. Soon we retire to our rooms to take rest. The next morning we wake up to the chirping birds and the sky seemed gloomy. We were waiting for the weather to settle in, so that we can head out to our next trek. But alas, soon it started to drizzle. The students were engaged in few team building games, which kept them quite occupied and looked they enjoyed too. Finally in the late afternoon, the rain seemed to stop for a while and we soon start our trek to the Rock Climbing region. Now this was amazing, those who had an experience at the IMF in Delhi came forward first to climb the Natural rock. After checking the safety arrangements, students started to climb up, surely it was not that easy as it seemed. Few were successful in completing the task and few got exhausted in the midway. All through the day, the rain didn’t seem to slow down, we had to soon reach back to our resort. The day ended with few students dancing to loud music and few busy discussing the events of the day. The Following day’s i.e.,23rd September, weather still seemed to be pretty much the same as before, We waited for few hours, but the rain didn’t seem to stop, we carefully and slowly stepped out and got into our buses to visit the Neelkanth Mahadev temple, which is around 20Km from our resort. According to Hindu mythology, the place where the Neelkanth Mahadev Temple currently stands is the sacred location where Lord Shiva consumed the poison that originated from the sea when Devas(Gods) and Asuras (Demons) churned the ocean in order to obtain Amrita. This poison that emanated during the Samudramanthan made his throat blue in colour. Thus, Lord Shiva is known as Neelkanth, literally meaning “The Blue Throated One”. We travelled through the Ghat roads, it was thrilling at the same time, scary too. After having a darshan, we get back to our buses. As we reached Camping area, we were shocked to see the bridge which we used to reach the resort was submerged due to the continuous rains in the past couple of days. Fear engulfed all of us, we were clueless what to do, our trekking managers, soon gave us confidence we together discussed the best possible way to cross the river and act in these dire situations. All of us decided to build a rocky bridge. Soon the students started collecting big stones to fill the gaps. We started adding few more stones, arranged and adjusted them in a way so that we could control the speed of the flowing water to some extent. Finally after some hard work we could see a way through the stones.

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