Rishikesh

 A travel in the Himalayan region and the state of Uttarakhand is a pilgrimage in itself. As we stop at Rishikesh, we admire the beauty of the night, the stilllness, the quiet, the unpolluted air and the sounds of silence. The hotel Ganga resort is divinity personified for we can see the Ganga flowing by from our window and its different moods as the evening  goes by. This is at the other end of the town and one can see a very clean Ganga flowing by. As per legends, it was at Rishikesh that Ram had done penance and meditated after killing Ravan. It was here that  Lakshman had crossed the Ganges with a jute rope where the present bridge, the Lakshman jhula stands. As we travel by road and reach Devprayag, one can see the three rivers that later become Ganga. It is at Devprayag that, Alakhnanda, Mandakini and Bhagirathi meet and flow as one. From here the river flows as one and is known as Ganga. One  can see the light green of Bhagirathi, coming from Kedarnath and the dark water of Alakhnanda, coming from Badrinath and Mandakini a tributary of Alakhnanda. Massive road widening projects are being carried out in the mountains and while the traffic is much eased at few places, others are still filled with a lot of dust, stones and ruble as the mountains are cut  for road widening. A lovely drive through the lush green mountains on the road side. A definite treat to the eye. When I come to this region, I am tempted to once again start for the pilgrimage to Yamnotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, which I have done once few years back and not sure if I can do it again.