Haridwar

Shopping Delights

Not a shopping hot-spot definitely, but you can pick up some of the most unusual gifts, souvenirs and artifacts. The main shopping areas are Bara Bazaar Moti Bazaar, Jwalapur and Kankhal. These colourful markets display a collection of just about everything - from religious articles, pictures and images of gods and goddesses, spiritual books, brassware, cane and bamboo products, semi-precious stones and herbal medicines. The sacred rudraksha garland, made from strings of the rudraksha seed is a much popular buy! A unique souvenir here would be stones that have been naturally shaped by the river and intricately carved - these are minimally priced, so don't forget to carry a piece or two. Also you could pick up elaborately carved stone idols as souvenirs. Look out for kitchen set toys created in stone, copper utensils for pujas and wooden walking sticks. Haridwar is also known for its wide range of Ayurvedic products, so get yourself a few bottles. There are also quite a few sweet shops, so pedas, bottles of churan (digestives) and aam papad (sweetend dry mango) constitute as good buys.