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The Ganga (or Ganges) is the most sacred of all rivers in Hinduism and is revered as a goddess with purificatory and emancipatory powers. Worship of the river traditionally involves bathing in and drinking her waters in order to cleanse the body of physical and spiritual ills, and to hasten the path to Moksha (or Mokṣa) or liberation from the karmic cycle of reincarnation. Today, the river is also widely regarded as one of the most polluted in the world, with water quality measuring far lower than either national or international standards for drinking and bathing at most sites. This chapter explores the changing religious significance of the Ganges in the face of decreased river water quality, with particular attention to how river worshippers and devotees of the Ganga are renegotiating water use practices. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and survey data collected in 2008 and 2009 in the central river basin city of Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), I argue that popular awareness of the presence and risks of pollution in the river is leading goddess worshippers to reduce contact with river water during devotional practices, to change the sites or frequency of their worship or to abandon the practices traditionally associated with worship of the Ganga. These renegotiations have significant consequences related to how devotees conceive of and portray the river as an inviolable goddess, as well as the success of efforts to inspire pollution abatement by appealing to the traditional religious values associated with the goddess Ganga.

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-9376-6_28

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