On Holi morning, a wooden chariot more than 160 years old rolls out of the Narsingh Temple in Brahmpuri, carrying Ram at the head of his wedding procession. Rooftops answer with buckets of colored water and petals as the Ram Barat loops through the old city.
Between festivals, Bareilly keeps smaller rituals. There is swal aloo at breakfast, a stop at one of the seven Shiva temples that earned it the name Nath Nagri, and a photo under the giant jhumka. Summers are hot, the monsoon soaks July and August, and winters turn cool and foggy. A Local Friend can open a door you might never knock on, like the courtyard of the Naga sadhus at Alakhnath.
