The Role of Ganga as a Sociocultural Entity - Essay Example

?The Ganga is geo-culturally the most important water body in India (Trivedi , . The cultural landscape of Ganga has largely influenced the cultural makeup of the country as such. It is often referred to as the cultural cradle of Indian civilization. Geographically, Ganga flows through a large stretch of India. It has been estimated that 40% of India’s population lives along the river basin (Trivedi , 2010). The social and cultural thoughts associated with Ganga thus become influential to a large population of the country. Moreover, the river serves as a resource for sustaining life and human processes for almost the entire nation. Here it must be noted that the whole population which lives on the river basin depends on Ganga for agricultural, domestic and industrial water consumption. Taking into account all these facts, it can be confirmed that Ganga as a geographical and cultural element, plays a very important role. To have a critical view on this role, it won’t be enough to limit the analysis to the physical, biological and environmental systems associated with the river. For any analysis to happen, it must be understood that sociologically, the river Ganga is more than a river for the people and the culture associated with it. There are a set of systems ranging from environmental to mythological which combines to constitute the landscape of the river. The objective of this essay is to analyze the role of Ganga as a socio cultural entity and to understand its changing ritualistic relationship with the community. The Geographic spread of Ganga In order to understand the cultural relevance of Ganges, it is primarily important to understand the geographic spread and details of the river. The river covers more than a quarter of the country’s landscape. It comes up to 26.3% of the total area of India (Trivedi , 2010). It is considered to be largest river basin. Ganagotri Glaciers are the primary source of origin of Ganga river. It flows through the Himalayas and flows down the country starting from Haridwar (Trivedi , 2010). Numerous tributaries join Ganga at different parts of its flow through the country. The Ganga-Brahmatutra-Meghna basin of which Ganga basin is a part stretches across to four countries including China, India, Nepal and Bangladesh. However, a major chunk of this lies in India extending up to 80% of the total basin. The river flows through the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, West Bengal Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh (Trivedi , 2010). Ganga as a sacred river The cultural landscape of the river has evolved in connection with the divine approach that the community associated with the river has linked with. To understand the socio ecological aspects in connection with the river it is important to understand the perception of the population connected with Ganga. The predominant socio religious concepts of India have considered water bodies as sacred. Rivers are perceived as “extensions and partial manifestations of gods” (Shiva, 2002). The Hindu mythology states that the existence of life on earth has been made possible due to the flow of heavenly water (Shiva, 2002). Connecting, this to the fact that, Himalayas, where The Ganga originates from is considered to be heaven, the mythological relevance of Ganga as a scared river can be assumed. The sacredness of Ganga has been nourished by the socio cultural ambience of the places through which it flows. Ganga flows through a number of scared cities including Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Varanasi and Allahabad. This stretch of landscape stretching across the Himalayan zone and the Indo-Gangetic plain creates an ecological system which connects to the Hindu mythology. This ecological system spreads beyond a physical space. It is a combination of natural resources, mythical concepts, religious structures, biological systems and rituals (Shiva, 2002). The Socio-cultural landscape of Ganga As mentioned earlier, the landscape of Ganga constitutes an integrated space of nature, mythology, social elements, people and rituals. Ramakrishan (1996) has explained it as a spatially diffused landscape. The interaction of various elements constitutes the sacred nature of the river. In other words these factors combine to elevate the status of the river to holy entity with sanctifying effect. Ramakrishan (2002) has classified this landscape into three components. The first of it is the Garhwal mountain landscape. This portion has a complex terrain in terms of its geography and altitudinal complexity. The biosphere is constituted with diverse natural resource and socio-ecological systems. The agro systems within this portion are extremely involving multi species. The second portion of the landscape is the Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains. Geographically this is a simpler terrain with uniform altitude and has a monocultural