As we crossed the rickety bridge we walked along a small road only accessible by foot or bike. There were small shops on either side selling jewelry, textiles, food and convenience items. As we approached the end of the road the concrete turned to marble tiles and we were out front of the ashram. It was a teracotta pink building with lots of statues and engravings. There was a big statue of a god in the meditation position directly facing the ashram and steps that led down to the river. This part of the river was much cleaner than downstream in Haridwar.

The ashram was green, clean and luscious, with gardens and statues of gods throughout. The man at reception showed us to our room. It was simple, which was what I'd expected, but cosy and had a decent toilet which was a relief. I wasn't sure what to expect being $6 a day with free food and run by volunteers. Not sure how well or often the facilities were cleaned but you come to get used to these things when
traveling out of luxury.
The activities provided in the Ashram were yoga and meditation daily, dance classes, prayer groups and prayer ceremonies. I really feel I'm in a peaceful place. Except that I think not all those who stay here abide by the peaceful rules of the Ashram. Certain groups tend to be a little loud.

We decided to participate in the daily Aarti ceremony which is musical offerings to the Mother Ganga.
At 5:30 as the sun went down many flocked to the steps outside the Ashram on the banks of the river as the Swami and his devotees began singing and clapping along to musical instruments. Some people sat around a fire and offered what looked like flowers while participating in the song. There were many people now, looking like from many places around the world. I wished I could understand what they were singing about but I think it has something to do with giving praise to mother nature.
We were lucky to be here on green pilgrimage week. Raising awareness on environmental issues in the country. Tonight was not only the Aarti but a conference also. They had guest speakers talking about preservation of rain-forests , cleaning up the Ganges, and saving the Indian Tiger from extinction. It was good to know that people in this country are aware of the damage being done and have plans in action to fix these issues.

After the ceremony it was time for dinner. Food is provided by the Ashram free of charge and open for donations if you wish. The rules in the food hall are no shoes and no talking. It was a small hall with little tables and mats that you could sit on. I grabbed a silver tray and the boy served me some rice and vegetarian concoctions. I sat down at the tiny table and ate my meal in silence. There is something about eating your meal in silence that makes the food that little bit better, like you have more time to appreciate the food in front of you.

On the way out of the food hall we noticed a room full of guests sitting and one of the spiritual leaders talking. It seemed like a q&a session so we sat in mid way.
The lady seemed to be answering a question which, after hearing her talk, I assumed was something along the lines of 'why do so many suffer unfairly'.
She spoke about gods plan and how sometimes it doesn't make sense which leads to many losing faith. The told a story of 2 men. One with faith and one without. The man said 'here is this huge pumpkin weighing oh so very much and yet it only has these small vines to hold it up and can not grow above the ground. Yet there are small mangos which have huge branches and a big trunk to hold them up. Why not be the other way around?'
The man could not see that this made sense.
In the afternoon the men went to have a nap under a tree and whilst sleeping a mango dropped from the tree and hit one of the men in the face. We woke suddenly and said that now he believed in gods plan as had the mango been a pumpkin then he would surely be killed.
It was nice to hear this lady talk about faith and how it affects many people. I hope to learn a little more during my stay here. It's nice to see people's views on the world and take it all in.

We headed back to the room afterwards. The Ashram has a silence policy from 10 pm to 10am, however I'm assuming that this won't be the case for some. Never the less it's been a long day so I fell asleep easily with the hard mattress under my spine and the very thin pillow under my cheek.