A million Hindus take a dip in Ganges

[struggle4progress]

February 16, 2007

LUCKNOW, India --Over a million devout Hindus plunged into the chilly waters of the revered Ganges River on Friday, as part of a pilgrimage to cleanse believers of their sins.

Since the festival started Jan. 3, nearly 70 million pilgrims from all over the world have immersed themselves in at the confluence of three of Hinduism's holiest rivers _ the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mystical Sarasvati ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021601851.html


Feb. 12, 2007, 2:15AM
India's Tainted Treasure
Polluting of 'Mother Ganges' spurs holy men into action
Government's promises to clean the filthy river always fall short

By TIM SULLIVAN
Associated Press

... They filed lawsuits, called news conferences and organized protests.

"The government has promised us they would stop dirty water from flowing into Mother Ganges, but it's still being done," Narendranand Saraswati, a monastery leader, told thousands of followers gathered by the Ganges. "We want the entire country to know we will not stop until the river is clean!" ...

Every six years, millions of pilgrims gather for the Ardh Kumbh Mela, or Half Grand Pitcher Festival, held where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, along with the mythical Saraswati River, come together ...

But it's more than just dirty. Scientists say sewage has devastated the 1,550-mile river, which spills from a Himalayan glacier and cuts through India's plains before flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Scientists have found places near here with a fecal bacteria count nearly 4,000 times the World Health Organization standard for bathing ...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4544756.html

[enid602]

1. glacier

And the glacier is drying up as well.

[benddem]

2. I arrived in

India the night this festival began many years ago. It was amazing to see the swarms of men headed for the river. I just didn't think it would end.

[youngdem]

3. Gross.

Too bad they have destroyed their sacred river with poor management and an out of control population boom.

[Az]

4. Another health issue

In the outlying reagions of India there is an increasing problem of dealing with dead cows. See the taboo on cows extends to even after they die. They simply cannot touch or move them. So if a cow dies somewhere in the public thoroughfare they can do nothing about it. It takes time for a cow to decompose. Time in which all manner of carrion infestation can cause all manner of health problems.

[struggle4progress]

5. Do you have any link for that?

[Az]

6. It was an old NPR article

So quoting from memory.

[struggle4progress]

7. Savaged by tradition

FRONTLINE
Volume 19 - Issue 24, November 23 - December 06 2002
India's National Magazine from the publishers of THE HINDU

HARSH MANDER

... On the evening of October 15, 2002, Devendra and Dayachand, traditional leather-workers, were skinning a dead cow close to the Duliana police station ... A crowd of villagers gathered near the Duliana police station, infuriated by a rumour that a cow was being skinned alive ... Meanwhile, a tractor-load of young men, who were returning from Dasara celebrations, converged on the police post, and lynched the men, in the presence of three magistrates and at least 60 to 70 police personnel who had been summoned by then ... The defence of the attackers was that the cow was alive while being skinned by the Dalits ... In every State that was surveyed, villagers expect Dalits to dispose of carcasses of animals that die in their homes or in the village, whether cattle or dogs or cats. They skin the bodies of dead animals, flay and tan these and develop them into fine leather, and sometimes even turn them into footwear and drums ...

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1924/stories/20021206003009400.htm

The actual situation appears to be, not that religion requires dead cattle to rot in place, but that prejudices and violence establish an "untouchable" underclass which is held responsible for animal corpse disposal that other social sectors are unwilling to address