Religious Significance Of The Ganges

The rise and fall of different civilizations and empires is caused by various social, political, and cultural factors that affect its societies. One of the most important concepts seen in empires are the creation of its culture and its relation to the beliefs of its society. Religion plays an enormous role in understanding the purpose behind the actions of the people in a civilization. Religion and culture are dependent of each other as it reflects the ideas and values that society has agreed upon. As a new urban civilization during 2500 B.C, The Indus Valley Civilization created a sociopolitical system that

My name is Vynateya Purimetla, and I am an eighth grader currently attending East Hills Middle School, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Presently, we are in a hydrogeology unit and we have been researching global water crises around the world and the effects they have on people who inhabit those regions. I am writing this letter to address the issues of inadequate sanitation, untreated sewage in groundwater, and holy rivers being polluted due to a host of reasons. These problems are occurring in both rural and urban areas, and are affecting more than 80% of the Indian population who depend on water polluted with untreated sewage, nitrate, and agricultural runoff for basic survival needs, (The Huffington Post). As the leader of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, I hope that some of the solutions outlined in this letter could be helpful to you in solving India’s water crisis.

In order to address the issue of clean water availability, the objectives must address multiple levels of the social-ecological model simultaneously. Three overarching objectives will be addressed. 1) The current public water system must increase in capacity. The current public water system is small and up to 40% of households do not have access to the public water system (2). 2) Due to the rural nature of the population, expansion of the current system should begin

The water in urban wellfields is contaminated with saltwater since the water flow had changed direction. The water also contains high levels of nutrients (particularly phosphorous) because of runoff from the developed areas.

The Yellow River gets its name from the yellowish color of the water. The water is yellow because each year over 1.6 billion tons of soil flows into the river, which causes the rise and shifting of the river bed (Wu). Before the damming of the river it was extremely prone to flooding which in turn caused millions of deaths. The Yellow River flooding is responsible for the deadliest disaster in human history. It is said the river had changed course twenty six times between 608 BC and 1938 AD and flooded of fifteen hundred times (Wu).

And for our river to be harmed in this way, the damage -- spiritually, emotionally, psychologically is beyond description."

In “The River”, young Bevel’s arrogance in his newfound spirituality is the ultimate cause for his implied death. In most baptismal ceremonies, a holy man or woman must conduct the rites. People of the cloth are considered doing the work of God (or god, or gods) and, therefore, have the unique privilege of blessing laymen. Old Bevel, the preacher, satisfies this role in “The River”, asserting that, “If you ain’t come for Jesus, you ain’t come for me” (165). Young Bevel is fascinated with the baptism and is convinced that he “count[s] now” and that he “didn’t even count before” (168).

Most human waste in the United States flows down the pipes to a facility such as DC Water's Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant, the largest facility of its kind in the world. Blue Plains receives an average of 370 million gallons of urine. This includes what washes down the kitchen drain, fills up washing machines, and flushes down toilets.

sewage systems that are dumping mass amounts of waste into the rivers and/or lakes. The

The biggest threats to the population of the Gharial. Irrigation results in the extraction of water from the river systems that the Gharial inhabits. Coupled with the changing flow of the river due to dams, this results in water levels that can range from being extremely low to extremely high, both of which harm the Gharial population in very significant ways. Low water levels are more inclined to evaporate completely during the dry season, meaning that Gharial’s must find new river systems or die. High water levels wash away the hatchlings, eggs and nesting sites of the Gharials as well as reducing the amount and size of the sand banks. Another major variable is the maintenance of the Ganges River dams. The dams around the Ganges are often

Hindus consider the Ganges to be the goddess Ganga personified. They believe that bathing in the river is cleansing, resulting in the forgiveness of sins and salvation. All people, it is believed, should experience this sacred river at least once in their life. Many important festivals take place along the banks of this river. The Ganges River also irrigates a large area of farmland, where rice, sugarcane, lentils and wheat are grown. Unfortunately, the Ganges River has been polluted by sewage, trash, food, and human and animal remains, and industrial waste. Water-borne illnesses, including cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and amoebic dysentery are widespread. Although a very important river to the people of India, the Ganges is also a very polluted river.

The origin of the religion is unknown and the word "Hindu" is said to have derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu which is now known as the Indus river. Hinduism like many other religions has its own beliefs, practices and outlook on why things are the way they are and how everything came to be the way that it is now. In the hindu religion rituals are within everything that they do from the day that they were born to the day they die. One of the rituals that a Hindu would go about completing to start off their day would be to wake up before dawn, head down to the river Ganges to bathe, pray and give thanks to the river , also known as Ganga Ma or Mother Ganges. Mother Ganges is the river that surrounds and isolates the subcontinent, because the water from the Ganges is so regular and dependable it has helped the small civilization to flourish and grow much across northern India. The people of India pray and give their thanks to Ganga Ma because for so long she has continued to give them the water that they need and provided them with a sense of protection and comfort. When the hindu's bathe in the Ganges river they believe that it is uniting them with the earth and heaven they bathe from head to toe , imerge themselves in the water to be fully purified and then they make an ofering of water to

Clean water supply is essential in establishing and maintaining a healthy community. There are two sources of water supply which are the surface water and ground water. Most natural waters are not suitable for consumption as it is contaminated by pathogens and also natural chemicals and minerals. In addition, as a city grew, wastes from human activities contaminate most of the water supplies. Water treatment plays an important role to properly treat a contaminated source of water supply in order to protect the health of consumers. Water treatment process is defined as a process of eliminating pollutants from untreated water to produce a biologically and chemically risk-free water, which is both potable and palatable for human consumption

The fascinating religion, Hinduism, is composed of multiple complex gods and goddesses and filled with interesting traditions, all of which can be studied through ancient arts that depict various parts of the religion. The great gods and goddesses of Hinduism serve with different purposes, roles and depicts based of their stories. For instance, the god Shiva is known as the destroyer because of his creative power and furiousness. One of his popular tales describes how he took on a powerful trinity of tyrannical cities that were corrupting the city. Like most gods, Shiva is depicted with superhuman qualities; he often has serpents on his neck and unkempt hair. Another great god, Vishnu, is quite the opposite from Shiva because he is known as the preserver, of the universe especially. His role is to observe the cycle of the world and make sure everything is preserved and goes well; also, his depiction varies from the other great god, so he is represented with a flower in his (multiple) hands. Additionally, goddesses are also valued in the Hindu religion; for example, the goddess, Durga, is responsible for restoring moral order and often fights, but she still has compassion and love. She is often represented on a lion for courage. The representation for each god and goddesses varies but each accessory is symbolic to their powers. The main reason why they are depicted with various animal parts, weapons, or other certain appearances that may be unhuman like, is to show

The next pollution will be water pollution. This pollution comes from factories, automobiles’’ exhausts and mines, which dump sewage directly into the water. Moreover, as an Agrarian country, the usage of pesticides for agriculture in India calls for water pollution too. Excessive usage of organic matter by farmers will also lead to the same consequent. As mentioned, deforestation will occur as population increase and the forests are stripped, soil erosion will happen and further cause sediments in water. Furthermore, people in India bathe in river for spiritual rejuvenate. However, as they warding off their sins in water, body wastes are excreted into the river as well, leading to river pollution. Religious