Sandra, Day 9
After two days of relaxing at the Spa and checking out the main shopping street in Dehradun it was time again for another Sightseeing trip.
Today i was all on my own since Kevin had already left India. Rajan picked me up at 9am as usual and we started our way towards Haridwar.
First we made a quick stop at Laxman Sidh Temple aka Sri Laxman Sidh Peeth. It is located near village Harrawala, 11 kilometers from Dehradun. Lakshman, brother of Lord Rama has meditated here to absolve himself from the sin of killing a Brahmin.
After another hour of driving we arrived in Haridwar aka Hardwar. In Hindi, Haridwar stands for Dwar of Hari, which means Gateway to God. Haridwar is a holy city located at the Ganges, also known as Ganga. Millions of pilgrims, devotees, and tourists congregate here from all over the world to celebrate the Kumbha Mela once every 3 years. They perform ritualistic bathing on the banks of the river Ganga to wash away their sins.
There is a temple on the hilltop on each side of the Ganges. The Chandi Devi Temple is dedicated to Goddess Chandi and is located atop the “Neel Parvat” on the eastern bank of river Ganga. The temple of Goddess Mansa Devi (literally meaning the Goddess who fulfills desires) is located at the top of “Bilwa Parwat”
After a fun ride on a Trishaw through the city we moved on to see some more temples near Hardidwar. First temple we visited was Vaishno Devi Mandir. This temple looked more like a european funfair attraction to me than a temple. To go through the temple you have to follow a given path and crawl through a dark tunnel. The temple was full of colorful pictures, idols and figures. At the middle of the temple my battery for the camera was empty, so we finished the path through the temple and went back to the car to change the battery and then go back inside again 
Next we walked to Bhooma Niketan Temple in Hardiwar which was just like another funfair attraction with dark tunnels, wallpaintings ect. I had to pay 35 rupees to take pictures inside which isnt much and better than taking no pictures like in some other temples.
Last we went to visit Bharat Mata Mandir Temple which is a temple with 8 floors. Every floor is devoted to a different theme but it wasnt allowed to take pictures at all. Because of this i forgot to take at least one picture from the outside :-/
After all this was a long and interesting day and i am looking forward to our trip to Rishikesh tomorrow.