landscape. The agricultural system is also more or less simpler constituting of rotational cropping of wheat and rice. In terms of the demography of the section, it is densely population region constituting of Hindi speaking people. Interestingly there is diversity amongst the linguistic pattern within the Hindi speaking population here. There are a number of dialects of Hindi spoken in this area Ramakrishan (2002). This is important in the context of the analysis of Ganga, as these dialects constitutes and influences the rituals and myths in connection with the river. The third component of the Ganga landscape is called Coastal Sunderban Mangrove ecosystem Ramakrishan (2002). This largely runs through a biosphere reserve which is formed by the Ganga-Brahmaputra river system. This component runs across the coast of Bay of Bengal. This is the segment which flows across the geographical boundary of India towards Bangladesh. Considering the mythical elements that are connected with the landscape of Ganga, these components may intercept. However, in that context, the boundaries of ritualistic landscape is constituted and demarcated according to the ‘zones of cultural influence’ (Ramakrishan ,2002). Interestingly, it is these same zones of cultural influence which connects different components of Ganga river system to constitute a unique socio-cultural landscape. For instance, the river connects a number of cities which of religious importance. Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Varanasi and Allahabad are examples to these. The common mythical and ritualistic elements in these religious congregations interconnect the sacred river into a common ecological system. This binding coins all the biological, physical and sociological elements into the ecology. For example, the myths and rituals associated with Ganga in a particular region will include certain social systems, which would determine the life style and social framework of the whole region. Similarly, the same myths and rituals will have elements associating nature and natural resources into this social framework. Thus in totality, the landscape serves as a watershed spreading across geographical boundaries (Ramakrishan ,2002). Ecologically, flooding and silt deposition results in interconnection of the three components of the Ganga landscape. Thus the scared river connects and carries the biological elements from one region to the other. Similar is the case of cultural composition of the Ganga river landscape. The scared nature of it connects the components of its landscape into a common cultural system. Ritualistic Connections of Ganga landscape The ritualistic connection of Ganga with its landscape is very strong, however varied from region to region. As mentioned above, the ritualistic part of the landscape is very much connected with the local culture, dialect and many other factors. For instance, the religious institutions and processes in the Hariyali hilltop have been instrumental as a social support. There are specified tasks allotted for people from different castes in rituals and festivals. His must be read together with the fact, these trade and societal role based structure in the society constitutes the socio-cultural specifications of the area. Thus these structures and the rituals associated with Ganga become closely interlinked with the society and societal structure. In the case of Hariyali, Ramakrishan (2002) has opined that it is these rituals and customs, which binds all the communities together. Taking into account a larger picture of this, Ganga and the allied ritualistic landscape binds all the societies connected with it. It must be noted here that 40% of India’s population lives along the river basin. Thus the cultural and ritualistic thoughts associated with Ganga become influential to a large population of the country. The natural setting, around which sets of rituals and beliefs are interlinked, indicates the connection of the people with nature and natural forces. Almost all of the rituals have connections with festivals, climatic conditions, change of seasons etc. Thus all these rituals are largely coherent with the rules of the nature. However, with change in time and societal pattern, there have been changes in the forms and depth of the rituals. There has been increased public attention on these rituals and the holy cities through which Ganga flows has been receiving visitors from all across the globe. These visitors and observers from all across the globe have varied perception on the rituals being conducted at various sites within the Ganga landscape. They have been wide acceptance for these pilgrims and observers in almost all the pilgrimage cities associated with Ganga. As these visits are perceived as salvation by a majority who are connected with the ritualistic component of Ganga landscape, the pilgrimage kept increasing. With this indiscriminate increase in pilgrimage to Ganga landscape, the cultural components