Hrishikesh
Encyclopedia
Rishikesh also spelled Hrishikesh, Rushikesh or Hrushikesh, is a city and a municipal board in Dehradun district
in the India
n state
of Uttarakhand
. Located in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, it is known as The Gateway to the Himalayas. Rishikesh is surrounded by two other districts namely Tehri Garhwal
and Pauri Garhwal. It is located around 25 km north of another holy city, Haridwar
. While Rishikesh has a permanent population of merely 60,000 (2001), the city attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrim
s and tourists each year, from within India, as well as from other countries. It is a vegetarian
city by law, an alcohol
-free city, and has also banned the use of plastic bag
s by shopkeepers and vendors.
that means 'lord of the senses'. The root words Hrishik and ish join together to make Hrishikesh. Hrishik means Senses and ish means master or Lord. Hence the word means Lord of Senses or Lord Vishnu. The place gets its name after Lord Vishnu
who appeared to 'Raibhya Rishi', as a result of his tapasya (austerities), as Lord Hrishikesh. In Skanda Purana
, this area is known as 'Kubjamrak' as Lord Vishnu appeared, under a mango tree.
The name Rishikesh is loosely applied to an association of five distinct sections encompassing not only the town but also hamlets and settlements on both sides of the river Ganges. These include Rishikesh itself, the commercial and communication hub; the sprawling suburb Muni-ki-Reti or the "sands of the sages"; Shivananda Nagar the home of Sivananda Ashram and the Divine Life Society
founded by Swami Sivananda
, north of Rishikesh; the temple section of Lakshman Jhula, a little further north; and the assorted Ashrams around Swarg Ashram on the east bank. One can reach the famous Neelakanta Maha Deva Temple from here. The Ganga Arati performed at dusk at the Triveni Ghat is popular with visitors. 'Neelkanth Mahadev Temple', situated 28 km from Rishikesh, amidst forest is also a popular local pilgrimage, along with 'Vasishtha Guha', (Cave of sage Vasishtha), 21 km up from the town by the Ganges.
). Legends state that Lord Rama did penance here for killing Ravana
, the demon king of Lanka
; and Lakshmana, his younger brother, crossed the river Ganges, at a point, where the present 'Lakshman Jhula
' (लक्ष्मण झूला) bridge stands today, using a jute rope bridge. The 'Kedar Khand' of Skanda Purana
, also mentions the existence of Indrakund at this very point. The jute-rope bridge was replaced by iron-rope suspension bridge
in 1889, and after it was washed away in the 1924 floods, it was replaced by a stronger present bridge.
The sacred river Ganges
flows through Rishikesh. It is here that the river leaves the Shivalik
mountains in the Himalayas
and flows out into the plains of northern India. Several temple
s, ancient as well as new, can be found along the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh.
Rishikesh, sometimes nicknamed "the world capital of Yoga", has numerous yoga
centres that also attract tourists. It is believed that meditation
in Rishikesh brings one closer to attainment of moksha
, as does a dip in the holy river that flows through it.
Rishikesh is world famous for Rafting and Adventure. Rafting season starts from the month of September and ends in March.
Rishikesh is also home to the 120-year old Kailas Ashram Brahmavidyapeetham, an institution dedicated to preserve and promote the traditional Vedantic Studies. Prominent personalities such as Swami Vivekananda
, Swami Rama Tirtha
and Swami Shivananda have studied in this institution.
In February 1968, The Beatles
visited the now-closed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
's ashram in Rishikesh. John Lennon
recorded a song titled, 'The Happy Rishikesh Song'. The Beatles composed nearly 48 songs during their time at the Maharishi's ashram, many of which appear on the White Album
. Several other artists visited the site to contemplate and meditate.
s (1,745 feet).
The Tehri dam
is just 80 km uphill on the way to Gangotri. Rishikesh is the starting point for traveling to the sites that form the Char Dham
pilgrimage — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri
.
