Rishikesh Fellowship Coverage by Anar Shah
OUR VISIT TO DEV BHOOMI – LAND OF THE GODS!
The Out-station fellowship committee organized a trip to Rishikesh from 1st to 4th March.
26 Rotarians & their spouses were part of the “Rishikesh Trippers” included Anar Shah – Co-Chairperson – Out-station fellowships, who had coordinated the trip, PP Ashish Vaid, Mudit & Malti Jain. Jimmy & Nawaz Pochkhanawala, Devoo & Indu Kothari, Ramesh Mehta & Anila Mehta, Nandan & Mridula Maluste, S V & Jaya Prasad, Anil & Neelam Goyel, Farouk & Soonuu Balsara, Swati & Sandesh Mayekar, Vijay, Dilnavaz & Hursh Meghani, Zinia Laywer, Ritu Desai & Shernaz Vakil.
From the moment we landed at Dehradun airport, we felt we were in “Dev Bhoomi” – Land of the Gods! We experienced the unique opportunity of staying on the banks of the holy Ganga and the foothills of the Himalayas at the “The Glasshouse of the Ganges” with a fabulous location – 25 km above Rishikesh. The hotel was the former hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal, beautifully maintained by Neemrana Hotels, and had such a serene and spiritual atmosphere, that the group did not want to leave to go anywhere else!
The first evening had us enjoying a beautiful Ganga arti at the banks of the Ganges which our hotel organized especially for us. This was followed by a barbeque nite with a bonfire at a picturesque location overlooking the river. The group enjoyed a superb range of grills followed by delicious local Garhwali dishes under a full moon.
The next day saw a part of the group go for white water rafting which was an exhilarating experience! Some of the others visited the famous Neelkanth temple. The afternoon saw us driving via some stunning landscapes to Dev Prayag which is the confluence of Alaknanda & Bhagirathi rivers from where it becomes the holy river Ganga. The highlight of the day was the fabulous flower Holi in the river to celebrate Holi! All of us thought it was one of the most memorable Holi celebrations ever.
On Day 3, we had a full day trip to the holy cities of Haridwar & Rishikesh which are some of the holiest places for Hindus. We floated flower boats and candles at the sacred Har Ki Pauri and prayed for the entire RCB family at Haridwar. We then proceeded to Rishikesh, which is considered the “yoga capital of the world.” It is dotted with ashrams where sages as well as people from across the world come for meditation and yoga. We visited the most famous ashram in Rishikesh, Parmath Niketan, which was the venue ofthe on-going International Yoga festival, with delegates from over 90 countries. We were privileged to be present at the famous evening Ganga arti at the ashram held in the august presence of Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, the head of Parmath Niketan. We were fortunate to be part of this sublime experience in this spiritual haven on the holy banks of the Ganga with none other than the renowned Sivamani playing the drums and leading the chanting.
The trip had everything – a range of physical activities including yoga, trekking, rafting and lots of walking; mouth watering meals, wonderful happy hours (thanks to Mudit & Malti for being excellent hosts for the evening drinks) and above all being in the lap of the Himalayas on the holy banks of Ma Ganga where we were spiritually awakened!