Haridwar is situated on the right bank of the river Ganga, Uttarakhand. Haridwar is the sacred place which is venerated as the gateway to Hari. This celestial place is the gateway to the holy pilgrims Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamnotri, nestled in Uttarakhand. Haridwar is regarded as one of the holiest places among the seven holy pilgrims to Hindus. Haridwar is the holy spot where the celestial river Ganga rushes down from the flourishing Himalayan edges; this is the place where the Yakshas and the Devas got the spectacle of Lord Vishnu. According to the Hindu mythology, Hindus take dip in the sacred Ganges to liberate from the worldly sins.


History of Hardwar
In the ancient years, Haridwar came to be known as Mayapuri, Gangadwar and Tapovan. This sacred place is a place of pilgrimage from time immemorial. Haridwar is among the four places where once after every twelve years Kumbh Mela is celebrated. According to the Hindu mythology, Haridwar is the holy spot where Amrit (nectar), the drink of gods that grants immortality fell.

Origin of sacred practice of Kumbh Mela is probably as old as the time of Samudra Manthan, when the Gods and the asuras were busy in collection of Amrit (nectar). To prevent the amrit vessel from going into the hands of the asuras, the devtas handled it to the four Gods, namely Brahaspati, Surya, Chandra and Shani. After understanding the conspiracy of the Devtas, the Asuras chased the four devtas for pursuing the Amrit Kalash. This continued until twelve days and nights, in the process the Lords ran round the Earth and had hidden the Amrit Kalash in four different places namely Haridwar, Prayag, Ujjain and Nasik.

Geography of Hardwar
Haridwar district is located in the southwest part of Uttarakhand state, India covering an area about 2360km. Its latitude and longitude are 29.96 degree north and 78.16 degree east respectively. It is situated at a height of 249.7 meters between Shiwalik Hills in the North and North East and Ganga River in the South.

Haridwar is the holy city and municipal board in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. Haridwar is the first and prominent town where Ganga emerges to touch the plains. The water of River Ganga is normally cold and clean in every season except in the rainy season because during this time the soil from the upper regions flows down into the river. As far as the temperature of the city is concerned, the summer temperature ranges from 15 øC to 39.8øC and during the winter season the temperature is between 6øC - 16.6øC.

Demography of Hardwar
According to the census of 2001, Hardwar has a population of 2, 95,213. There are more males than females in the region and the literacy rate in Hardwar is 70 percentage and the literacy rate among males is more than the literacy rate of females and the population under the age of six in the region is equal to 6 percent.

Education of Hardawar
As far as educational facilities of the region are concerned it can be said that it caters to the need of higher education as well as primary education. There are several premium institutes in the region like Indian Institute of Technology, Roorke, College of Engineering Roorke, Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya and a lot more. Besides the institutes of higher education there are also several schools like the Delhi Public School and Kendriya Vidyalaya which looks into the need of primary education of the children of the region.

Tourism in Hardwar
Haridwar is the heart of the pilgrimage centers of Uttarakhand. Haridwar is also called Ganga-Dwara, because the holy Ganges enters the plains here. This is one of the seven holy cities in India. The popular centers of pilgrimage of Hardwar are namely the Gangadwara (Hari-Ki-Pauri), Kushwart, Bilwa Teerth (Mansa Devi), Neel Parvat (Chandi Devi) and Kankhal. There are also some important temples in the region of Hardwar which attracts tourists in large numbers throughout the year. Some of the popular temples of the region are Vaishno Devi temple, Gauri Shankar Temple and Bharat Mata temple. Besides the temples there are several spiritual places in Hardwar which gives solace and mental peace to the visitors. The well known places among those where tourists throng in large numbers are Anandamayee Ma Ashram and the Daksha Mahadev temple.

Tourism in Hardwar is not limited to mere centers of pilgrimages there are also some places of adventure in the region. One such place of the region is Chila Wildlife Sanctuary.

Hardwar as a city has a lot of importance with regard to pilgrimage but a tourist has a lot to explore when he reaches Hardwar. There are many places around the region like Neel Dhara Pakshi Vihar, Bhimgoda Tank, JaiRam Ashram, Sapt Rishi Ashram and Sapt Sarovar, Parad Shivling, Doodhadhari Barfani Temple and Sureshwari Devi Temple which satisfies a visitor to the fullest extent.

How to reach Haridwar
By Air:
The nearest airport is the Jolly Grant airport, Dehradun. Daily schedules of two flights of Deccan airlines head from Indira Gandhi international airport, Delhi.

By Train:
There are frequent trains connected from the major cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, Howrah, Varanasi, Allahabad, Ujjain, Amritsar, Lucknow etc.

By Road:
Haridwar situated on the main highway no. 45 is well connected to all major cities and states that are Agra(386km), Ambala(168km), Badrinath(325km), Delhi(214km), Dehradun(52km), Kedarnath (250 km), Saharanpur (81 km), Nainital (286 km).

Haridwar is the holy place of pilgrim where many religious festivals are celebrated and devotees congregate here from all parts of India. Its most noteworthy festivals are the Kumbh mela that is held once after every twelve years. This festival rotates midst the four regions viz. Haridwar, Allahabad, Ujjain and Nasik. The Ardh mela or half mela is held after every six years. Both the festivals will take part in Haridwar in the forthcoming year 2010.

The general yearly festivals that are celebrated in Hyderabad are Baisakhi in the moth of April, Kanwar Mela in July and Somwati Amavasya in July. Kartik Purnima, is celebrated 15 days after Diwali on the first night of the full moon day in November.

Haridwar is overfilled with accommodation facilities ranging from high class to mid-range hotels. Also there are plenty of dharmashalas and ashrams in Haridwar. Tourists also have the choice of tourist lodges. Most of the accommodations are situated in the market place or near the river Ganga facing the ghats.