India is a country that I didn’t always have on my travel list. It’s really far away from Minnesota (like really far), it’s highly likely that something (food, water, pollution) will make a foreigner sick, and the culture is completely unfamiliar. But when the opportunity to go somewhere as other as India pops up, you don’t say no.
Everyone and anyone who has been there before will tell you their stories and what they experienced in India and the stories range from horrific to life changing. Knowing that some people had some really unfortunate experiences in India was scary, but I wanted to experience it for myself and make up my own mind about how I would think and feel about India.
In the span of two and a half weeks, I along with friends and classmates as part of my graduate studies, covered a pretty decent amount of ground in Northern India. I learned so much and saw so much but here I will highlight some of my favorite moments and experiences from each city we visited. Learnings from India deserves its own post.
2.5 weeks in Northern India Itinerary:
1 day in Delhi
1 full travel day
4 days in Haridwar
4 days in Rishikesh
1 full travel day
1 day in Agra
1 full travel day
4 days in Jaipur
Delhi
It was hard to really get a grasp on this city in such a short amount of time but a highlight for me was visiting Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, a Sikh temple. The complex was large and included a pool full of holy water, a kitchen and large dining hall, and an area for worship and prayer. One of the main components of Sikh religion is inclusiveness. The kitchen actually pumps out 10,000 meals per day that are offered for free to anyone who wishes to eat – prepared completely by volunteers and with donated food, which was a really cool thing to see. It was one of the first places we went in the city and I was kind of in a dreamlike state from the jet lag and traveling, so arriving here was a little bit of peace away from the chaos of Delhi streets.
The experience itself was incredibly sensory. We walked with heads covered in bare feet as shoes are not allowed in the complex, and feeling all the sensations of cold marble, cement, water, and oil on my feet along with smelling naan frying and rice cooking and hearing some calming music in the background was all very new to me. It was a beautiful temple – the sun creating sparkles on the surface of the pool, the white and gold of the building against the light blue sky creating a tranquil place that locals no doubt come to feel at peace.
Haridwar and Rishikesh
In both of these places I stayed in ashrams and didn’t have a ton of time for exploring, but I am combining them because my highlight in both places is seeing and feeling and experiencing the Ganges River – or the Ganga in Hindi. My first glimpse of the Ganga in Haridwar was through the streaked windows of a bus, and it was so much more beautiful than I ever expected and I didn’t even really think much of seeing this river before my arrival. The eternal smog in India, however difficult it makes breathing, makes for a really beautiful picture with the backdrop of colorful buildings, streets filled with dogs and monkeys and of course the Ganga.
In Rishikesh, I had the opportunity to get up close to the Ganga by participating in a ceremony called Ganga Aarti. The Ganga is the holiest river in India, and many people come to places like Rishikesh just to pay their respects, dip their feet in the water, and send hopes and prayers to the Goddess Ganga. Aarti is a ceremony meant to embody the physical send off of dreams, prayers, and wishes by lighting a candle and placing it in the middle of a boat full of red, gold and pink flowers, before sending it down the river. Other aspects of the ceremony include music, lamps lit with fire, and other rituals often performed for the public on the bank of the river outside of an ashram.
While sending off the flaming flower boats, I felt the chill of the Ganga with my bare feet, taking a few steps into the rivers cleansing and healing waters. (not actually super clean, but you know what I mean). Without really understanding the significance of what I was doing, putting my feet in the water and thinking about my hopes for the year to come was a moment that I already knew would be really special.
Highlights from Agra and Jaipur up next.