Puri beach

Puri, a city sacred to Hinduism, home to an avatar of Vishnu in the temple of Jagannath, prohibited entry to Western visitors. The city leads to a long beach of fine sand but waves relentlessly and scorching sun. Until dusk falls, and then the Bengali holidaymakers are preparing to go to walk, barefoot, on the thin layer of water left by the retreating waves, and that reflects just a few minutes of agony, the last shades of pink from the sun in printing and dying to get rid of the clouds.

The river Ganges

Of all the rivers of the Indian subcontinent, the Ganges, by culture and tradition, is the most significant. Gangáticas flows through the plains of northern India, to Bangladesh, from its birth in the Western Himalayas, Indian policy in the region of Uttarakhand. Culminates a long journey of 2,510 miles to the Sundarbans delta in the Bay of Bengal. It has long been considered a holy river by Hindus and has been the subject of religion, understood as an incarnation of the goddess Ganga. It has also been important historically: many former provincial capitals or imperial (as Pataliputra, Kannauj, Kara, Allahabad, Murshidabad and Calcutta) were built on its banks. The Ganges and its tributaries irrigate a basin of a million square miles that serves as a staple food for millions of people, with one of the highest population densities in the world.

The symbolic meanings of the river to the Indian subcontinent were referenced in the year 1946 by the father of Indian independence, Jawaharlal Nehru in his Discovery of India.

"The Ganges River is mostly in India, which has held captive the heart of India and drawn uncounted millions to her banks since the dawn of history. The story of the Ganges from its source to the sea, from old times to new, is the history of civilization and culture of India, the rise and fall of empires, of great and proud cities, of adventures of man ... "

Currently suffering extreme pollution affects the river some 400 million people living nearby.

Course. The source of the Ganges in the Himalayas is in the geographical area of the small state of Uttarakhand in northern India. Is formed by the beginning confluence of many streams and sources, although the most important streams are the Alaknanda, the Nandakini, Pindar, Mandakini and Bhagirathi. The latter is the true source: born at the foot of the Gangotri Glacier at an altitude of 3,892 meters.

After flowing 200 kilometers through narrow valleys of the Himalayas, the Ganges flows into the plain gangática up to the pilgrimage town of Haridwar. There, a dam diverts some of its waters of the Ganges canal, which irrigates the Doab region in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The Ganges, which until then travels to the southwest, turns around and heads towards the southeast, across the plains of northern India.

Draw a curve of 800 kilometers and visit the city of Kanpur before joining the river Yamuna, at the height of the city of Allahabad. This point is known as the Sangam in Allahabad. The Sangam is a sacred place in Hinduism. According to ancient Hindu EXTS t, a third river, the Sarasvati, joined at this point with the other two.

From Allahabad, several major rivers flow to meet the Ganges, the Kosi, Son, the Gandaki or Ghaghra, thereby forming a tremendous power between that city and Malda, and in Bengal. Between them lies the city of Benares. And near East Bengal (Bangladesh), India in 1974 raised the Farakka dam, which controls the flow of the river.

The entrance of the river in Bangladesh makes a tangle of relationships with some large rivers like the Jamuna or the Meghna, the two largest tributaries of the Brahmaputra. The Ganges delta spreads in a large 350 km wide, and finally dies in the Bay of Bengal. Only two rivers, the Amazon and the Congo, carry a water flow greater than the system of rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Surma-Meghna.

Religious significance. Located on the banks of river Ganges, the city of Varanasi is considered by some as the most sacred in Hinduism and some people in the water spreads the ashes of loved ones dead. The Ganges is mentioned in the Rig Veda, the earliest of the Hindu scriptures. Appears in the Nadistuti sukta (Rig Veda 10.75), which lists the rivers from east to west. There is another reference to the word "Ganga" (RV 6.45.31) in the text, but it is unclear whether it refers to the river.

According to the Hindu religion, the famous king Bhagiratha held constant sacrifice times for many years to make the river Ganges, then in heaven down to earth, and thus give salvation to his ancestors, affected by a curse. Ganga came down to earth using the bow of Shiva, to make the land fertile again and pious, and sinless human. For Hindus in India, the Ganges is a river: a mother, a goddess, a tradition, a culture.

