Episode-1: New Delhi to Haridwar

The Rishikesh, Haridwar and Roorkee form the magic triangle as viewed on the map. There are no trains to Haridwar and the only way to reach here was a road trip. My parents, along with my uncle, aunt and cousins, started on a road trip from New Delhi to come to Haridwar, our first destination of the trip.

Our obvious choice was to visit the Patanjali Yogapeeth in Haridwar. Sprawling over a 100 acres, this Yogapeeth is an authentic centre for learning Yoga, Ayurveda Ayurvedic Panchkarm, Yogic Satkarm & Naturopathy. Much of the Vedic principles and lifestyle in India have been destroyed due to continued invasions and in a bid to impinge upon the Western Culture, yet the West now thoroughly recognizes the value of the Yoga and Vedic systems, and has fully adopted it as a part of its own lifestyle.

The statue of Maharshi Charak auspices the entrance and introduces the youth to the Indian legacy. A sage who continued the tradition of travel to gain wisdom, Maharshi Charak travelled extensively and scripted the Charak Samhita, his treatise on medical treatment of the human body that gave the world the unique gift of freedom from disease.

The Yogapeeth educates also the students and disciples the Yogic way of living and leading one’s life. The atmosphere around is enough to charge up the energy levels of a layman. Thousands of people from across the globe flock here to learn the basic techniques of Yoga and Patanjali Yogapeeth came as a revolution to awake the Indian youth to realize the Yogic System of Living.  The rest have followed the course so far.

We took a stroll of the Yogapeeth and bought some Ayurvedic products from their inventory. As we explored the place, we came across the small canteen which served delicious vegetarian food. The mouth watering jalebis was calling us and it was time to take a bite.

It was time to continue our journey ahead and move to Rishikesh. The sun was about to set and we continued our journey further to reach Rishikesh, from where the next day would be spent exploring Rishikesh and then travelling further to Joshimath.