of Ganga landscape also underwent gradual changes. However to accommodate such large quantum of people, such changes were either deliberately brought or naturally happened. This set forth new and changed trends in the ritualistic elements of Ganga landscape GangaMahotsav: Changing trends in rituals Ganga Mahotsav is organized annually at Varanasi, by the department of tourism, Uttar Pradesh Government. There has been a special committee called the ‘Mahotsav Committee’ which has been constituted to organize GangaMahotsav (GMS,2011).. The objective of organizing the mahotsav is to celebrate the cultural heritage and oriental knowledge of Varanasi as a region. It must be noted here that the culture and Varanasi is very much associated with Ganga. The ritualistic association of Varanasi and Ganga is very well established across the country. The ‘Ghats’, which are the riverfronts, specifically famous for several ritualistic reasons, attract pilgrims from across the world (GMS,2011). Thus ideally, highlighting the culture of Varanasi would fetch a lot of attention on Gangs and the allied socio-cultural landscape. The festival was introduced in 1994 and now having had completed more than 15 events, the festival is getting increased attention, both at national and international level. The vision statement of the festival states that the Mahotsav is a multi-faceted Tourism Product that unites the culture & art of India with the Global community” (GMS,2011). The event is organised every year starting from ‘prabodhini Ekaadashi’ extending upto ‘Dev Deepavali’. Both these days are auspicious festive days connected with the ritualistic framework of the area. These days falls in the month of October to November. Interestingly, GangaMahotsav is being promoted and marketed as a tourism product. It is being organized to attract both international and national tourists to Varanasi. The organizing committee claims to have increased the tourist arrival to a substantial level through the successful marketing of GangaMahotsav as a tourism product. It is also promoted as a “comprehensive window to the world of handicrafts (GMS,2011). The concluding day of the festival, which also happens to be Deepavali, the festival of lights is being suggested as the highlight of the event. Thousands of lit lamps called diyas are floated in the Ganga, which is expected to be a mesmerising sight. The following table provides information on the tourist arrival in Varanasi from 2003 to 2009. Tourist-arrival in Varanasi S. No. Year Indians Foreigners Total 1 2003 2701716 108017 2809733 2 2004 2809422 141328 2950750 3 2005 3049980 143993 3193973 4 2006 3204244 153099 3357343 5 2007 3506991 169964 3676955 6 2008 3713809 178396 3892205 7 2009 3898557 188853 4087410 Source: (GMS,2011). Most of these tourists, as claimed by Mohostav Committee visit Varanasi during GangaMahotsav. An analysis of the data on tourist arrival clearly suggests that, there had been steady increase in the number of people coming to visit Ganga at Varanasi. Thus it is very evident that GangaMahotsav is playing a large role in promoting the socio-cultural identity of Ganga. Environmental Impact Though the government is promoting, tourism to a large extend on the shores of Ganga, there has not been scientific assessment of the carrying capacity of the area. During festive seasons, millions of people visits Varanasi. However, it must be noted that indiscriminate number of people visiting the place can affect the area badly. There are serious implications of uncontrolled tourism activities which can lead direct and indirect impacts on the balance of ecology. As the ecological setup of Ganga involves an integration of socio-cultural and physical systems, the implications of tourism on the landscape of Ganga would be severe. The more the tourists more will be pollution of Ganga, its cultural environments and physical spaces. There has been reports that the rituals which are associated with Ganga are causing pollution to a large extend. Ganga is well known for its sanctity effect (Shiva,2000). Millions of people take dips in Ganga in pursuit of salvation. This goes beyond the carrying capacity of the river as the ritualistic activity is concentrated in specific areas. This is exactly what happens with the case of GangaMahotsav. Millions of people are promoted to undertake the rituals in the name of cultural and heritage tourism. The cultural leakage that happens in the case of GangaMahotsav is also a serious matter of concern. The committee organizes various cultural performances as a part of Mahotsav. Exhibitions highlighting cultural elements from several parts of the country are organized during the festival. However, this leaves the process to have the risk of cultural leakage. When culturally relevant processes and rituals are packaged for the comfort of the tourists, there are chances that the values and norms of the culture may get devalued in the process. Thus it is important that