The city of Hardwar, one of the holy cities of Hinduism, lies at the foot of the Himalayas where the river Ganges emerges from the mountains. The Ganges, revered by the Hindus as a celestial river sent to Earth to purify the ashes of the dead, is believed to remove the sins of those who bathe themselves whilst repenting. At Hardwar the water is considered to be so holy that once a year, on a date established by Hindu astrologers, pilgrims travel from all around the country to bathe in the river and to transport the water home where they can use it in purification ceremonies. Every twelve years it is believed that Krishna himself is invisibly present at the annual gathering and the holiness of the city at such times is such that Hindus refer to it as 'the gate of Heaven'. At such times millions of pilgrims are attracted to the city and the banks of the river are lined with flowers given in offering to the goddess Ganga. When Constance Gordon-Cumming painted the city she wrote '..the nice old elephant carried us right through the Ganges to a large grassy island in mid-stream, where we might spend the the livelong day in perfect peace..the only inhabitants of the green island were a set of wild-looking fakeers, intent only on their adoration of the lovely river, to which every now and then they rushed down..the little city as seen from the island is very fair to look upon. Each temple and stately dwelling faces the river, and, clinging to its banks, the city extends in one long line of graceful, pyramidal spires and domes, with porches of pillars rising from hallowed courts, and overshadowed by sacred trees, which throw their trembling shadows...in the clear mirror below...Hardwar had altogether a feeling of calm and repose that I found nowhere else in India.' (C.F.Gordon-Cumming, From the Hebrides to the Himalayas, London, 1876, pp. 318-9)