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The Mother Goddess who purifies the faithful is far from enjoying good health herself. The Ganges is on the verge of death. Paradoxically, while she gives new spiritual energy to those who immerse themselves in her water to cleanse their sins, she risks spreading death instead.
Ganges means “Mother Goddess.” She is a liquid mother whose waters purify all sins and facilitate the cycle of reincarnation.
This is why the faithful immerse themselves in the Ganges at sunset every day, surrounded by the songs of priests and incense. They seek immediate purification. But this sacred river is no longer a clean river. Sadly, we could now consider it an open sewer, in which more than 5 billion of sewage water mix from 450 million residents in its basin area every day. Even though the river is sacred, people also dump other waste in it, including plastic. And the ashes of corpses. The Ganges was once truly purifying in all senses. Its water (still) has a concentration of chemicals that fight human bacteria. This has always been it’s secret. But today the waste water treatment plan is still incomplete. And the Ganges that brought new life now, unwillingly, brings death.
Travel journal
20.03.2019
The building of the raft
LOGBOOK 20 #GANGES
My mission: to navigate the Ganges in a raft built with recycled materials. But how could I build a raft which would navigate long distances on this holiest of Indian rivers?
19.03.2019
Change
LOGBOOK 19 #GANGES
In the last few days I have moved fast through several neighbouring states. Yesterday, for example, I rowed between Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
18.03.2019
The faithful of the Ganges
LOGBOOK 18 #GANGES
The Chambal - a second degree Ganges tributary - is probably the only unholy river in India and that has been its blessing.
16.03.2019
Bahgalpur: a place of the unexpected
LOGBOOK 17 #GANGES
Bahgalpur is a place of the unexpected. It makes an impression with its grunge and damaged, abused beauty.
15.03.2019
People of Ganges
LOGBOOK 16 #GANGES
Every morning on the Ganges, men, women and children perform a wide variety of activities. Everyone uses the river, but it appears for all the world as if they don’t care about it at all.
14.03.2019
The soil “measures” the health of the river
LOGBOOK 15 #GANGES
There are two things you notice when visiting Munger. The first suddenly catches you the moment you enter the city...
12.03.2019
Munger
LOGBOOK 14 #GANGES
There are two things you notice when visiting Munger. The first suddenly catches you the moment you enter the city...
11.03.2019
Unexpected
LOGBOOK 13 #GANGES
Our concerns regarding navigation suddenly materialised late today.
10.03.2019
Life and death: everything is as one
LOGBOOK 12 #GANGES
The river today was the dirtiest I have encountered since I first set off. As well as my craft, travelling with the current I saw many animal carcasses, a human corpse and the half-carbonised remains of other bodies.
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