World's largest religious meeting: 600 million believers take holy bathroom
World's largest religious meeting: 600 million believers take holy bathroom
In New Delhi, a hundred million Hindu believers have bathed in holy waters, despite concerns about overcrowding and water pollution. This ended the world's largest religious meeting in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. Over a period of 45 days, more than 620 million people - almost a third of the approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants of India - took the maha kumbh mela also known as the festival of holy Kruges , part. These celebrations took place on the banks of the river in the city of Prayagraj and offered a spectacle of colors and beliefs.
the meaning of the triveni sangam
The faithful traveled to clean themselves in the Triveni Sangam, the confluence of the three holy rivers - Ganges, Yamuna and the mythological Saraswati - and to get a step closer to the "spiritual liberation". Every 12 years the festival gets the addition "Maha", which means "big" because it is the largest assembly of the Kumbh Mela, which takes place every three years in one of the four cities.
"It is a unique experience that you have once in life," said Sushovan Sircar, 36, an independent consultant from Delhi. "People from all over India are here, because I have seen license plates from almost every state."
overcrowding and environmental concerns
The Prime Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, rejected the correctness of the government report and emphasized that the water was not only safe for bathing, but also for the Hindu custom of drinking a scrappoon after the bathroom.
The experiences of the faithful
participants often dive completely, sometimes they drink or collect the holy water in containers. Sircar reported that he bathed twice on the Sangam last week, as the most sacred place to bathing. "There is a concern because I can't do anything about contamination in the water," said Sircar. "Finally you say to yourself, this part looks clean, then you spend a few minutes in it, speaks prayers and comes out."
"I took a bath for sins and then another for the contamination," he laughed. "So you need a bathroom after the bathroom ... my sins are cleaned, but not my body."
The challenge of water pollution
Before the start of the festival, the Supreme Environmental Court of India instructed the state and state environmental authorities to ensure that the river water was pure enough to drink and swim. It called for increased surveillance and sampling of the gang and the Yamuna as well as ensuring that no untreated wastewater or firm waste is initiated. A report by the Federal Environmental Authority of February 3, however, found that the values for Faecale Coliform bacteria, a directional indicator of untreated wastewater, far exceeded the secure limit of 2,500 units per 100 milliliters.
At various points in the Ganges and the Yamuna around Prayagraj, the values were more than 1,000 above the safe limit. Adityanath explained that his government constantly monitor the water values to ensure quality. The organizers of the Kumbh Mela also emphasized that a “comprehensive examination” of all 81 drains was carried out before the festival, which lead water into the rivers.
believe about everything
Aishwary Sharma, 31, a financial professional from Delhi, indicated that despite the knowledge of the possible contamination, he had immersed in the rivers. "It is obvious that the ganges and the Yamuna are not clean rivers," he said. "But there are many things that are bad for them ... The air we breathe is so toxic to our health ... It is just another element that is contaminated and could be potentially harmful to my health."
For others, their belief and participation in the Holy Festival were more important than their concerns. "What interests (most people) is their devotion and religion, and that they want to make this holy leap," said Sunny Parasher, 34, from Panchkula in the state of Haryana. "Where there is devotion where religion is, there are no questions," he added.
Health risks through water pollution
The health experts warn that exposure to fecal contamination can cause water-related diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea, cholera, gastroenteritis, e-coli, skin diseases and vomiting.
initiative to clean the rivers
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared priority to clean the gang, India's most holy river in 2014. In this decade, billions of dollars for sewage treatment plants, the cleaning of surface waste and reforestation measures were issued or promised. The Ganges, a life nerve for 400 million people who live and work along his banks, crosses 50 Indian cities that lead around 3 billion liter wastewater daily - which is treated only a fraction before reaching the river, according to the World Bank.
The Yamuna, a tributary of the gang, has been suffering from the deposition of toxic chemicals and untreated wastewater for decades. Before the festival, the Indian authorities praised the event as a "green Kumbh" this year, with sustainable initiatives such as a ban on disposable plastic, environmentally friendly toilets and an army of 15,000 cleaning staff to clean up after large bathing days.
The Ministry of Culture said in January that the festival was “planned thoroughly to maintain hygiene and ecological balance” and set an “example of future major events worldwide” in terms of environmental protection.
The protection and cleaning of the river were also a central topic at a conference that took place on the sidelines of the festival for the first time in religious and environmental leaders to discuss how religious institutions can approach the climate crisis. "If there is no water in the river, there is no kumbh. We do not consider it water, but as a nectar," said the Indian spiritual leader Swami Chidanand Saraswati at the meeting. "If we all make no effort to protect it, the next (Kumbh Mela) will take place on mere sand."
FAZIT: Complete challenges
The enormous crowd this year Kumbh Mela proves to be an obstacle to the green efforts, since 250 million more people than originally expected. The authorities had expected around 400 million participants about the six -week event, around 9 million people a day, but government numbers confirmed almost 620 million total.
"It is a mammoth -like task to take care of such a crowd," said Dr. Nupur Bahadur, a deputy director of the Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), a research institute that deals with wastewater management. She explained that the contamination of the rivers could be better managed by taking better preventive measures on site and disinfection methods. One of them could be to bathing after every 12 hours for once an hour and let fresh water flow through the bathing areas before the baths could be resumed.
"While the massive influx of visitors strained the infrastructure, it was still the best human effort that was possible under such circumstances," added Bahadur. The resident of Prayagraj, Mishra, expressed the wish that her city will soon return to normal. "My eyes are constantly burning and there is so much dust," she complained. "I want the festival to end so I can return to my life."
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