A (not so) holy dip
Loads of articles have been published about river pollution at pilgrimages. But unless you see it yourself you don't guage the intensity of it. I recently visited a pilgrimage called Narasobawadi situated on the banks of river Krishna. Its a small place which has a beautiful Dattatreya temple. The second avatar of Shri Dattatreya, Shri Narasimha Saraswati spent 12 years here and hence its considered a very holy place. The life in this place revolves completely, in and around the temple activities.
Thousands of worshipers visit this place and perform different rites, including the last rites. That said, people take a holy dip after the rites. Some of the rites require you to leave your clothes behind and dispose flowers etc used in the rites, into the river.
The idea is to discard those clothes and not donate it to the river.
The river is not a trash can. People simply assume that by discarding clothes they would be free from all evil, so they do not mind doing some evil by throwing their clothes, including undergarments into the river. Yes i call this evil because, all that filth, accumulates at the banks and is unhygienic to those other visitors and is definitely not a pleasant sight.
Devotees are expected to take a dip not apply soap and take a bath. The river isn't meant for that. How can people expect to cleanse their souls when they indulge in so much negligence and evil.
Can't we bring in minor changes to some of these practices, so that a holy dip does cleanse the soul and not cause diseases. Places of worship, are destinations where you experience the eternal bliss, complete peace of mind. Lets just help maintain it that way.
Thousands of worshipers visit this place and perform different rites, including the last rites. That said, people take a holy dip after the rites. Some of the rites require you to leave your clothes behind and dispose flowers etc used in the rites, into the river.
The idea is to discard those clothes and not donate it to the river.
The river is not a trash can. People simply assume that by discarding clothes they would be free from all evil, so they do not mind doing some evil by throwing their clothes, including undergarments into the river. Yes i call this evil because, all that filth, accumulates at the banks and is unhygienic to those other visitors and is definitely not a pleasant sight.Devotees are expected to take a dip not apply soap and take a bath. The river isn't meant for that. How can people expect to cleanse their souls when they indulge in so much negligence and evil.
Can't we bring in minor changes to some of these practices, so that a holy dip does cleanse the soul and not cause diseases. Places of worship, are destinations where you experience the eternal bliss, complete peace of mind. Lets just help maintain it that way.
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