On the Hindu pilgrim path...

Namaste!

In attempt to futher experience the richness and diversity of Indian culture, I decided to join the thousands of Indian tourists on their pilgrimage to one of the most holiest sites: the source of the Ganges, or their Mother Ganga. Seeing that John and I have been tracing the Ganga from our arrival in India, I feel it is appropriate to end up my travels in India in her pursuit.

So to begin I arrived in the holy city of Haridwar, where it was like Ganga puja (workship) central! The city is filled with Sadhus, pilgrims, peggars and families, while the shops sell shells, beads, religious garbs, goodies for offerings. There is one main ghat where puja is performed 24x7 by thousands of colourful folks.

One the way to the ghat, I passed a group of travelling saddhus, a sea of orange, singing and drumming as they collected alms from nearby wallahs. Closer to the rapids of the Ganga, I was blown away by the action... From the adventurous teenage boys testing their swimming strength against the strong current, to the woman accompanied by her husband and small daughter taking great care to reapply the red vermillion powder down the part of her hair as a sign of marriage, to the group of old women fanning their wet saris in the sun while re-wrapping themselves with its length while their friends enjoy their afternoon chai nearby, and finally the little guy (maybe 3 yrs old?) relieving himself on the stairs with great concentration despite the surrounding festival-ish atmosphere.

Among the masses, these sites unravel but a threat of the cultural fabric on India linked by religion and place... (an author you say? perhaps I've plagarized this from one of the many Indian novels I've been reading!!!)

Pretty cool spot, though I was eager to escape the heat for some mountain air in my search of the source of the Ganga... next stop: Gangotri!

Namaste and blessings from the Ganga to all! :)
Kristy

The adjacent shot is the nightly Ganga worship ceremony. There were SO many people that the officials used their whisters to try to control the hords of people... with limited success!!