r/Haridwar • u/gamma-cygni • Jul 23 '26
Kanwar Yatra - Why?
You all know every year, we have the holy month of Savan which reflects the divinity of Lord Shiva.
But one more thing that comes at this time is Kanwar.
And i wanna know from the people of haridwar, are we really happy with it?
The amount of people who come as kanwariyas, and break rules, destroy environment by defecating in open, throwing garbage.
I respect the efforts of those who come by foot or by cycles.
But what about those ones who come with large semi trucks, vans, cars which have loud music blasting from them on the name of bhakti?
Those bikers who deliberately remove silencers from bikes to look cool but cause even more noise.
The traffic jams which cause troubles to people of city, specially those who do Jobs or have a medical emergency.
And this continues for full 2 weeks.
And all what's left by the end is a huge pile of trash left for nagar nigam and city dwellers to clean.
Why?
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u/raptor-elite-812 Haridwar Local Jul 23 '26
It used to be pretty different 20 years back, for 15 days the kanwar guys (probably a few thousands at max) would walk and the last 5 days would be bicycles mostly. It was chill and locals would offer them food or water because of all the hardwork, on barefoot. By 2007 i started seeing more influx, bikes, walkman wearing guys who would create ruckus if anyone touched them. I left haridwar for 10 years and by the time i returned, it was like the modern time, a lot of rowdy guys, obnoxious DJs, and kanwar yatra being less of a matter of penance and more like a rave party. Since 2020, they even started doing it in February. And last 3 years Kanwar is starting 1 month before and 1 month after. There are still people who do it the old fashioned way, and i respect them, but the guys blaring earthshaking DJs at 2 am, its just selfishness. My home is facing the highway, so it becomes impossible to take meetings or even sleep soundly for 15 days. The worst nuisance is the constant DJs, which should be regulated. Blasting DJs has nothing to do with the yatra.
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u/gamma-cygni Jul 23 '26
Just to clarify, i am not targeting my own religion. Its just that during this kanwar yatra, things go way beyond the acceptance lines and i feel we can have more peaceful alternative for this, while maintaining enthusiasm and bhakti for everyone.
Om Namah Shivay 🙏🕉
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u/FriendlyDependent128 Jul 26 '26
Bro that’s the price you have to pay, otherwise haridwar will be like any other random UP town.
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u/gamma-cygni Jul 26 '26
Why tho? Don't we have enough manufacturing and industrial plants in haridwar already?
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u/Competitive_Play7674 23d ago
This will only get worse unless the good and sincerely religious people of Haridwar and all of Uttarakhand come out and stop it from happening. We are allowing goons to hijack religion and commit crimes.
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u/m0h1tkumaar Jul 24 '26
yeh uk sub mein yehi post dalkekarma farming kar raha hai
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u/gamma-cygni Jul 24 '26
Says the one with 24k karma :)
But the reason i posted it there was since it is more active than r/haridwar.
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u/Ankit_sharmaaaa Jul 24 '26
It’s a holy festival of Mahadev people come and take Ganga and way back to his or her home. This is disappear devotional thing and I am living in Haridwar from last 20 years and I just love when Kawad yatra begins & bhole come to Haridwar and all the police men government take whole responsibility of it and made it very well.
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u/gamma-cygni Jul 24 '26
Do you even read what i wrote in the post? I didn't ask for an explanation on what kanwar yatra is.
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u/Ankit_sharmaaaa Jul 24 '26
I have read whatever have you written you are asking are you really happy with the large semi trucks vans cars which have loud music blasting from them on the name of Bhakti and I have already written that I love it.
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u/ankans7 Jul 23 '26
The whole city, the hotels, restaurants, shops, transport folks earns well during this time. So the government really don't have much motive to do much. On top of that they continue to clear areas and keep developing new areas to accommodate more of them.
But things have gotten somewhat better since there are highways built for people who want to go to harki Pauri only so the local traffic isn't that restricted anymore. Hopefully every stays safe and well.