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But these beliefs have caused people to completely overlook the polluted state of the river and the associated dangers. Worshippers and other heavy users of the river water are exposed to water-borne diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and typhoid, as well as to diseases of the skin. When Amit Pandey first noticed black spots appearing on his skin, he first thought it was due to sunlight - instead, the river was at fault for his serious rashes. "I've always been a regular bather in the river, so I never thought that the disorder could be due to Ganga's water. It wasn't until a doctor told me to stop bathing in the river water that I got better," he explains.
Mr. Pandey has now changed his religious habits and has found a way to worship Ganga without exposing himself to the water. "I became really upset at first when I found out that I couldn't carry out my religious practices as normal. But now I'm happy to take a bath at home and then carry out my prayers along the banks of the river without even having to touch the water. I figured that Ganga is always Ganga, even when flowing out of the tap."
However, most worshippers are ill informed or confused about the actual state of pollution in the river and continue to take regular dips. "I've heard of some people complaining about skin disorders," says Sharma, a local shopkeeper, "but there are so many regular bathers who are not at all affected. I'm confused about why these skin disorders happen - I'm thinking they could be due to other reasons." Because worshipers usually start their day in the river, one of the few reliable sources of water in the city, their morning dip serves also as their daily bath. Dependence on the Ganges, it seems, is not only spiritual, but also a matter of survival. Those who depend on the water the most are the boatmen, laundrymen, and fishermen who work along the banks of the Ganges. Away from home during the day, water from the Ganges is their only readily available source. Popular religious discourse has made them believe it is adequate to use this water untreated, putting them at serious risk of water-borne diseases.
"Ganga is my mother, it could never harm me" says Hanuman Sahani, a lifetime boatman. Sahani not only uses the water - straight from the river - for worship, but also to drink and brush his teeth. Thousands of others like him continue to heavily use water from the river Ganges in this way, unaware of the consequences.
With the Indian government caught in perpetual bureaucratic entanglement, local NGOs trying to alter the image of the Ganges and its spiritual importance have to draw funds from abroad. The government's previous efforts of building sewage treatment plants have been unsuccessful due to rapid population growth and power shortages. An initial way of mitigating this problem is education, informing worshippers of the dangers of the waters and ways to modify their habits while still honoring the religious significance of the river. Still, changing beliefs is difficult in a population rooted in strong religious values and traditions. There must be further pressure on the government to take the necessary steps to treat the pollution. Such actions should also recognize the basic religious and hygienic needs of the population. Only then could worshippers in Varanasi be safe in this holy water.
Mirko Serkovic is a senior Environmental Studies major at Yale University.