, Rishikesh had a population of 59,671. Males constitute 56% of the population and females 44%. Rishikesh has an average literacy rate of 85%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 90%, and female literacy is 78%. In Rishikesh, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.
and backpacking. Recently, bungee jumping
has also been introduced in Rishikesh, the first and only bungee jumping camp in India.
Dehradun district
There are five railway stations in Dehradun:* Raiwala* Rishikesh* Doiwala* Harrawala* DehradunAirport...
in the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
. Located in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India, it is known as The Gateway to the Himalayas. Rishikesh is surrounded by two other districts namely Tehri Garhwal
Tehri Garhwal District
Tehri Garhwal is one of the largest districts in the hill state of Uttarakhand, India. Its administrative headquarters is at New Tehri. The district has a population of 604,747 , a 16.15% increase over the previous decade...
and Pauri Garhwal. It is located around 25 km north of another holy city, Haridwar
Haridwar
Haridwar is an important pilgrimage city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India...
. While Rishikesh has a permanent population of merely 60,000 (2001), the city attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s and tourists each year, from within India, as well as from other countries. It is a vegetarian
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
city by law, an alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
-free city, and has also banned the use of plastic bag
Plastic bag
A plastic bag, polybag, or pouch is a type of packaging made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or plastic textile. Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, comic books, chemicals and waste.Most plastic bags are...
s by shopkeepers and vendors.
Etymology
"" is a name of VishnuVishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
that means 'lord of the senses'. The root words Hrishik and ish join together to make Hrishikesh. Hrishik means Senses and ish means master or Lord. Hence the word means Lord of Senses or Lord Vishnu. The place gets its name after Lord Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
who appeared to 'Raibhya Rishi', as a result of his tapasya (austerities), as Lord Hrishikesh. In Skanda Purana
Skanda Purana
The Skanda Purana is the largest Mahapurana, a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text is devoted mainly to the lilas of Kartikeya , a son of Shiva and Parvati. It also contains a number of legends about Shiva, and the holy places associated with him...
, this area is known as 'Kubjamrak' as Lord Vishnu appeared, under a mango tree.
The name Rishikesh is loosely applied to an association of five distinct sections encompassing not only the town but also hamlets and settlements on both sides of the river Ganges. These include Rishikesh itself, the commercial and communication hub; the sprawling suburb Muni-ki-Reti or the "sands of the sages"; Shivananda Nagar the home of Sivananda Ashram and the Divine Life Society
Divine Life Society
The Divine Life Society is a religious organization and an ashram, founded by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in 1936, at Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh, India...
founded by Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda
Swami Sivananda Saraswati was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a proponent of Yoga and Vedanta. Sivananda was born Kuppuswami in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He studied medicine and served in Malaya as a physician for several years before taking up monasticism...
, north of Rishikesh; the temple section of Lakshman Jhula, a little further north; and the assorted Ashrams around Swarg Ashram on the east bank. One can reach the famous Neelakanta Maha Deva Temple from here. The Ganga Arati performed at dusk at the Triveni Ghat is popular with visitors. 'Neelkanth Mahadev Temple', situated 28 km from Rishikesh, amidst forest is also a popular local pilgrimage, along with 'Vasishtha Guha', (Cave of sage Vasishtha), 21 km up from the town by the Ganges.
History
Rishikesh has been a part of the legendary 'Kedarkhand' (the present day GarhwalGarhwal Division
Garhwal is the north-western region and administrative division of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand which is home to the Garhwali people. Lying in the Himalayas, It is bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east by Kumaon region, on the south by Uttar Pradesh state, and on the north-west by...
). Legends state that Lord Rama did penance here for killing Ravana
Ravana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
, the demon king of Lanka
Lanka
Sri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
; and Lakshmana, his younger brother, crossed the river Ganges, at a point, where the present 'Lakshman Jhula
Lakshman Jhula
Lakshman Jhula is an iron suspension bridge situated in Rishikesh in Indian state of Uttarakhand . It is made over river Ganges to cross the river and is a landmark of Rishikesh....