the ritualistic elements of the Ganga landscape must be conserved as a valuable resource of the local people and must not be allowed to devaluate even to a minimal extend. A very important ritualistic factor associated with river Ganga, is associated with the perceived power of its waters to provide salivation to the deceased. In connection with this belief, thousands of corpses are deposited in Ganga in pursuit of salvation. The high rate of this process is reportedly leading to serious health and environmental hazards. The commercial nature of the cremations that are performed on the shores of Ganga also adds to the complexity. The wood pyres on which the bodies are burnt does not at most times consume the body wholly. These half burnt remains are disposed in Ganga. Along with this, in many cases bodies are just left afloat in the waters of Ganga. More than these, carcasses of ritually important animals like cows are disposed in Ganga. All these add to the pollution of Ganga. There are ample evidences to believe that the water quality of Ganga has deteriorated to a large extend. The pathogenic pollution, including the presence of coliform bacteria has been reported to be very high in various stretches of Ganga. Thus it is evident that the pilgrimage and cultural tourism are largely affecting the environmental sustainability of Ganga. Taking this into account, the promotion of Gnaga Mahotsav must ensure proper regulations with reference to the carrying capacity of Ganga and its surrounding environments. There must be regulations on the pollution which is generated as a part of ritualistic processes. The paradox of rituals and environmental balance has to be dealt with sensible policies. Right over water: The Politics of Water The concept of Ganga as scared river has prevailed over centuries (Shiva,2000). The rituals which are associated with the sacredness of Ganga are being carried out for centuries. These have been passed from generations to generations. However, there have been changes in the approaches towards these rituals. The traditions rituals always had a holistic approach in maintaining the sanctity of the river in terms of its socio, cultural and environmental balance. It becomes the right of the local community to have rights over these sustainable approaches (Shiva,2000). Commercial versions of cultural exhibitionisms will always result in inequitable balance of the resources. Distancing the local communities from traditional practices through commercial interventions would result in irreversible damages. This must be read together with the fact that the local communities approach in using Ganga as a resource is comes along with their responsibility in maintaining the balance of these resources. Water is a basic right of local communities. The politics of utilizing it to tap commercial interests will have long term detrimental effects. Every community holds to right to have equitable share of clean and healthy water. The commercial activity of Ganga Mahotsav, as promoted by the department of tourism is causing indiscriminate damage to the balance of Ganga as a resource of the local people. As mentioned earlier, 40% of India’s population is dependent on Ganga for various purposes. Moreover, the socio cultural landscape of the river which flows across a large geographic region of the country, serves as a cultural symbol for large communities of India. It is their right to have this protected. There must be efforts to maintain the quality of water in Ganga. The paradox of ritualistic processes which results in pollution and the need for sustainable maintenance of the environment of Gangs has to be given priority. There must be policy interventions so that the local communities get their share of healthy water and are able to maintain the cultural symbols associated with Ganga. There must be immediate regulations on the commercial activities which happen in connection with Ganga. All sources of industrial pollution must be curbed with stringent policies. It must be ensured that the Socio cultural landscape of Ganga is approached in a sustainable manner. The ritualistic rights of communities towards waters of Ganga must be respected. Any policies with regard to the conservation of Ganga must be based on the understanding that sustainable approach to conservation of Ganga must involve a holistic inclusion of the sociological, cultural and economic factors associated with Ganga. References Shiva, Vandana. Chapter 7- "The Sacred Waters." Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit. Cambridge:South End Press, 2002, pp.131-146  Paz,Octavio. "My life with the Wave."(short story)trans. Eliot Weinberger. Ed. David Rothenberg and Marta Ulvaeus. Writing on Water. MIT Press, 2001, pp.267-272 Ramkrishnan P S (2003) The Sacred Ganga River-based Cultural Landscape, Museum International No. 218 ,Vol. 55, 7-17 GMS (2011), Ganga Mohostav, Ganga Mohostav Samithi, [online] accesed on 27 March 28, 2012 from Read More