RISHIKESH
Where the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers visibly merge to form the Ganga proper — the turquoise-vs-slate color contrast at the sangam is more striking in person than most photos suggest. Shared buses from Rishikesh ISBT run ₹100–150 one-way; a private cab round trip runs ₹2,500–3,500.
Devprayag, at about 830m elevation roughly 70km from Rishikesh, is the final and most sacred of the Panch Prayag, the five holy confluences of the Alaknanda river, where the greenish Alaknanda (from the Satopanth Glacier) meets the blue Bhagirathi (from Gaumukh) to form the Ganga proper. Hindu legend holds that King Bhagirath performed 10,000 years of penance here to bring the celestial Ganga to earth, and that the sage Dev Sharma's long devotion led Vishnu, in his incarnation as Rama, to name the town in his honor. The confluence has been a recognized pilgrimage stop for centuries as the symbolic birthplace of the river Ganges as it is worshipped downstream.
