Living and Dying in Faith

The Ganges, one of the great rivers of the Indian subcontinent and the source of life for hundreds of millions of people, is under critical threat from climate change. The Himalayan glaciers that are the source of the river’s water are melting fast and could vanish in the coming decades. The worst predictions say water flow in the Ganges could drop by two-thirds. The Gangotri glacier, which provides up to 70 percent of the water of the Ganges during the dry summer months, is shrinking at a rate of 40 yards a year, nearly twice as fast as two decades ago. Experts predict that eventually the Ganges will become a seasonal river, largely dependent on monsoon rains. More than a 100 cities and countless villages that are situated along the 1,568-mile river, which stretches from the foothills of the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, will be seriously imperiled in the next several decades. This means that 400 million people will struggle to find drinking water, farmers will not be able to irrigate their crops, and hydroelectric power stations will generate much less electricity. Few villages have sewage treatment plants, and many corporations dump toxins into the river, so until now, most environmental concerns have focused on the pollution of the Ganges. However, the Ganges could also be the first place where global warming also threatens the religious rituals of 800 million Hindus. This field research photographically documented the at-risk religious rituals that take place on the banks of the “Ganga Ma,” the river that is revered as a goddess, and hypothesizes how they may be affected by climate change. In the 3,000-year-old holy city of Varanasi, which is known for its intense religious devotion, temples line the banks of the river, and thousands of people bathe in its waters every day. Yet the prayer rituals carried out at the water’s edge may not even survive for another generation. Climate change could throw into turmoil something many devout Hindus thought was immutable: their most intimate religious traditions.