The Ganges River is very sacred to the Hindus. This river starts in the Himalayas and flows across the northern part of India and into Bangladesh and finally empties into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges River flows a total of 1,557 miles and provides water for southern Tibet, northern India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. This is a very important river for everyone, especially the Hindus, but f we do not take care of it will be destroyed by pollution.
The Hindus use the Ganges River to cleanse their sins. They believe that the goddess Ganga came to earth in the form of a river, and if they bathe in it their sins will be cleansed. Millions of Hindus come long ways to cleanse themselves in the river each year.
The Hindus believe that if you die while in the river, you are guaranteed a place in paradise. This river also provides nutrients for the farms it passes through. The tributaries
of the Ganges supports about 300 million people. Many of these people do not even know that their river is being polluted.
The Ganges River runs along a few big cities. Factories in this city along the coast are spilling pollutants into the river. With the growing population, pollution is not slowing down. It is estimated that 230 million gallons of sewage are being put into the river each day. This river is becoming more polluted as the population gets larger and the amount of waste increases.
If a very strong effort is not put in to helping save this river it will not be able to help anybody. Some efforts are being made to clean up the Ganges river. In 1986, a project for 250 million dollars was made to try to clean up the river. To deal with the population problem, incentives are given to families with two children or less. Still the average family has three to four children. More of an effort to restore this river needs to be made or else it will be destroyed.
If this river does get destroyed it will devastate many people, especially the Hindus. Some people believe it is already to polluted to clean up. Better ways of controlling their pollution will need to be made to save this river.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Bathing in the Ganges is a religious tradition that is an integral part of daily life in India. It represents a purification of the soul, as Stille states, “…[A] river that, because of its divine origin, is pure and purifies all those faithful who immerse themselves in her,” (598). However, presently, there exists a dilemma that threatens the survival of this tradition: the poor condition of the river. The river is polluted with “raw sewage, human and industrial waste, the charred remains of bodies, and animal carcasses” (598). In the Ganges’ Next Life, Alexander Stille contrasts traditional and modern values. Traditional Hindu values, yet somewhat primitive, reflect thousands of years of experience and practice. Modern values, on the other hand, are adapted to contemporary practices and focus on immediate needs. As a result, religious and ethical conflicts arise when compromising between preserving rich cultural traditions and ensuring environmental safety.…
- 879 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Changes and continuities of religious practices and customs of India and the Indus River Valley are very prevalent. As the Indus River Valley transitioned into India, changes in religious customs began to occur. One of these changes was in the social hierarchy. Stricter caste systems began to appear. Another change was that of enforcement of religion in society. While there were no official religions of the Indus River Valley, Hinduism became the authorized religion of India. With all of this change, there were still many of the same beliefs as the civilization developed. One of the major continuities was the belief in reincarnation. Reincarnation was a large part of the Indus River Valley and of Hinduism in…
- 118 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
11. The Ganges - a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The 1,569 mi river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal.…
- 2177 Words
- 9 Pages
Good Essays -
·Ganges River- river in south Asia; important water. resourse followig more than 1500 miles from its source in a Himalayan glacier to the Bay of Bengal.…
- 466 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Hinduism, also known as Sanatana-Dharma is the dominant religion in India and the third largest religion in the world with a following of about a billion people. The name Hinduism is derived simply from the word India and is not found in any religious texts concerning Hinduism, not even the Bhagavad Gita, which is part of the Mahabharata and is Hinduism’s most sacred writing. It is important to note though, that the word Hinduism is sometimes translated as ‘river’ usually referring to the Indus River which is a reference to the Indus River Valley where Hinduism is believed to have begun.…
- 1546 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
In the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse the significance of the river is displayed throughout the experiences that Siddhartha has next to the river and the things that by listening to the sound he comes to understand. Siddhartha is learning something from the moment he rides the ferry to the time when Govinda lays on the ground with tears flowing uncontrollably.…
- 1036 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The river plays an essential role in the novel, Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse. The river fundamentally represents life and the path to enlightenment. At the beginning of the novel, the river is portrayed as a cleansing agent where Siddhartha and his father perform ablutions to cleanse themselves of guilt and spiritual impurity. By performing these ablutions, Siddhartha’s father attempts to reach spiritual enlightenment. Moreover, the Brahmin’s continuous acts of ablution indicate to Siddhartha that his father is not on the correct path to spiritual illumination. As a result, Siddhartha becomes an ascetic in hopes of finding the true path.…
- 407 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
River in Siddhartha is not only the river which we see as usual. It is not only the river which water flows in the same direction. Siddhartha comes twice to the river, he has nothing, he wants to change his life. But river itself, all the time, more and more, has awaken him, lightened him to the enlightenment.…
- 576 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Acts by leaders such as Chaturvedi , who educated the people of Mathura the source of the rivers pollution play a big part in the cause.The need reformation that is seen has to do with the fact that the Hindu people still had the concept of the river being “pious” but it was not treated as if it was divine. “This concept has to be utilized to achieve environmental health. When people see Yamuna as a devi (goddess) once again they will stop polluting her and clean her” (River Of Love ;Haberman,David) so once again we see this call for not only the reformation but the recovery in the original meaning and purpose of this sacred…
- 857 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Eliminate Carbon Dioxide you should drive a low Carbon Dioxide Vehicle support clean energy sources Alterntives to driving when possible to walk or ride.…
- 177 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
According to UNICEF about 2.5 billion people around the world do not have access to clean water. In the U.S. 40% of rivers and 46% of lakes are so polluted/contaminated that they are considered unhealthy for swimming and too contaminated for fishing. The water is so contaminated that there are usually no aquatic life living in it. Even though some people believe that water contamination is inevitable and will be impossible to stop, water contamination is still a serious problem worldwide because chemical waste contaminates the water which poison fish that end up being pass down the food chain to us humans and water contamination spreads deadly diseases which causes about 2 million deaths per year.…
- 1302 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
every kind of pollutant yet cleanses the souls who wash in her” (Robson 39). The Ganges is “...also the place where the cremated remains of the dead come to rest … to be returned to Heaven by Mother Ganga” (Robson 39). The Ganga river in which people immerse themselves in hopes of washing away their impurities resembles that of a baptism. I was brought up as a one of Jehovah’s witnesses and recognize baptism as a similar ritual to the bathing in the Ganges river. Just as there are thousands of people bathing along the Ganges there are thousands of people getting baptized every year taking place within an assembly or convention of Jehovah's witnesses. A baptism occurs in pool, smaller in size than the river, but same idea. The difference between bathing in Ganga and baptism is that baptism does not cleanse us from sin, but symbolizes a person's dying of his past course of life and beginning of a new one. Similar to the cremated remains of the dead being scattered along the Ganges for rest and hope for return to Heaven Jehovah’s witnesses when immersed in water, means that you have died, or abandoned your former way of life. When you come out of the water, you will begin a new life doing God’s…
- 720 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The Hinduism has many divine and gods that they worship that is all throughout the subcontinent of India. There is many Hindus who pilgrimage each year to many spots throughout India to the places that the great saints and teachers have lived and later passed on. It is believed that they have left many of their sacred parts in pilgrimage spots all around.…
- 730 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
the Ganges basin of eastern India, the scene of intense religious speculation and activity at that…
- 2506 Words
- 11 Pages
Good Essays -
The term 'Hindu ' was derived from the river or river complex of the northwest, the Sindh. About 80% of the Indian population regard themselves as Hindu. Most Hindus believe in a Supreme God, whose qualities and forms are represented by the multitude of deities which emanate from him. They believe that life is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, governed by Karma.…
- 1504 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays