Question:
Is it important to take bath in Haridwar during Kumbh or will bathing in Rishikesh suffice?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: It's perfectly ok to bathe in Rishikesh. You can take a dip wherever the Ganges flow.
On the banks of the Ganges, many sadhus do penance and they transfer all the merit in the waters of the Ganga. Teerth ko Sant Puneet banate hai - Teerthani pounaynti sataha!
Jaise teerth sabko puneet karte hai, sadhu ganga ko puneet karte hai. (Just as the Ganges purifies all, the saints purify the Ganges.)
The Ganges is chaitanyamayi (enlivened) hai, brahma roop hai.
As soon as you bathe you feel fresh and new. All the impurities of the mind are washed away. The mind becomes healthy.
I wouldn't say the same for the Ganges at Kanpur and beyond. The Ganges water should be kept pure. If the Ganges is polluted then its benefit won't be to the extent of its fame.
