Haridwar, also spelled Hardwar, is an ancient city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. According to popular Hindu legend, it was here that Goddess Ganga when Lord Shiva released the mighty river from the locks of his hair. The River Ganga, after flowing from its source at Gaumukh at the edge of the Gangotri Glacier, enters the Gangetic Plain for the first time at Haridwar, which gave the city its ancient name, Gangadwára.
- Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Kasi, Kanchi, Avantika and Dwaraka are the seven holy places.
- – Garuḍa Purāṇa I XVI .14 cited in The Hindu Temple by Stella Kramrisch
- O Yudhishthira, the spot where Ganga rusheth past, cleaving the foremost of mountains which is frequented by Gandharvas and Yakshas and Rakshasas and Apsaras, and inhabited by hunters, and Kinnaras, is called Gangadwara (Haridwar). O King, Sanatkumara regardeth that spot visited by Brahmarshis, as also the Tirtha Kanakhala (that is near to it), as sacred.
- The Mahabharata, Vana Parva: Tirthayatra Parva: Section XC.
- All of them (temples at Hardwar and Ayodhya) are thronged with worshippers, even those that are destroyed are still venerated by the Hindus and visited by the offering of alms.
- Niccolao Manucci, vol,. III. Quoted from Lal, K. S. (1999). Theory and practice of Muslim state in India. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Chapter 3