Har Ki Pauri

Har Ki Pauri is the best-known ghat in Haridwar and a standard day trip from Rishikesh. This guide covers its history, Ganga Aarti timings and what to expect.

Har Ki Pauri is a sacred ghat on the west bank of the Ganges in Haridwar, the pilgrim city at the point where the river leaves the Himalayan foothills for the plains. The name is usually translated as 'the feet of Vishnu'. By tradition the ghat was built by King Vikramaditya in the 1st century BC as a memorial to his brother Bharthari.

After a crush at the 1819 Kumbh Mela killed hundreds of pilgrims, the British authorities widened the steps, and further renovations followed in 1938 and 1986; the clock tower on the ghat dates from 1938. The Brahmakund, the main ritual bathing area, is where pilgrims bathe and float leaf lamps (diyas) on the river. Har Ki Pauri is the central site of the Kumbh Mela, held every twelve years, and of the Ardh Kumbh every six.

Each evening at sunset priests perform the Ganga Aarti, with lamps, bells and chanting, and a smaller aarti is held in the morning. Haridwar is a road trip downstream from Rishikesh, so many visitors combine the two in a day. Dress modestly, and expect large crowds at aarti time, on festival days and during the Kanwar pilgrimage.