How is the ganges river important

Many Hindus believe water known as 'Gangaa jal' from anywhere on the River Ganges is purifying and holy. The day Kumbh Mela takes place every 12 years at the union of the rivers Ganges , Yamuna and the Saraswati , which is no longer visible.

The most recent Kumbh Mela took place in and million pilgrims attended. People enter the Ganges in order to purify themselves. Many pilgrims also take home small containers of water from there to give to friends and family who are not able to attend. The Ganges River basin has been inhabited by humans since ancient times.

The first people in the region were of the Harappan civilization. In modern times, the Ganges River has become a source of life for the nearly million people living in its basin. They rely on the river for their daily needs such as drinking water supplies and food and for irrigation and manufacturing.

Today, the Ganges River basin is the most populated river basin in the world. It has a population density of about 1, people per square mile per sq km. Aside from providing drinking water and irrigating fields, the Ganges River is extremely important to India's Hindu population for religious reasons as well.

The Ganges River is considered their most sacred river, and it is worshiped as the goddess Ganga Ma or "Mother Ganges. According to the Myth of the Ganges, the goddess Ganga descended from heaven to dwell in the waters of the Ganges River to protect, purify and bring to heaven those who touch it. Devout Hindus visit the river daily to offer flowers and food to Ganga. They also drink the water and bathe in the river to cleanse and purify their sins.

Hindus believe that upon death the waters of the Ganges River are needed to reach the World of the Ancestors, Pitriloka. As a result, Hindus bring their dead to the river for cremation along its banks and afterward their ashes are spread in the river.

In some cases, corpses are also thrown into the river. The city of Varanasi is the holiest of cities along the Ganges River and many Hindus travel there to place ashes of their dead in the river. Along with daily baths in the Ganges River and offerings to the goddess Ganga, there are large religious festivals that occur in the river throughout the year where millions of people travel to the river to bathe so that they can be purified of their sins.

Despite the religious significance and daily importance of the Ganges River for the people of India, it is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Pollution of the Ganges is caused by both human and industrial waste due to India's rapid growth as well as religious events. India currently has a population of over 1 billion people, and million of them live in the Ganges River basin.

As a result, much of their waste, including raw sewage, is dumped into the river. Also, many people bathe and use the river to clean their laundry. Fecal coliform bacteria levels near Varanasi are at least 3, times higher than what is established by the World Health Organization as safe Hammer, Industrial practices in India also have little regulation and as the population grows these industries do as well. There are many tanneries, chemical plants, textile mills, distilleries and slaughterhouses along the river and many of them dump their untreated and often toxic waste into the river.

The water of the Ganges has been tested to contain high levels of things like chromium sulfate, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and sulfuric acid Hammer, In addition to human and industrial waste, some religious activities also increase the pollution of the Ganges. It has seen too many wars, countless kings, British colonials, independence and the rise of Hindu nationalism as a political movement.

In India, the Ganges is far more than just a river. It is religion, industry, farming and politics. It is a source of water for millions of people, and an immense septic system that endures millions of gallons of raw sewage. Every year, millions of Hindus make pilgrimages to the temples and shrines along its shores.

To drink from it is auspicious. For many Hindus, life is incomplete without bathing in it at least once in their lifetime, to wash away theirs sins. Pollution has left large sections of it dangerous to drink. The rest comes from Himalayan tributaries that flow from the colossal chain of mountains. As the Ganges flows across the plains, its once clean and mineral-rich water begins collecting the toxic waste from the millions of people who depend on it, becoming one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

Millions of liters gallons of sewage, along with heavy metals, agricultural pesticides, human bodies and animal carcasses, are dumped into the Ganges every day.