Parmarth Niketan & Ganga Aarti

The largest ashram in town (founded in 1942, around a thousand rooms, host of the International Yoga Festival each March), though most visitors come for one half hour at its ghat. At sunset the ashram's Vedic students lead the Ganga Aarti, the offering of light to the river: rows of lamps, and chanting the steps gradually pick up until much of the crowd is singing. It is smaller and more participatory than the aarti at Haridwar, closer to a shared evening prayer than a performance. Free; it begins around 18:00 and shifts with the season, so arrive 30–45 minutes early for a place on the steps.

The evening the town turns towards the river: lamps, chanting and a seat on the steps