The tesu flowers are traditionally used for colour-play in the spring festival of Holi. Tesu flowers are boiled in water to give a fragrant, deep yellow water which has medicinal properties and prevents skin problems in the coming summer.
Enjoy the kaleidoscopic coming and going of families from cities and villages for bathing and worshipping here. Walk a little further up from Har ki Pauri to find almost vacant ghats behind the looming Lord Shiva statue on the highway to Rishikesh. Geese, gulls and a few black cormorants are great company here.
A few snapshots of the wild and familiar flora on the banks of Neel dhara Ganga, capture a feel of the place…
Haridwar’s older name is Mayapur, after the founding deity Maya Devi. The ancient temple of Maya Devi in the Joona akhara houses the trinity: Ma Saraswati, Maya Devi and Ma Kamakhya.