Yet along the river, it’s just after Rishikesh that the Ganga meets another block in her path – the largest having been the infamous Tehri Dam around 150 kilometers upstream from here – except this one is a barrage. A barrage is a type of dam that consists of a line of large sluice gates that can be opened or closed to control the cusec of water passing through them. The gates are set between equidistant flanking piers, which are responsible for supporting the water volume and are often used to control and stabilize the water flow of rivers for irrigation systems.[break]
The Pashulok Barrage dam was created here to divert water into a canal on the east bank of the river, which feeds water to the Chilla Power Plant located four kilometers upstream from the famed town of Haridwar.
The name Haridwar literally means Gateway of Hari or the gods, and is one of the most spiritually important places in India. In Hindu mythology, the gods were supposed to have spilled four drops of amrit (nectar of eternal life) whilst churning the cosmic oceans.The towns upon which the nectar fell are Nasik, Ujjain, Allahabad and Haridwar.
The one in Haridwar is found at Brahmankund, a little pond at the Har-ki-Pauri Ghat that literally means “Feet of the Lord” as there’s a footprint on a stone wall there, allegedly belonging to Lord Vishnu. This may be seen in the temple next to the Brahmankund. Being the designated place where Vishnu’s foot was supposed to have pierced the skin of the Milky Way by mistake, thus releasing Ganga, Hindus believe that the universe started from here. It’s also said that Lord Brahma performed a yagya (sacrifice) at this place in order to create the world. All in all, it’s a sure way of telling us that Haridwar couldn’t get holier than this!
A brainchild of a British colonel, Sir Proby Cautley, digging began on the Upper Ganga Canal in April 1842 as it was felt that an irrigation system was necessary after a disastrous famine in 1837-38 in which nearly ten million (one crore) Rupees were spent on relief works, resulting in considerable loss of revenue to the British East India Company.
There were many obstacles and objections to Colonel Cautley’s project, mainly financial ones. But he persevered, and after spending six months surveying and taking measurements throughout the area, he managed to persuade the British East India Company to sponsor the project. Indeed, fired at such high temperatures, the locally kilned bricks used in the construction of the canal still don’t allow water to seep through its sides even to this day, plus it operates entirely by gravity.
Initially, the Hindu priests at Haridwar opposed the project as they felt that the waters of the holy River Ganga would be thus imprisoned. But Cautley pacified them by agreeing to leave a six-feet-wide slit in the weir that controls the flow of the river into the canal system so that it could maintain Ganga’s flows unimpeded down to the sea. He further appeased them by undertaking the repair of the bathing ghats along the riverbanks and inaugurated the dam with a worship of Lord Ganesh, the god of good beginnings.
When the canal formally opened on April 8, 1854 by Governor-General Lord Dalhousie, its main channel was 560km long, its branches 492km long and the various tributaries over 4,800km long. By May 1855, over 3,100km2 in 5,000 villages were being irrigated.
The roads of Haridwar town are typically flanked by a melee of shops selling all sorts of religious paraphernalia, and hawkers roam the streets haggling with passersby to purchase items from puja offerings to small statues and music CDs of bhajans (devotional hymns). Being the holiest of the holiest Hindu places, it’s one of the ultimate pilgrimages for Hindus and one where many will come to hand over the ashes of their cremated loved ones to the tender flow of River Ganga. Everyone is ready to dig into their pockets here, as generosity at such a place is thought to contain meritorious ends.
However, even though Ganga proper doesn’t flow through Haridwar but only her diverted waters within the Upper Ganga canal, the Har-ki-Pauri ghat is undoubtedly the most famous attraction of the Haridwar pilgrimage and the natural destination for thousands of tourists each day.
People from all over India come here to have various rituals performed for their dead relatives or newborns. Christenings, barsis (a ceremony one year after someone has died), a havan mundan (head-shaving ceremony) or a pind daan (offering of the ashes and bones of a deceased) are also among other rites. Pandits (Hindi priests) pray on behalf of their customers as they know the mantras and carry out the requisite prayers for them.
To become qualified for such a position, one will most probably do a course of Hindu studies at university and then a specified course at a special purohit school where one learns all the mantras and shastras from acharyas and Vedic scholars.
Each area of India has a different pandit in charge of it and the visits of people from these areas are recorded in large ledger books according to the places they have come from. These records go back to centuries.
As the center of the universe, Har-ki-Pauri ghat is also the location of the evening aarti puja that’s possibly the most interactive of the three Ganga aartis in India, the others being in the holy cities of Rishikesh and Varanasi. It almost certainly has the deepest appeal to pilgrims.
I go along tentatively to the ghat one winter evening as dusk starts to fall. On my way down, I buy some items to offer at the puja. I find a crowd of people already gathering to take part, including many pandits and babas. Others are still bathing in the fast flowing waters that pass this point, grasping onto iron chains that are fixed to the walls to aid the dip.
The aarti takes place facing the river and is a devotional ritual using fire as an offering in the form of lit lamps, as well as smaller offerings of candles and flowers that are sent floating down the river on sturdy plate-sized leafs. During the ceremony, the pandits circle the lamps around in a clockwise manner in front of their bodies, accompanied by chanting or songs in praise of Mother Ganga. Idols of various gods, loudspeakers, clanging bells, singing, incenses, flowers and flames are in full force, creating a very atmospheric and heated experience. I sincerely feel a sense of unified spiritual force at play.
After the ritual is complete, I watch the devotees cup their hands over the flame and raise their palms to their forehead in order to get the Goddess’s purification and blessing as the lamps are meant to actually acquire the power of the deity.
One pujari comes up to me and requests a 500-Rupee offering as I had apparently been sitting in the “expensive” part of the ghat. I feel a little under pressure, but I hand over the money, in return for a “special blessing.” I hold out my hand and receive a pinch of multi-colored flower petals and a sprinkle of water. Perhaps I’m also going to receive something that’s not entirely visible, I ponder.
The writer is an author, filmmaker and photographer whose works are displayed at www.pyramidkey.com
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