Ram Jhula

Sivanand Nagar and Swarg Ashram existed as separate riverbank settlements for decades before any fixed crossing joined them, pilgrims and ashram residents relying on ferrymen to cross the Ganga at this bend of the river. Uttar Pradesh's public works department — Uttarakhand remained part of Uttar Pradesh until 2000 — built the iron suspension bridge in 1986, borrowing its design and cable-suspension method directly from Lakshman Jhula upstream, which had stood since 1929. The name Shivanand Jhula appears on older maps and in some local usage, a reference to the Sivananda Ashram at the bridge's western foot, though Ram Jhula is the name almost everyone in Rishikesh actually uses. For nearly four decades the bridge carried a mix of pedestrians, bicycles, and — increasingly — motorcycles, whose accumulated weight and vibration engineers cited as a factor in the deck's deterioration. Two-wheelers were restricted from crossing by 2023, leaving only foot traffic, which proved insufficient to halt the structural decline that led to the 2025 closure and the current renovation programme.

Ram Jhula's 2025–26 closure means the bridge itself carries no rules for visitors beyond staying clear of the barricaded approach ramps on both banks, which are fenced and monitored by PWD staff. Sadhus and vendors who previously worked the bridge deck have relocated to the approach roads on both sides, where the same etiquette that applies at Lakshman Jhula holds: a firm, polite decline works better than a lengthy exchange with anyone soliciting donations. The Swarg Ashram side, reached by walking the longer route via Lakshman Jhula or by the short boat crossing, keeps the same dress and conduct expectations as the rest of Rishikesh's ashram quarter — modest clothing, no alcohol, no meat, and quiet outside the ashrams' own courtyards. Boatmen running the informal shuttle near the closed bridge should be asked their fare before boarding, not after.

Ram Jhula's closure has pushed almost all foot traffic between the two banks onto Lakshman Jhula, which now carries noticeably heavier crowds at peak hours than it did before 2025 — cross before 08:00 or after 19:00 to avoid the overflow. Boatmen at the Ram Jhula ghat on the Swarg Ashram side still run short crossings for ₹20–30 per person and are faster than the detour on foot. Parmarth Niketan's ghat and evening Ganga Aarti sit directly beside the bridge's eastern approach and remain fully open regardless of the bridge's status, making the walk out here still worthwhile. Photographers should note that the closed, empty bridge deck, visible from either bank, makes an unusually clean and uncluttered subject that the crowded pre-2025 bridge never offered.