Ganga Dussehra and River Festival Tour

Route: Airport – Hotel, Delhi

Your trip lead meets you at arrivals with a name board and drives you to the hotel. There is no sightseeing today. Day 2 starts early and Day 3 starts before sunrise, so today is for sleep.

Mid-June in Delhi is hot. Over dinner or breakfast tomorrow your guide walks you through the days ahead, what to wear on the ghat, and how the festival morning will run. If you have questions about the temple-access position, this is the time to ask them.

Food

Hotel dinner. After a long flight, ask for something light and early.

Route: Delhi – Roorkee – Haridwar

The road north from Delhi crosses the flat sugar-cane country of western Uttar Pradesh and reaches Roorkee. Here you stop at the Upper Ganges Canal, opened in 1854 and fed by water taken from the Ganga at Haridwar. That is worth knowing before you arrive, because the barrage at Har Ki Pauri is where the canal begins.

Haridwar is where the Ganga leaves the mountains and enters the plains. Your hotel stands at Ram Ghat, close to Har Ki Pauri, and its own website describes a private bathing ghat. You check in, rest through the afternoon heat, and walk to the river at about five.

By the evening before the festival the ghats are already filling. You watch the Ganga Aarti from the Brahmakund steps: bells, brass lamps the height of a child, and hundreds of small leaf boats set on the water at dusk. Summer aarti is timed to the sunset, and the ghat fills 45 to 90 minutes before it starts, so your guide takes you early.

The Human Story

Har Ki Pauri means the feet of Vishnu. Tradition says King Vikramaditya built the ghat in the first century BC as a memorial to his brother Bhartrihari, who meditated here. In 1819 a crush during the Kumbh Mela killed about 430 people, and the British widened the ghat and added steps afterwards. The clock tower dates to 1938. The Shri Ganga Sabha has managed the ghat since 1916.

Experience of the Day

• Walk from the hotel to the ghat at dusk.

• Watch the Ganga Aarti from the Brahmakund steps, with your guide beside you.

Food

• Recommended: Chotiwala, a well-known vegetarian restaurant near the ghat. Must-try: kachori with potato curry at breakfast, and hot puris with halwa. Plan on a vegetarian, alcohol-free stay in Haridwar and Rishikesh.

Shopping

• The lanes behind Har Ki Pauri sell brass lamps, rudraksha beads and small Ayurvedic oils. Your guide points you to fixed-price shops and you buy nothing on the first evening unless you want to.

Activities to Do

• Roorkee canal stop

• Walk to Har Ki Pauri

• Ganga Aarti at dusk (private guide)

• Briefing for the festival morning

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Bhimgoda Barrage, where the Upper Ganges Canal begins, a short drive from the ghat.

• Chandi Devi temple by ropeway, if the afternoon is cooler than expected.

Route: Haridwar (walking day)

The tenth day of the bright fortnight of Jyeshtha marks the day the Ganga is said to have come down from heaven. Devotees bathe at sunrise, make offerings in multiples of ten, give to charity and stay for the evening aarti. The name splits into dasha, ten, and hara, to remove: the dip is said to wash away ten kinds of wrong done in body, speech and mind.

You leave the hotel before first light with your guide and walk to the ghat. The scale is the point. An estimated 20 lakh people bathed at Haridwar on Ganga Dussehra in 2025, and a 2026 report put the first day's crowd at 27 lakh. Your guide keeps you together, chooses the steps and the moment, and moves you out before the crowd and the heat peak. Eligible guests bathe by the chain at the Brahmakund with a priest, offering flowers and lamps in tens. Others watch from the steps and take part in the prayers from the river's edge.

By 8 am you are back at the hotel for breakfast and rest. Haridwar in June reaches about 40 C, and the middle of the day is for the room. At about five you walk down again for the evening of lamps, when leaf boats carrying a lamp are set on the current and the crowd on the steps is at its largest. At Gangotri, where the river begins, the same day is marked with a bath and prayers.

The Human Story

The story behind the day is that of King Bhagiratha. His ancestors could not reach heaven until the Ganga's water touched their remains. Bhagiratha did penance to bring her down, and Shiva took her fall in his matted hair so the earth would not break under it.

Experience of the Day

• Pre-dawn walk to the Brahmakund with your guide.

• Priest-led Ganga puja and offerings in tens, for eligible guests.

• Evening deep daan: a lamp set on the river at dusk.

Food

Many devotees fast today, so stalls near the ghat sell fruit, sweet lassi and water in place of meals. Your hotel serves breakfast on return and a full vegetarian dinner. Rest first, eat after.

Shopping

Fruit, flowers and small lamps sold at the ghat are offerings, priced in tens. Buy them from the stall your guide points to.

Activities to Do

• Dawn dip or dawn prayer at the river

• Rest through the midday heat

• Evening deep daan and aarti

• Priest-led puja (private, arranged by BizareXpedition)

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Daksh Mahadev Mandir in Kankhal, in the cooler hours. Dress code applies.

• Mansa Devi by ropeway, if you prefer to go today rather than tomorrow.

