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2013, PHILOSOPHICA
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8 pages
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The paper deals with the concept of river spirit from the standpoint of ecology and human responsibility. Water being an object of awe due to the ignorance about the underwater world has been inviting man throughout the ages to invent benevolent beliefs regarding the presence of some supernatural elements in the surroundings of the water bodies.What deserves special attention is the link of the belief on water spirit with the maintenance of ecology and the regeneration of the environment.The present article tries to observe the original intentions of the formation of the narratives on the water spirits. It also aims to see how they turn out to be the valuable discourse on the preservation of ecology around the world reminding man to their duties and responsibilities for the Mother earth.
This research is about the significance of the Vaal River for the communities inhabiting the area. Using the interpretation of narratives and rituals, the extent of the connection or disconnection between the communities and the aquatic environment is described. Traditional rituals, religious practices and beliefs associated with the river form an important part of the lives of people living in the area. Results show that industrial development and urbanisation have direct implications not only on the environment but also on the cultural lives and practices of the communities in the areas where these occur. Because of its impact on the environment, development has a direct impact on the people who depend on the environment for both their physical and spiritual well-being. Any form of sustainable development needs to put these factors into consideration for development to truly be sustainable. In addition to forming a part of Environmental Impact Assessment prior to any development, the infringement of the cultural significance and the meanings that local communities have attached to aquatic landscapes should come with stringent legal consequences.
The old cultures that occurred near the waters developed a very specific imagery that describes the powerful link between man and water, and also the ambivalence of this fascinating element. With its own mythology, water is a different medium of life, a strange element ruling a different world, a precious source of food, but yet an unknown, unfamiliar element, a great force of nature not to be disturbed by inappropriate human behavior. After a long history of living near water, mankind decided that there are good waters and bad waters, and they are both present in cultural patterns of the world. Gaston Bachelard, in his famous study L'eau et les rêves; essai sur l'imagination de la matière 1 , described the impact of this dichotomy over human imaginary and dreams. On the one hand, water, the perfect reverberating facade of depths, gave man the possibility to realize his narcissistic temptations. Like a giant mirror, water magnifies the metamorphosis of light in feverish images, constructing a combined hallucinatory effect upon man. He becomes free to place into the frosty and limpid waters his totemic ancestors, who gave him the actual status and mode of life.
Celeste Ray (ed.) 2020, Sacred Waters: A Cross-cultural Compendium of Hallowed Springs and Holy Wells. London & New York: Routledge, 2020
The ancient Indian (Hindu) mythologies refer to water as the container of life, strength, and eternity, but most commonly it is perceived as the purifier and site for sacred places. The three most common factors enhancing the popularity of sacred places along rivers (tirthas) and water pools (kundas) are: their unique natural landscape and beauty, the unusual physical features of the body of water, and the watery place's association with some great sage or site-based mythology. The psychic attachment to a place and the maintenance of its associated cultural traditions and water-related rituals reflects the belief in divine manifestations there and the site's intrinsic values; this is maintained by a huge mass of festivities and rituals even today. The Ganga (the Ganges River) is the sacred fluid, an essential element for all the Hindu rites and rituals. The Ganga is known as "the mother who bestows prosperity (sukh-da), and secures salvation (moksha-da);" she represents joy in this life and hope for the life to come. This essay described the Ganga, the river's waterfront sacred places, and related sacred waters. The ancient Indian (Hindu) mythologies refer to water as the container of life, strength, and eternity, but most commonly it is perceived as the purifier and site for sacred places. The three most common factors enhancing the popularity of sacred places along rivers (tirthas) and water pools (kundas) are: their unique natural landscape and beauty, the unusual physical features of the body of water, and the watery place's association with some great sage or site-based mythology. The psychic attachment to a place and the maintenance of its associated cultural traditions and water-related rituals reflects the belief in divine manifestations there and the site's intrinsic values; this is maintained by a huge mass of festivities and rituals even today. The Ganga (the Ganges River) is the sacred fluid, an essential element for all the Hindu rites and rituals. The Ganga is known as "the mother who bestows prosperity (sukh-da), and secures salvation (moksha-da);" she represents joy in this life and hope for the life to come. This essay describes the Ganga, the river's waterfront sacred places, and related sacred waters. Keywords: the Ganga, tirtha, kunda, metaphysical context, mythology
This paper seeks to understand the history of spirituality in the Pasig River, and in turn, how it shaped the history of the Tagalogs, and subsequently, the Filipinos. Although not terribly long or remarkable, the Pasig River is arguably the most important river for the Tagalogs of Southern Luzon island in present-day Philippines. To the Tagalog people who settled along its banks over a thousand years ago, it had unique characteristics, and an almost magical quality to it. To the different polities that once occupied its banks, the waters of the Pasig were both giving and taking, sweet and salty, nourishing and parching, sacred and profane. And yet, today, it is nearly impossible to see its former glory amidst the floating trash and black water. While countless local and international environmental agencies attempt to revive this “dead” river, I argue that it is also equally important to study the river’s significance both historically and spiritually. The paper first examines the geomorphology of the Pasig River and its intimate relationship with the monsoons, showing that the Pasig River System is not only made up of the waters from its tributaries and estuaries, but the waters from the ground and the sky as well. Afterwards, various sacred sites along the river are studied in order to find out more of how the Tagalogs interacted with the waters. The paper concludes with the current environmental crisis that the Pasig faces, and how a more spiritual understanding of the river may help solve the problem of pollution, overpopulation, and flooding.
