Haridwar

Haridwar is one of four cities hosting the Kumbh Mela, and at Har Ki Pauri the river leaves the Himalaya for the plain — pilgrims bathe at the ghat where a footprint in stone is said to be Vishnu's. The evening aarti sends hundreds of leaf boats with lamps downstream, and the 2010 Kumbh here drew crowds counted in the tens of millions.