Our Trip to Rishikesh

Rishikesh in March is a great travel destination. The ashram where we stayed is located on a beautiful spot in Rishikesh, on the banks of the Ganga river. (It’s Swami Dayananda ji’s ashram).

The magnificent Ganga with the gorgeous mountains as the backdrop makes one feel really small and insignificant.

Here are a few pictures of the river taken from the ashram. The second picture is that of the beautiful ashram itself.

We made a one-day trip to Devprayag which is 75km up the hill from Rishikesh. The confluence of the two rivers – a serene Alaknanda with its gentle flow and a turbulent Bhagirathi – is a great sight to behold. And, the famous temple of Raghupati which is special for Tamil Iyengars is located at the top of a hillock challenging the devout to climb and show proof of their devotion. The temple is classified as a Divya Desam where the saint Thirumangai Azhwar sang hymns in praise of the lord. The steps leading to the temple are very steep indeed. With no supports to hold on to, I would even say it is dangerous, especially because at a few places the steps were wet and slippery. Encouraged by my wife, I too climbed. Luckily, we came back in one piece!!

Have a look at the beautiful pictures taken at the sangamam (or confluence).

While the first 5 days of our stay in Rishikesh were bright, sunny, and pleasant, on the last two days, there was a hail storm and thundershowers. Temperatures dipped forcing us to take out warm clothes. We dared the rains and took a walk along the river on the last day. The same river and hills presented a completely different spectacle. Walking in such a setting was indeed a surreal experience. We got drenched in the rain and as a reward got a good cup of tea when we returned to the ashram.

See below a few photos of the same river and the hills while it was raining.

The ashram conducts spiritual lectures every day. We had 3 talks daily – two on Upanishad and one on Bhagavadgita. The Upanishad taught to us was Mandukya dealing with Omkara and its identification with the highest state of consciousness, that is, Brahman (In Vedic terms, it is called ”ekatwam” between Om and Brahman).

I had a couple of debates with Swamiji. I questioned how can one equate Omkara, which is man-made with the highest God principle, that is Brahman. Brahman is absolute, whereas Om is put together by human thought. At best, Omkara is a symbol for Brahman..nothing more, nothing less.

I welcome readers’ comments on this.