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©,
2007 Independent Broadcasting Associates, Inc |
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SACRED HEARTLAND
Two hundred kilometres downstream from Kanpur at Allahabad, Himalayan Ganga is rescued and rejuvenated by a
massive transfusion of fresh
water from the Yamuna. In terms of volume, Yamuna becomes the senior partner.
By rights the river should now be called Yamuna Ganga. But nobody does because
while Yamuna is sacred,
she is not considered a goddess.
Just as in the Himalayas Bhagirathi alone carries
the ‘divine gene’ so here in these northern plains, Ganga, and
her alone, is a goddess. Ganga here is a benign presence - Ganga ma (Mother
Ganga) - who bestows only blessings on human beings. She is mythology in liquid
form, whose waters irrigate the fields, cleanse the soul of sins and carry
the ashes of the de
parted to heaven.
This four hundred kilometre stretch of river between Kanpur and Varanasi is
doubly sacred because it’s the setting for the great epic Ramayana.
This is where its heroes - Ram, Sita and Laxman - lived, loved, and experienced
tragedy. The universal popular greeting here is Sita Ram. Sita has thus become
synonymous with Ganga. Sites along the river associated with episodes in the
Ramayana are highly auspicious. Time
collapses.
Events two thousand years old happened just
yesterday. This is the ‘sacred heartland’ of Ganga, the goddess
whom millions of ordinary Hindus believe can never die, whatever the level
of pollution or physical overuse. The main attraction for millions of Hindus
is the Sangam at Allahabad, where three rivers - Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical
Saraswati - merge. It is
always especially auspicious to bathe wherever and whenever rivers meet in
India.
There is also less urbanisation and few heavy
industries in this reach. From downstream of Kanpur all the way, and including
Varanasi, most pollution tends to be run-off from fields and human sewage.
Hazardous to one’s health, but not fatal. So the river gets a much-needed
second-wind. But the same lack of enough water in the river remains a major
problem.