The Ganges is a river whose waters are sacred to the people of India. It is an object of cultural and religious heritage of this country.
In Hinduism, any water, in fact, is sacred. Bathing for adherents of this religion is considered not just a hygienic procedure, but a real ritual designed to cleanse your body and soul from earthly suffering and sins. At the same time, the magical properties of water increase many times if it moves. Thus, for Hindus, the river is the most sacred embodiment of the water resource, and the Ganges is considered the mother of all rivers.
Unfortunately, every year the glaciers that feed the river are crushed, and the waters of the river are becoming more and more dirty.
Geography
The Ganges is one of the longest rivers in South Asia, its length is more than 2.5 thousand km. The river originates from the Himalayan glaciers, and ends in the Bay of Bengal. The texts of the ancient Hindu scriptures say that many centuries ago the Ganges flowed not over the earth's surface, but over the heavens. Its waters descended to Earth through the hair of the god Shiva, answering the prayers of believers asking to cleanse their souls of the dead from sins.
On the top of the mountain near the Himalayan glaciers is the Gamuk Cave, from which milky-white waters flow. The most faithful pilgrims perform ablution in these inaccessible waters in order to prove their unwavering faith.
The first city through which the river flows - the Gangotri, located 3, 000 km above sea level, is considered the place of landing of the source of the river. In the warm season, millions of pilgrims from all over the world flock to this place to perform a ritual bath. On the banks of the river in this settlement is a temple, which, according to legend, was built on the spot where Shiva was sitting, helping the river to descend to Earth.
After Gangotri, the waters of the river are directed to the city of Haridwar, whose name literally translates as "the gate to God." Here a mountain river descends from a hill to the plains. In this city, the current is especially strong, so dozens of people die there every year. But this does not stop believers, because so fast moving water can wash away the most terrible sins. In addition, the transport network of this city makes it quite easy to get to the Ganges, which only attracts the attention of pilgrims from around the world.
Downstream is Kanpur, one of India’s most populous cities, a growing center for the textile and chemical industries. Next is Allahabat - the city of the confluence of the Ganges and Jamna rivers. According to legend, a few drops of the elixir of immortality fell into the water at this place, so bathing in the Ganges in this city, in the belief of believers, heals all diseases. Below along the shores of Mother Ganges is Varanasi. This is a city recognized as the home of all gods existing in Hinduism. The river delta is located in the Bay of Bengal.
River water use
The influence of the Ganges River on the people of India is difficult to overestimate, because it provides water resources to more than 500 million people, and another 200 million believers come to it from all over the country. It is tightly connected with many household and cultural events by the people of India, because this is the only source of fresh water for a very large part of the population. In addition, the river is considered sacred to representatives of Hinduism, and it is called the Mother of the Ganges. People bathe in it, wash clothes, drink water, water cattle and water plants. Moreover, the waters of the river are used for many sacred rites: shaved hair, ashes from burning bodies and the bodies of the deceased are thrown into it.
On the banks of the river, trade also flourishes. The most popular souvenir is Gangajala, water from the river in various containers, usually in iron jars. It is believed that a drop of water from a river to an entire bath will cleanse the body of diseases, and the soul of sins, therefore, for Hindus, water from the Ganges is considered the most expensive and valuable gift.
Environmental situation
Unfortunately, the sacred river is currently in an extremely catastrophic ecological situation. This is due to the fact that more than half of Indian citizens use water rivers daily for domestic and religious purposes. The glaciers that give rise to the Mother of Rivers become thinner by 25 meters every year. According to forecasts, glaciers can completely disappear in the next 15 years. This will be a real disaster for believers. Of the 700 million people who bathe in the river and drink dirty water from it, about 3.5 million die every year, and most of the dead are children.
The city of Kanpur is famous for the manufacture of cattle leather products, but all production waste (animal bodies and chemicals) merge into the Ganges. Often, dead fish accumulate in piles on the banks of the river, exuding a terrible smell. Due to poor-quality water, a lot of children and adults get sick. But, unfortunately, there is no other source of fresh water in the city. Moreover, even in such a polluted place, water is considered sacred and capable of purification. Because of the ablution ritual, many people become infected with parasites, viruses, and infections.
In the Ganges rivers in Allahabad, mountains of garbage left after rituals and dumping of industrial waste into the waters float. This causes the pilgrims to protest towards the authorities, which do nothing with the ecology of the river. The government answered the call of the faithful and opened a dam higher up the river in order to at least somehow clean it. But the ecological situation of water is still deplorable. But the most destructive city for water is Varanasi, because the inhabitants of this city dump the bodies of dead people into the river. Despite everything, believers continue ritual ablutions in water full of dead bodies and sewage.
Despite the fact that water is endowed with clearly supernatural forces, some of its useful properties are explained using science. The oxygen concentration in it is much higher than in ordinary fresh water. This prevents the rapid growth of bacteria, which really makes the river more useful and clean at its source near the Himalayan glaciers. However, mosquitoes and other parasites are still able to breed in the waters of the sacred river, despite the beliefs of believers. In addition, the concentration of fecal bacteria in densely populated cities is thousands of times higher than normal, because oxygen saturation does not save from pollution.