' (लक्ष्मण झूला) bridge stands today, using a jute rope bridge. The 'Kedar Khand' of Skanda Purana
Skanda Purana
The Skanda Purana is the largest Mahapurana, a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text is devoted mainly to the lilas of Kartikeya , a son of Shiva and Parvati. It also contains a number of legends about Shiva, and the holy places associated with him...
, also mentions the existence of Indrakund at this very point. The jute-rope bridge was replaced by iron-rope suspension bridge
Simple suspension bridge
A simple suspension bridge is an early type of bridge that is supported entirely from anchors at either end, and has no towers or piers. However, it may have saddles...
in 1889, and after it was washed away in the 1924 floods, it was replaced by a stronger present bridge.
The sacred river Ganges
Ganges River
The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...
flows through Rishikesh. It is here that the river leaves the Shivalik
Siwalik Hills
The Sivalik hills is a mountain range of the outer Himalayas also known as Manak Parbat in ancient times. Shivalik literally means 'tresses of Shiva’. This range is about long enclosing an area that starts almost from the Indus and ends close to the Brahmaputra, with a gap of about between the...
mountains in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
and flows out into the plains of northern India. Several temple
Hindu temple
A Mandir, Devalayam, Devasthanam, or a Hindu temple is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism...
s, ancient as well as new, can be found along the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh.
Yoga Center
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
centres that also attract tourists. It is believed that meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
in Rishikesh brings one closer to attainment of moksha
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
, as does a dip in the holy river that flows through it.
Rishikesh is world famous for Rafting and Adventure. Rafting season starts from the month of September and ends in March.
Rishikesh is also home to the 120-year old Kailas Ashram Brahmavidyapeetham, an institution dedicated to preserve and promote the traditional Vedantic Studies. Prominent personalities such as Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
, Swami Rama Tirtha
Swami Rama Tirtha
Swami Ram Tirth , also known as Swami Ram, was an Indian teacher of the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta. He was among the first notable teachers of Hinduism to lecture in the United States, traveling there in 1902. He was preceded by Swami Vivekananda in 1893, and followed by Paramahansa Yogananda in...
and Swami Shivananda have studied in this institution.
In February 1968, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
visited the now-closed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , born Mahesh Prasad Varma , developed the Transcendental Meditation technique and was the leader and guru of the TM movement, characterised as a new religious movement and also as non-religious...
's ashram in Rishikesh. John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
recorded a song titled, 'The Happy Rishikesh Song'. The Beatles composed nearly 48 songs during their time at the Maharishi's ashram, many of which appear on the White Album
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
. Several other artists visited the site to contemplate and meditate.
Geography
Rishikesh is located at 30.103368°N 78.294754°E. It has an average elevation of 372 metreMetre
The metre , symbol m, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units . Originally intended to be one ten-millionth of the distance from the Earth's equator to the North Pole , its definition has been periodically refined to reflect growing knowledge of metrology...
s (1,745 feet).
The Tehri dam
Tehri dam
The Tehri Dam is a multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand, India. It is the primary dam of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd. and the Tehri hydroelectric complex...
is just 80 km uphill on the way to Gangotri. Rishikesh is the starting point for traveling to the sites that form the Char Dham
Char Dham
The Chota Char Dham , is an important Hindu pilgrimage circuit in the Indian Himalayas...
pilgrimage — Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri
Yamunotri
Yamunotri is the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the Goddess Yamuna in Hinduism. It is situated at an altitude of in the Garhwal Himalayas and located approximately North of Uttarkashi, the headquarters of the Uttarkashi district in the Garhwal Division of Uttarakhand, India...
.
Demographics
India censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Rishikesh had a population of 59,671. Males constitute 56% of the population and females 44%. Rishikesh has an average literacy rate of 85%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 90%, and female literacy is 78%. In Rishikesh, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Adventure sports
Rishikesh is becoming a popular spot for white water rafting enthusiasts, both from India and abroad, as it offers medium to rough rapids in the course of river Ganges, with rapids rated class 3 and class 4. It is also a center for hikingHiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
and backpacking. Recently, bungee jumping
Bungee jumping
Bungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that...
has also been introduced in Rishikesh, the first and only bungee jumping camp in India.