Some Hindus also believe that life is incomplete without bathing in the Ganges at least once in life. Many Hindu families keep a box of Ganges water in your home. This is done because it gives prestige at home to keep water from the sacred Ganges, so that if someone dies, you can drink some of that water. For many Hindus, drinking the Ganges can cleanse the soul of the person from all past sins, and can also cure the disease. The old scriptures say that the water of Ganges carries the blessing of the feet of Vishnu, hence the mother Ganges is known as Vishnupadi, meaning "emanating from the lotus feet of Sri Vishnu god supermodel."

The Ganges hosts some of the Hindu festivals and major religious congregations. Particular note is the Kumbh Mela, held every twelve years in Allahabad. Varanasi-known in India like Varanasi, has hundreds of temples along the banks of the Ganges, often flooded in the rainy season. The city is also a point of prayer and cremation for the deceased.

Swamps. There are two large reservoirs in the Ganges. One, near the source in the city of Haridwar diverts much of the snow melt from the Malaysian Hi Upper Ganges Canal, built by the British in 1854 to irrigate nearby lands. This caused a serious deterioration of water flow, and is a major cause of the unsuitability of the river to river uses.

The other major reservoir is in Farakka, near the point at which the main flow of the river enters Bangladesh . The barrier feeds the branch known as Hooghly River through a 26-mile canal, which was the subject of constant disputes with Bangladesh. Although the conflict looks set solution, the failure of the negotiations has hurt both countries for two decades. Bangladesh protest because the current lack of summer has caused increased sedimentation and exposed the country to flooding. Likewise, is controversial plan to improve the flow of water in the Ganges. The water management problem may actually affect other basin countries like Nepal, where there has been massive deforestation and increased silt.

Ganges is likely to carry more water in Roman times, when the present Patna was the great port city of Pataliputra. As late as the eighteenth century, the ships of the East India Company came to Allahabad. Today, silt prevents these types of communications for deep vessels.

History. During the early Vedic period, the Indus and the Sarasvati river, and not the Ganges, were the principals. But the later three Vedas seem to give more importance to the Ganges, if you look at the references.

The first Westerner to mention the existence of the Ganges was Megasthenes possibly. He did several times in his "Indika".

" India is , again, has many large rivers and waterways, which have their sources in the mountains of the northern border and cross the country level, and not a few of them, after uniting with each other, flow into the river called the Ganges. This river, which at its source is 30 stadia broad, flows from north to south and empties into the ocean, which forms the eastern border of Gangaridai, a nation with a vast force of large elephants. "

In the landmark Piazza Navona in Rome, a famous sculpture, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (source of four rivers), designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, emphasizes the importance of the Ganges. Built in 1651, symbolizing four major rivers of the world (apart from the Ganges, the Nile, the Danube and the Rio de la Plata).

Economy. Ganges Basin with its fertile soil, is key for agricultural production in India and Bangladesh. The Ganges and its tributaries provide a perennial source of irrigation to a large area. The main crops grown include rice, sugarcane, lentils, oil seeds, potatoes and wheat. On the banks of the river, the presence of wetlands and lakes favor an area of ​​crops such as vegetables, pepper, mustard, sesame, sugarcane and jute. The river offers fishing areas, but is very polluted.

Tourism is another related activity. Three holy cities, Haridwar, Allahabad and Varanasi attract thousands of pilgrims each year to its waters. Thousands of Hindus come to bathe in the Ganges, because they think the river will cleanse the sins and help attain salvation. The rapids of the Ganges are popular for rafting and attract hundreds of adventurers in the summer months. Muslims in India and Bangladesh resort to wudu, a religious cleansing of the body for prayer in the river Ganges.

People. Ganges sediments formed temporary islands in the area of Bengal. Each provides ground for 20,000 people. His land is very fertile and provide good nutrition to livestock, but may disappear within hours, as the river level rises, as during the monsoon. The inhabitants of these islands, sedimentary ("chars") are usually Bangladeshi refugees, so that the Indian government does not recognize its existence in fact or issue ID cards. Hygiene in these sediments is zero and there are no health services or schools, so that illiteracy is rampant. These people pay taxes.

Pollution and ecology. The river Ganges has been considered one of the dirtiest in the world. The waters of the river begin to suffer contamination from the source. Commercial exploitation of the river was in proportion to population growth, as in the cities of Gangotri and Uttarkashi: Gangotri had only a few huts until the 70 sadhus and Uttarkashi population has increased in recent years. In its course through densely populated Ganges pollution suffering human-bacterial, fecal-, so its water consumption at high risk of infection. Proposals have been made to remedy the situation, without success. In Varanasi, it is clear river pollution, industrial discharges subject to. On their way through the city, the river contains 60,000 faecal bacteria per 100 milliliters, 120 times the safe limit for bathing.

