Visit the Sacred Rivers of India
India is home to many of the oldest cultural traditions on earth, as well as more of the world’s religions than any other country. So many different religious systems coexist there, side by side, that India is known as a multi-cultural society like no other. But most of them meet at the river, which provides a kind of natural common denominator for the various belief systems and ritual traditions of India, where the sacred river is not only important for water, transportation, and trade, but for its fundamental function within religious practices. There are many sacred rivers - or rivers that are universally recognized in India as having great religious significance, power, and miraculous potential - throughout the country, and none is bigger or more well known that the Ganges River. The Ganges stretches through almost the entire continent, beginning as melted snow in the highest regions of the Himalayan Mountains and descending through the country to places like West Bengal, where millions of pilgrims gather each year to bath in it while chanting songs and playing drums and cymbals. Near the village of Mayapur, about 100 miles from Calcutta, the Ganges blends it waters with another significant “holy river”, the Sarasvati. Similarly, in the more northern village of Vrndaban, not far from the Taj Mahal, the Yamuna River winds its way through temple towns and is the site for daily bathing rituals, funerals, and celebrations of holy days to commemorate the many deities of the Hindu faith.
You can easily find the major Indian rivers on maps, and plan your travel to coincide with some of the major - or minor - festivals that take place at temples and in the villages that line these famous rivers. Ganges is perhaps the easiest to follow, and it is a wide, blackish-silver river with strong currents that in some places is great fun for swimming, as well.