• A private evening aarti at your hotel's ghat, where the hotel offers it.

Route: Haridwar – Mansa Devi – Rishikesh

The ropeway to Mansa Devi starts at about 7 am and takes about 8 minutes to climb Bilwa Parvat, 1.5 km above Har Ki Pauri. Go early: the temple queues thicken as the day warms. From the top you see the whole of Haridwar laid out along the river. Pilgrims tie a thread to a tree here to ask for a wish and return to untie it when it comes true.

You drive 25 km north to Rishikesh, where the Ganga is still green and fast, and check in. After lunch and a rest, you walk to Ram Jhula, the 1986 suspension bridge between Sivananda Nagar and Swargashram, and up the bank to the new Bajrang Setu, a 132-metre glass-floored bridge reported open upstream of the old Laxman Jhula. The Laxman Jhula has been closed to pedestrians since July 2019.

The evening is for Parmarth Niketan. Summer aarti here runs from about 6 to 7 pm, and the steps fill early. The ashram is open to all, whatever their faith or nationality, and asks that shoulders and knees are covered. Young students chant on the marble steps as the light goes. Today is also the day after Ganga Dussehra, and most calendars place Nirjala Ekadashi on 14 June, when many Hindus fast without food or water, so expect quiet stalls and an early night for the town.

The Human Story

Parmarth Niketan is led by Swami Chidanand Saraswati, who often takes the satsang before the aarti himself. Its evening aarti is held on the river steps and is open to visitors of every background.

Experience of the Day

–  Ropeway to Mansa Devi at 7 am.

–  Walk across Ram Jhula and Bajrang Setu.

–  Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Niketan.

Food

Recommended: a riverside café in Swargashram after the walk. Must-try: hot chai with a plate of fresh pakoras, and fruit lassi. Rishikesh is a vegetarian, alcohol-free town, and your hotel menu follows the same rule.

Shopping

The Laxman Jhula market in Tapovan and the lanes near Ram Jhula sell handmade jewellery, Tibetan singing bowls and cotton clothing. Your guide names the shops with fixed prices.

Activities to Do

• Mansa Devi ropeway (early)

• Bridge walk at Ram Jhula and Bajrang Setu

• Parmarth Niketan aarti

• River prayers at the ghats

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Triveni Ghat, the larger and busier evening aarti, in place of Parmarth.

• A boat ride on the Ganga at Triveni Ghat.

• Ayurvedic massage at your hotel spa.

Route: Rishikesh – Neelkanth Mahadev – Chaurasi Kutia – Rishikesh

Neelkanth Mahadev stands at 1,330 m about 32 km from Rishikesh. The temple marks the place where Shiva is said to have drunk the poison that rose from the churning of the ocean, turning his throat blue. The road climbs through forest, and going at 7 am keeps you ahead of the day's heat.

Back in the valley you visit Chaurasi Kutia, the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, where the Beatles stayed for about three months in 1968. It stands inside the Rajaji tiger reserve, 2 km from Ram Jhula, among stone meditation domes and hand-painted graffiti. It opens at 10 am, closes at 4 pm and is shut on Mondays, so today is the day to see it.

The afternoon is free for the hotel and the river. At dusk you can return to the ghat for a second aarti or keep the evening quiet with dinner at the hotel.

The Human Story

In 1968 four of the most famous musicians in the world came to a jungle ashram above the Ganga to study Transcendental Meditation. Reports say they wrote many of the songs for the White Album during the stay. Today the stone domes and cottages are open to walk through, with painted graffiti on many of the walls.

Experience of the Day

• Drive to Neelkanth Mahadev in the early hours.

• Walk through Chaurasi Kutia.

• River walk in the late afternoon.

Food

Recommended: dinner at your hotel by the river. Must-try: thali with dal, seasonal vegetables and fresh roti. On Nirjala Ekadashi some places close for the fast, and your guide confirms where to eat.

Shopping

Beatles-themed art and hand-bound notebooks near the ashram gate. Rudraksha and handloom shawls at Ram Jhula.

Activities to Do

• Neelkanth Mahadev temple visit

• Chaurasi Kutia walk

• Free afternoon by the river

• Second aarti at the ghat

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Rafting on the Ganga, where the season is still open. It usually runs to mid or late June, and your guide checks the day before.

• Rajaji National Park at the Chilla gate, 8 km from Rishikesh, if the park is still open. It normally closes on 15 June.

• A morning yoga or meditation class at an ashram, booked in advance.

• A cooking session with a local family, arranged on request.

Route: Rishikesh – Haridwar – Roorkee – Delhi Airport

Breakfast is unhurried, with a last look at the Ganga in Rishikesh, where it is still a mountain river. The road south retraces the route through Haridwar and Roorkee and crosses into the Delhi plain in the early afternoon.

Your trip lead drops you at the airport with time in hand. If your flight is late in the evening, an extra night in Rishikesh or a stop in Delhi can be added. The route changes with your plans, and the price follows.

Food

Breakfast at the hotel. A packed lunch or a stop at a highway restaurant on the way.