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| Shiva Statue in Haridwar |
History of Haridwar District
Haridwar : 8th District of Uttarakhand State, comes in Garhwal Mandal
Haridwar District: Formed on 28 December 1988
Ancient names of Haridwar District: Mayawati, Gate of the Gods, Mayurpur, Kaopil or Kopila, Maya, Lord Shiva's City
Nicknames of Haridwar District: Gangadwar, Gate of pilgrimages, Kumbh Nagri, Sethu Nagar, Kerala of North India, Venice of the East, Shrine
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HARIDWAR DISTRICT |
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AREA |
2360 sq km |
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POPULATION |
1890422 |
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LITERACY RATE |
73.43% |
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TEHSIL/BLOCK |
04 / 06 |
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VILLAGES |
643 |
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MUNICIPAL CORPORATION |
2 |
About Haridwar
Haridwar is a very special city of the Garhwal region,
which is situated on the right bank of the Ganges between the
Shivalik range of “Bilva” and the “Nil”
mountains”, from where the Ganga descends into the plains.
From 1988 till the formation of the state, it was
comes in Saharanpur division but after its formation, made a
district of “Garhwal Division”.
Haridwar has been named in the Puranas and Sanskrit
literature by the names of Gangadwar, Gate of the Gods,
Gateway to the Shrines, Gate of the Four Dhammas, Swargadwar, Mayapuri or Maya
Kshetra etc.
The worshipers of Shiva who go on a journey
to Kedarnath are called Hardwar connecting it
with Shiva.
Vaishnavism travelers who visit Badrinath are called Haridwar.
It is believed that before the Ramayana period, there was the
ashram of Kapil Muni, in which Indra had secretly tied the horse Ashwamedha
Yagya of Suryavanshi king Sagara, while searching the horse, the 60000 Sagara
son reached the ashram of Kapil Muni and called Kapil Muni abusive on which
Kapil Muni Angry and devoured them with his curse. Later Bhagiratha, the descendant of Sagara, did penance to bring the Ganges to earth and saved his
spiritual descendants from the curse of Kapil Muni.
Haridwar is also called “Kapila” in the name
of “Kapil Muni”.
It is believed that
Dhritarashtra, Gandhari and Vidur had renounced their bodies and
Vidur had narrated the Mahabharata story to the Maithriya sage here.
The Ganges had to flow through seven streams here due to the
Saptarishi doing penance at this place.
According to Jain texts, 1000 years ago, the first Jain
pilgrimage, Lord Adinath did penance by staying in Mayapuri Haridwar.
Historians have considered it as Balu Nagar, the Geru Mirdhbhaand
culture, whose period is believed to be between 1200 and 1700 BC.
It is believed that
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| Har-Ki-Pauri in Haridwar |
Around 2056, King Bhartrihari, elder brother of King Vikramaditya
of Ujjain meditated on the Shivalik range of Haridwar and composed two great
texts (Niti Shatak and Vairagya Shatak)
King Vikramaditya built Paudiyan (Stairs) on the Ganges, in memory
of his brother (Bhartrihari), who was called Paidi. Over the years, this has called
“Har Ki Paidi”, Vikramaditya had also built a building here which is still
known as "Dat Wali Haveli".
It is believed that
Chinese traveler Hensang came to Haridwar in 634, he called this
city "Mo-Yo- Lo" and Ganga as “Maha
Bhadra”.
Cunningham refers to "Mo-Yo-Lo" from Mayurpur.
It is believed that
Timurlang came to Haridwar in 1399. Its historian Saruddin has
called Haridwar as “Kayopil or Kupila”.
It is believed that
Akbar's period, historian Abulafzal writes in it book “Aaine Akbari” that Maya itself has been known as “Haridwar”. He also says that Ganga water was used in Akbar's kitchen, this water was brought from Haridwar in huge pots during Akbar's time.
It is believed that
In 1608, during the reign of Jahangir, the first European traveler “Tom Karyat” came to Haridwar. He called Haridwar the “capital of Shiva”, Jahangir himself was coming to Haridwar for a few days in 1620.
It is believed that
After the arrival of Ramananda (1400 - 1470), the Ramavat sect and the Vaishnava wave gave Haridwar a reputation as the chief pilgrimage of the Hindus.
It is believed that
During the rule of the Gorkhas, Haridwar became
the center of the sale of slaves.
Alexander Cunningham, who was the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India operated by the British Government, did an archaeological survey here between 9862 to 1865. According to his report, Gangadwar, Har-ki- Paidi, Maya Devi Temple, Bhairav Temple, Narayan temple and the fort of Rajawane were the main sites of that time.
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