Page 38 - MANN KI BAAT (English)
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How Rivers in India are Connecting
Spirituality and People
The ways of adhering to “When Indra slew the
the beliefs are the same demon, he removed the cloud
from north to south. On the one
hand, the Kumbh is organised covering the sun—the source of
at Prayagraj, Ujjain, Nasik and water. The liberated rivers ran
Haridwar; on the other, in the upon the earth like mother cows,
southern part, Pushkaram eager to suckle their young.” Ṛ
is organised on the banks of
Godavari, Krishna, Narmada Rig Veda 1.61.10
and Kaveri rivers. Both these India is a land where nature
festivals are connected with and spirituality intertwine
our holy rivers and their seamlessly, and rivers hold a
beliefs.
sacred place in this connection.
-Prime Minister Narendra Modi These water bodies are not just
(in 'Mann ki Baat' address) sources of life and sustenance
but are also deeply embedded
in the religious, cultural, and
social fabric of the country.
From the sacred Ganga to the
mighty Brahmaputra, rivers in
India serve as divine entities,
pilgrimage sites, and centers of
human civilization.
Throughout history, great
civilizations flourished along the
banks of mighty rivers, which
provided abundant water for
agriculture. This symbiotic
relationship reinforced a cultural
ethos of reverence and gratitude
towards rivers, considering
them as nurturing mothers. The
Mesopotamians thrived by the
Tigris, the Egyptians by the Nile
and Euphrates, and the Chinese
by the Huang He. In India, the
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