Mansa Devi Temple

Perched atop Bilwa Parvat, Mansa Devi Temple is dedicated to the goddess Mansa Devi, believed in local tradition to have emerged from the mind of Lord Shiva and worshipped as a granter of wishes. It's one of the Panch Tirth — the five key pilgrimage sites of Haridwar — and among the busiest temples in the city on any given day. The temple's signature ritual is thread-tying: devotees tie a sacred thread to the branches of the tree within the temple courtyard when making a wish, and return later to untie it once that wish is fulfilled. Inside the sanctum are two forms of the goddess — a three-faced, five-armed main idol and a separate eight-armed image — making it customary to offer prayers at both. Most visitors take the Udan Khatola ropeway up rather than the roughly 45-60 minute uphill trek, partly for convenience and partly for the ride itself — a genuinely scenic cable-car journey with the whole of Haridwar, the Ganga, and on clear days the distant Himalayan foothills opening up below.

The ropeway base station is a short walk from Har Ki Pauri (north end of the main bazaar); the trekking path begins at the same point for those who prefer to walk up.