Climate change. Rising global temperatures are making a real difference on Tibetan glaciers, and thus on the Ganges. It is believed that the gradual disappearance of glaciers will threaten water supplies from rivers Indus and Ganges. According to a UN climate published in 2007, the Himalayan glaciers that feed the Ganges could disappear by 2030. From that point, the river current would result purely seasonal monsoon.

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Dirt and urbanism threaten the future of the holy city of Varanasi

New Delhi, 29 Jan 2007. - The uncontrolled waste and a controversial planning scheme threaten the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where millions of pilgrims take baths in the Ganges while purifying almost two and a half million empty bottles fill the streets of waste annually .
According to Efe reported the delegate in the city of the India National Foundation for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH, an acronym in English), Navneet Raman, the fact that there is no proper system of garbage collection has been in "danger "monumental heritage of the city.
"The lack of facilities have led to the waste problem has remained unresolved for the past 20 years, and that has become a city Benares really dirty," said Raman.
A Benares come every year one million foreign tourists and four million Indians, attracted by an atmosphere of mystical spirituality and the possibility of purifying their souls with sacred baths in the Ganges river is not always clean.
But the agency said India IANS, the massive influx of visitors leaves behind a trail of empty bottles and trash that no one collects, leading to an environment of pollution and degradation dirty ascetic beauty and rich cultural heritage of Varanasi .
The city, says Raman, is one of the 63 sites subject to the National Urban Renewal Plan, but is at once among the ten cities in which the deterioration of heritage "seriously concerned".
In this context, a development plan sponsored by local authorities to beautify the town has provoked a bitter controversy because, as conservatives "jeopardizes the estate."
"Building malls and multiplexes in areas traditionally meant little more embellished and endangers a cultural heritage of 600 years," Raman complained to the media.
Varanasi has an area of 49 square kilometers and suffers a high rate of pollution due in part to the green areas represent only three percent of its soil, which has not been approved prevented new settlements in these areas.
Another source of criticism is the construction of bridges over the Ganges, because Raman says "the river become a barrier to be crossed," and also "the pilgrims take holy baths will be subject to scrutiny by the drivers."
Beyond the bridge and shopping centers, however, that has stirred up the conservatives of the INTACH is forecast to lift piers for river transport in areas used by devotees for bathing, prayers and funeral ceremonies .
Hindus flock to the Ganges with the belief that a dip in the sacred river washes away sins, encouraged also by the Hindu precept release from the cycle of rebirth to those killed in the holy city of Benares, where there are hundreds of temples aligned along the river.
Many even saved his life with a bowl of water of the Ganges, following a tradition that rises to heaven the souls of those taking a drink of holy water just before he died.
What is at question is whether, apart from its purifying effect, the water sent to heaven to those who ingest it due to pollution, it is well known that many fur industries located along the river diverted to waste waters and discharges of chromium and other metals.
And, in the Ganges, the remains of bodies from Hindu cremation burial with float past the temples as the pilgrims bathe with soap, remains indifferent to the flower and food offerings of the faithful in the river.
Now, members of INTACH await the visit of UNESCO, from 11 February to determine whether Benares, for some the city's oldest continuous settlement, has a chance to "purify" their heritage with a good cleanup plan.

