I watched the documentary about the pilgrimage that millions of people take every 12 years to bathe in the Ganges River in India. I had a hard time choosing which documentary to watch, but I really enjoyed seeing how people worship within the Hindu faith.
The film showed how the water level recedes, and an entire village with electricity and plumbing is erected for the ritual bathing where water used to be. You can see this new temporary village from space, as it is enormous and will house millions who travel there for this ritual. During the filming, a monsoon arrived and flooded some of the areas that had become dry on the banks of the river. The monsoon season in South Asia is between May and September and can bring enormous amounts of rain in a short period of time.
The Ganges River is very important in India. It is a sacred place for Hindus all over the world. Hindus believe that the water flowing in the river is flowing from heaven to purify them. Every 12 years, a massive pilgrimage to the Ganges River is attempted by millions of people so that they can bathe in the holiness of the river.
The act of washing themselves in the holy river is called Ablution. People will travel from all over the world to take part in this holy undertaking. The documentary follows worshipers from America as they travel to India for the holy festival for the first time.
Hinduism started at the Indus River around 4000 BCE. Of the 1 billion Hindus in the world, 90% of them live in India. Hinduism is the 3rd largest religion after Christianity and Islam.
You can tell that the pilgrimage to the Ganges River is a very big deal to Hindus, but also to other religions around the world. A pilgrimage is a spiritual journey for anyone, and so a lot of people of different faiths also travel to the Ganges River to take part in the holy festivities. I enjoyed learning more about this religion and some of its practices.
[Written for GEOG 130G class UVU Spring 2022]
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