Haridvāra is the sacred tīrtha where the Gaṅgā comes down from the mountains and first reaches the plains of Bhārata. It is also called Gaṅgādvāra, “the gate of the Gaṅgā”, and Haridvāra means “the gateway of Hari”. It lies in northern Bhāratavarsha and is visited by countless pilgrims and ṛshis. Later geographical tradition names Gaṅgādvāra as Haridvāra (Haridwar).

Four events are set here. The Gaṅgā first touches the plains. Daksha Prajāpati holds his great yajña and Satīdevī gives up her life. Arjuna meets Ulūpī at the start of his twelve years in the forest. Dhṛtarāshṭra, Gāndhārī and Kuntī die in a forest fire. The Nārada Mahā Purāṇa places Haridvāra among the supreme tīrthas of Bhārata.

The Gaṅgā’s first touch of the earth

Haridvāra is the point where the Gaṅgā first reached level ground. She followed Bhagīratha’s chariot (ratha) through the gorges of the Himālaya and came to the plains of Bhārata. This is why the place is called Gaṅgādvāra, the gate of the Gaṅgā. The water that comes out here carries the strong śakti of the Gaṅgā’s origin in svarga. Bhagavān Śiva received her in his jaṭā (matted hair) and held her there before he let her go (Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 66).

Gaṅgādvāra is thought to be one of the holiest tīrthas on the Gaṅgā. Here the river carries her fullest spiritual power, from her descent from the sky through the matted locks of Bhagavān Śiva (Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 214).

Daksha’s yajña and Satīdevī

Long before the Kali Yuga, Daksha Prajāpati arranged his great yajña. All the devatās, brahmarshis, rājarshis, gandharvas, apsarases, yakshas, siddhas and vidyādharas were invited. They came with their followers in vimānas and filled the sky. Bhagavān Śiva alone was not invited. Satīdevī saw the streams of divine beings going toward this place. She longed to go to her father’s yajña and begged Bhagavān Śiva to let her go. Bhagavān Śiva warned her that it would not end well, but she insisted and went alone.

At the yajña ground Daksha did not speak to Satī. He insulted Bhagavān Śiva in public, and no one in the assembly welcomed her. She could not bear the dishonour done to her husband in her presence. Satīdevī gave up her body at this very spot (Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 66).

Bhagavān Śiva’s anger and Vīrabhadra

Nārada told Bhagavān Śiva that Satī had died. In his grief and anger Bhagavān Śiva made Vīrabhadra from himself. Vīrabhadra went down to the yajña with Bhagavān Śiva’s pramatha-gaṇas (his attendants) and destroyed it completely. Brahmā then stepped in and prayed to Bhagavān Śiva. After this the devatās who had died were brought back to life and the yajña was finished. But the ground of this place had been made holy by Satī’s death and by the great force of Bhagavān Śiva’s grief.

The spot where Satī gave up her body became a supreme pāpa-nāśaka tīrtha (a tīrtha that destroys pāpa, sin). Those who bathe here and offer tarpaṇa to the devatās and pitṛs (ancestors) become dear to Satīdevī. They receive bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (release). Those who give up their bodies here by nirhāra (fasting until death) reach Śivaloka and are not born again (Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 66).

Haridvāra as the kshetra of Bhagavān Vishṇu

The name Haridvāra, “Gateway of Hari”, makes it a Vaishṇava tīrtha as well. Daksha’s yajña was held here to please Yajñeśvara, who is Bhagavān Vishṇu. The devatās who came to the yajña gave Bhagavān Vishṇu his share (yajña-bhāga). The place became the Hari-kshetra. Bathing here makes one dear to Śrī Hari and gives bhukti and mukti.

The Uttarardha also names tīrthas near Haridvāra. One is the Trigaga tīrtha to the east. The spot of Kanakhala, which some accounts connect with Bhagavān Śiva’s cremation of Satī’s body, is close by (Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 66).

Arjuna’s first stop and Ulūpī

Arjuna left Indraprastha for his twelve years in the forest (vanavāsa). He went north and came to Gaṅgādvāra, the first important stop of his journey. He bathed in the sacred river. As he lay in the water, an irresistible power of the nāgas seized him from below and pulled him down into the shining underwater palace of the nāga king Kauravya.

There he met Ulūpī, the nāga princess, who had drawn him down out of love. They spoke together about the nature of his vow, and Arjuna then accepted her. He spent one night in the nāga world and she became his wife for that night. Before he returned to the world above, Ulūpī gave him a vara (a boon): he could not be overcome by any creature born in water (Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 214).

The deaths of Dhṛtarāshṭra, Gāndhārī and Kuntī

Long after Arjuna’s early visit, Gaṅgādvāra became the place of a very different episode. Dhṛtarāshṭra, Gāndhārī and Kuntī died here in a great forest fire (dāvāgni) in their last years of vānaprastha tapas.

Dhṛtarāshṭra had gone to Gaṅgādvāra with Gāndhārī, Kuntī and Sañjaya to practise hard austerity. A wildfire swept through the forest as the king came back from his bath in the Gaṅgā. The three chose to stay and meet the fire together. Their weak bodies could not have fled. Sañjaya alone escaped, to the Himālaya.

Nārada reported the deaths to Yudhishṭhira. He later explained that Dhṛtarāshṭra had in fact been joined with his own sacred agnihotra fire, which his priests had let loose in the forest. The fire that took him was not an ordinary one. Yudhishṭhira and the Pāṇḍavas later sent men to Gaṅgādvāra to offer piṇḍa and tarpaṇa at the very spot of the fire. This episode is separate from Arjuna’s earlier visit and comes much later (Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 37, 39).

Merit of bathing at Haridvāra

Bathing at Haridvāra gives:

Destruction of all the pāpa gathered in this life.
The fruit of a śata-yajña (a hundred yajñas).
The pleasure of Satīdevī and her blessings for bhukti and mukti.
For those who die here through tapas, Śiva-loka without rebirth.

Sources

Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 66
Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 214
Mahābhārata, Āśramavāsika Parva, Chapters 37 and 39