River Of Love Analysis

In the Hindu communities that are illustrated in “River Of Love” by David L. Haberman, the reformation and recovery of religious and cultural traditions is necessary for the ecological reconstruction of their sacred waters.In the Hindu tradition, the practice of religion is never to be separated from appreciation of the earth. When a religious tradition is “outdated” or not relevant to current times, whether it be a belief in christianity, islam,buddhism , or hinduism, it calls for a reformation of cultural ideals.In Hindu culture the devinity of nature is present in many different aspects of the religion and is something to be valued by all Hindu people.In Hinduism, the river Ganges Which is the river that is referenced all throughout the “River of Love” is considered sacred and is personified as the goddess Yamuna known as Ganga. It is worshipped by Hindus, and the people of the Braj that bathing in the river causes the remission of sins and
Acts by leaders such as Chaturvedi , who educated the people of Mathura the source of the rivers pollution play a big part in the cause.The need reformation that is seen has to do with the fact that the Hindu people still had the concept of the river being “pious” but it was not treated as if it was divine. “This concept has to be utilized to achieve environmental health. When people see Yamuna as a devi (goddess) once again they will stop polluting her and clean her” (River Of Love ;Haberman,David) so once again we see this call for not only the reformation but the recovery in the original meaning and purpose of this sacred