Thousands of animals sacrificed to appease the Hindu gods

New Delhi, October 18, 2006. - Thousands of goats, ducks, pigeons and buffalo are slaughtered these days in India by devout believers in organized ceremonies to appease the Hindu gods, according to Efe activists denounced environmentalism.
This year, only in the region of Orissa in the east, were killed during the Hindu festivals of "Durga Puja" 10,000 animals, said the NGO "People for Animals" (PFA).
"The problem is that people still believe that killing animals will lead to a better life in which they fulfill their desires," he told Efe Jiban Das, Orissa PFA delegate.
In tribal areas the custom of consecrating especially goats, ducks and pigeons, but also some buffalo.
Jiban Das now focusing its efforts on the upcoming festival of "Diwali", a sort of Hindu Christmas, does not become another "slaughter" as the complaint that his organization in the northeastern state of Assam, Kamakhya Temple, also during the "Durga Puja".
The version of the PFA, which quantifies the sacrifices of Kamakhya in 20 buffaloes, 3,000 goats and thousands of pigeons, in contrast to the position of the temple authorities to whom such amounts are an "exaggeration."
"We know that 20 buffaloes and some goats were slaughtered this year, but how can anyone sacrifice 3,000 goats in a temple in three days?. It is impossible, "said the secretary of the temple, Nabakanta Sarma.
On 1960, the Indian law on Prevention of Animal Cruelty not prohibit animal sacrifice in religious places, which has recently led to some regions, which account Orissa, to develop more restrictive regulations.
Although Das says Orissa politicians are committed to the prohibition of this ceremony, this did not prevent the Minister of Urban Development, KV Singhdeo, while a sacrifice held in the palace of his property.
The president of the region, Naveen Patnaik, was quick to condemn the incident, but the truth, according to local press, is that no party dares to censure, fearing loss of votes in a country traditionally devout.
Last January, for example, authorities restricted visits Khairguda, a town in which takes place every year the sacrifice of 20,000 animals to appease the wrath of the gods.
The celebration was held, but neither the inhabitants of neighboring villages or activists protesting near the site could see the "Dehuri", the girl who is the incarnation of gods and drinks the blood of slaughtered animals while dancing to of drums.
The problem, as recognized activist Sangeeta Goswami Efe, who has denounced these Kamakhya temple ceremonies, is that the sacrifices are so widespread that when Amitabh Bachchan, the most popular actor of Bollywood, became ill in December, were sacrificed two buffaloes in the temple to get healed.
The Bachchan case sparked the ire of environmental groups because the actor is a prominent member of PETA, other animal protection organization, but nothing could prevent their fans put into practice a tradition over 3,000 years old.
However, the consecration of animals is a story compared to other more invasive practice, concerning the slaughter of children, as happened last week in Varanasi, where a sorcerer kidnapped and beheaded a boy who played alongside the Ganges to offer it the gods as "sacrifice."

Indian women, fasting for the welfare of their husbands

New Delhi, October 10, 2006. - The Hindu married today in India celebrate the festival "Karwa chauth" a day of fasting prescriptive which seek to ensure, through their devotion, long life and prosperity for their husbands.
Throughout the day, women just can not eat or drink, but also forbidden to swallow, to show that they are willing to accept sacrifices for their spouse.
"There is no problem to resist, we made ​​it through the love and power of God. In addition, women who fast replacing hunger by going to the salon and wearing their best bracelets and jewelry, "says Gagandeep Kaur Efe.
The Hindu festival based on the belief that activities such as fasting or prayer serve to protect third parties, in this case the Indian husbands, so maybe some will fast with pleasure.
Before dawn, the women get up and eat sweets and traditional foods, according to a strict vegetarian diet, in addition to drinking much liquid as possible, as a Muslim during Ramadan, which is also celebrated these days.
Taking advantage of the "Karwa chauth" Indian wives engaged in shopping and draw hands with "henna" or "mehndi" (in Spanish, henna), an orange substance used to tattoo the most superficial parts of the skin with temporary.
It is taking time as they can to not think about eating, hence, for example, markets are brimming with jewels on days like today.
Gagandeep Kaur mind that, just before sunset the sun, women who fast "sit in a circle to hear the reading of the story that relates the festival, from the lips of a Brahmin priestess."
The legend of "Karwa chauth" tells the story of Queen Veeravati, which induces a brother to eat in a day of fasting by deception, causing the death of her husband, the king.
Distraught, the queen is to the gods Shiva and Parvati and asks them to revive her husband, through which they grant you a promise to keep the fast of 'Karwa chauth "with strict conditions.
After hearing the story, Gagandeep Kaur women go home and dress in their finest jewelry and more colorful sari to await the arrival of her husband and watch beside him, covered by a net to prevent see their faces, the output of the moon.
Once this happens, women should look alternately at the sky and her husband as a symbol of devotion and desire for wealth, good health and longevity, along that husbands are fed and watered their wives with their own hands.
The ceremony ends when they touch the feet of their husbands to show their love.
The "Karwa chauth", especially popular in northern India, is celebrated in the period in which they occur most festivals in this country, when the weather starts to be more bearable.
As for the Christian Christmas, Indians take advantage of the holidays to visit relatives, exchange gifts and eat sweets.
Actually, the "Karwa chauth" becomes the prelude to the most emblematic party of India, the "Diwali", which commemorates the return of Lord Rama after his victory over the devil Ravana and the country full of lights.