Case Study of BANARAS
Banaras (also Varanasi) is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and
extends latitude 25°20' N and longitude 83°00' E. Sandwiched between the rivers
Varuna and Ashi as they join the Ganges, Banaras takes its name from its location. It
is also called Kashi, the city of light, but the British, in an endeavour to simplify
matters, had coined their own name for the place - Banaras. For a relatively short
period, while under Mughal rule, Banaras was also known as Muhammadabad.
Modern-day Banaras is situated along the west bank of the Ganges (also Ganga). An
important fact about Banaras is that here Ganga flows in north direction whereas in all
other parts of the country it flows in the south direction.
There are about 240 Ganga Ghats in Banaras. These Ganga Ghats at Varanasi are
full of pilgrims who flock to the place to take a dip in the holy Ganges, which is
believed to absolve one from all sins.
Ganga Ghats
in Banaras
1. Dasaswamedha Ghat:Dasaswamedha Ghat is one of the most
important Ghats of Varanasi. This is the main
bathing ghat in town, so it can be extremely
crowded. The area around this ghat is the main center of activity in the city, especially
for pilgrims and tourists. This ghat is full of pilgrims bathing in the holy Ganges. It is said
that Lord Brahma performed a Ten Horse Sacrifice here for king Divodasa. Das means
‘ten,’ aswa means ‘horse,’ and medha means
‘sacrifice.’ It is said that bathing here gives the
same merits as received by doing the ‘ten horse
sacrifice’ that were performed here. On certain
auspicious days up to 200,000 pilgrims may take
bath here. Right next to this ghat there is the
Shitala Temple, which is dedicated to the
goddess that protects against smallpox. Inspite
of such great importance people release
polythene bags, soaps, detergents and many
other harmful things into the river.
2. Narad Ghat :Narad Ghat is the most unpopular
ghat because of superstitious people.
According to them if someone bathe
in this ghat then he and his family
would have to experience lot of
difficulties and failure, and if a
couple would bathe then they
would get divorced just because
once 'Narad Muniji' bathed in it.
As a result they intentionally
polluted this ghat by dumping
all the garbage in it so that no
one could bathe in it.
3. Harishchandra Ghat :-
Dead bodies are brought here for cremation.
Bodies are brought from thousands of
kilometres away to be burned here. This
ghat is named after King Harishchandra,
who is said to have had to work as a Dom
(caretaker of the crematorium) in order to keep
his word. King Harishchandra was famous for
never refusing a guest and never telling a lie.
He was a worshiper of Brahma. Indra told
Brahma that he believed that Harishchandra’s
devotion was not as strong as he made it
appear to be. So in order to prove that it was,
Brahma disguised himself as a Brahmin priest
and asked the king for his entire kingdom.
Harishchandra gave it. In order to give
the priest payment (daksin) for performing
some rituals the king became a worker at the crematorium at this ghat. His wife was sold t
a seller of flowers. When his son died of a snakebite his wife brought him to the burning
ghat where her husband was working. Because she had no money to pay the cremation
fee, she ripped her sari in half to pay the fee. Brahma then restored the son back to life
and gave the king back his kingdom. He also told Harishchandra that this ghat would
be especially sacred and that it would be named after him.
4. Manikarnika Ghat :Manikarnika Ghat one of the oldest and
most sacred in Varanasi, Manikarnika is
the main burning ghat and one of most
auspicious places that a Hindu can be
cremated. Bodies are handled by
outcasts known as doms, and they
are carried through alleyways of the old
city to the holy Ganges on a bamboo
stretcher swathed in cloth. The corpse
is doused in the Ganges prior to
cremation. We can see huge piles
of firewood stacked along the top of the
ghat, each log carefully weighed on
giant scales so that the price of
cremation can be calculated.
In the name of cremation water of both these ghats are destroyed. The dead bodies of
children are thrown in them.
5. Shivala Ghat :Shivala Ghat, a ghat built by King
Balwant Singh, owed most
significant role during the medieval
period and is believed to be a
sacred place to have a holy dip.
The Shivala Ghat, as the name
suggests, is a religiously important
Ghat with a presiding deity of Lord
Shiva. Ignoring its importance people
drain sewage waste at this ghat.
Some daily activities responsible for polluted ghats and Gangaji are :1. Washing of clothes :- Washermen
wash clothes
near ghats although they had to
experience beating from the policemen
everyday because their demand of some
other place for washing clothes is not
fulfilled by the government.
2. Bathing of animals :- Animals like
buffaloes,
cows, donkeys etc bathe in these
ghats and release excretory
waste products in it. Some animals
get drowned in the river, which is
very harmful for human beings.
3. Household activities :- People of
nearby
localities use river water for all household
activities like washing utensils and clothes,
bathing etc.This is a part of daily routine
of people,nothing is done by
administration to check all these
activities
4. Sewage :- The in the
sewage plant is release sewage dump of the
city after treatment eased in the river
which is also very harmful as it may
contain some harmful chemicals. Their
Are sewage drains near shivala ,
Harishchandra,Mankarnika ghat.One of
big drains is ‘assi nala’.Waste water after
treatmaent through a plant is flown into
the Ganga.
Some undesirable facts about Ganga :. The level of Ganga is decreasing day
by day in Uttar Pradesh.
. In a duration of one year the level
has decreased by 2.5 ft in Varanasi.
Some data regarding level of water of
Ganga for some districts near Banaras.
City
2009
Mirzapur 76.290m
Rajghat 58.660m
Gazipur 52.425m
2010
2011
76.180m 76.330m
57.880m 63.470m
51.840m -----------
. All the big and small dams like tehri are
obstructing flow of river water. This is making
the water of Ganga stagnant which results in
more pollution.
CONCLUSION
We the 'new generation'
should take a pledge
to protect our holy and
national river so that it
can continue to shower
its pavitrata on us by
making people aware
of the dangers they
are causing.
This is Ganga – our mother. Why are you murdering her ?
Stop this ! And try to return back her beauty, her shine .