Open Cultural Studies (De Gruyter), 2020
Contemporary times have triggered for an interdisciplinary cusp between disciplines that were conventionally read in a hinged academic encore. The Gangetic 'Triveni-Sangam' near Allahabad city where three holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati converge, is believed to be the holiest riverscape as one drop of amrit (nectar) during ocean churning by Gods and demons fell into its water and therefore, bathing and dipping in this sangam or confluence is considered auspicious. It is not that people only experience such spiritual values, rather internalize the same, even sometimes beyond religious restraints formulating a holistic human and ecological bonding. Therefore, river or for that matter riverscape like sangam transcends the environmental physical boundary to the living one as it shapes people's experiences and accordingly adds meaning in their lives. Indian English author Neelum Saran Gour's fictional representation of the riverscape of Gangetic 'Triveni-Sangam' in her select writings like Allahabad Aria , Invisible Ink (2015), and Requiem in Raga Janki (2018) are woven within the interdisciplinary framework of 'eco-spirituality'. The present research will examine how riverscape as an eco-spiritual entity shapes individuals' experiences and helps them to locate the 'self' both in vyashti (the individual) and samashti (the collective) scale.
Water, Knowledge and the Environment in Asia, 2017
The worldwide practice of Hinduism encompasses a wide variety of beliefs. However, a prevailing belief that is shared by most, if not all, Hindus is the importance of physical and spiritual cleanliness and well-being... a striving to attain purity and avoid pollution. This widespread aspiration lends itself to a reverence for water as well as the integration of water into most Hindu rituals, as it is believed that water has spiritually cleansing powers. Also, the river Ganges is referred to as a Goddess and is said to flow from the toe of Lord Vishnu to be spread in the world through the matted hair of Lord Siva. And the ritualistic banks of this river are well known for being cremation grounds for people all across the world. But Ganges is one among the rivers which is one of the most polluted rivers in whole world. Irony, of being the purest, holiest water and being a goddess herself, cannot escape the evils of mankind. Even though gaining a status as same as a person recently, these rivers are poorly treated same as the women is this country. And this paper also tries to unearth the real reasons behind the drying up of Saraswati River. It is very fascinating to understand the water politics in the vedic period and ancient water conservation techniques which are worth adapting to contemporary period.
Water and landscape are perceived as sacred (and sometimes also as profane) and are part of the ritualistic practice of millions of people in Bangladesh and West Bengal (still known culturally as Bengal). Yet these examples of bathing in river water or examples of the use of water in Brahmanical rituals, or the prolific instances of the landscape of pilgrimage neither essentially indicate that communities and people in this part of the world have a 'religious' or 'non-modern' way of negotiating with the landscape, nor do these beliefs and practices connote that the idea of landscape has remained outside the gaze of a secular worldview and secularization processes.
Revista Cubana De Enfermeria, 2000
published in: Kathryn Morgan (ed.), Pomp, Circumstance, and the Performance of Politics: Acting Politically Correct in the Ancient World, ISAC Seminars 16, Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures of the University of Chicago, Chicago, 2024, pp. 179-192
Article in Bassar'Arts Journal, 2024
Heliopolis XXI, 1, 2023
Davy, Zowie, Julia Downes, Lena Eckert, Natalia Gerodetti, Dario Llinares und Ana Cristina Santos (eds.) (2008) Bound and Unbound: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Genders and Sexualities. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
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