Caste, Occupation and Politics on the Ganges: Passages of Resistance By Assa Doron
2008 | 216 Pages | ISBN: 0754675505 | PDF | 4 MB
This intriguing anthropological study investigates how the boatmen of Banaras have repositioned themselves within the traditional social organization and used their privileged position on the river to contest upper-caste and state domination. Assa Doron examines the evolution of the boatmen community, drawing on a variety of sources to illuminate the cultural politics of social and economic inequality in contemporary India. Caste, Occupation and Politics on the Ganges offers insight into recent debates about the cultural and historical forms of social practice and resistance at the juncture between tradition and the global economy, and will therefore appeal not only to anthropologists, but to anyone working in the field of development studies, globalization, religion, politics and cultural studies.

On the Ganges: Encounters with Saints and Sinners Along India's Mythic River By George Black
2018 | 336 Pages | ISBN: 1250057353 | EPUB | 25 MB
Journey along one of the world's greatest rivers and catch a glimpse into the lives and cultures of the people who live along its banksThe Ganges flows through northern India and Bangladesh for more than 1,500 miles before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. It is sacred to Hindus who worship Ganga, the river goddess. But it has also long been a magnet for foreigners, some seeking to unravel its mysteries and others who have come in search of plunder. InOn the Ganges, George Black, who chronicled the exploration of the American West and the creation of Yellowstone National Park inEmpire of Shadows, takes readers on an extraordinary journey from the glaciers of the Himalayas to the sacred city of Varanasi to the "hundred mouths" of the Ganges Delta.On the Ganges, parts of which originated from aNew Yorkerarticle published last year, introduces us to a vivid and often eccentric cast of characters who worship the river, pollute it, and flock to it from all over the world in search of enlightenment and adventure. Black encounters those who run the corrupt cremation business, workers who eke out a living in squalid factories, religious fanatics, and Brits who continue to live as if the Raj had never ended.By the end of his journey, Black has given us a memorable picture of the great river, with all its riddles and contradictions, both sacred and profane, giving the last word to a man scavenging for the gifts left by pilgrims: "There are good days and there are bad days. It all depends. Everything is in the hands of our mother, Ma Ganga."

The Ganges: Cultural, Economic and Environmental Significance
English | 2021 | ISBN: 3030791165 | 184 Pages | PDF EPUB | 94 MB
'The Ganges: Cultural, Economic, and Environmental Importance' is a geographical, cultural, economic, and environmental interpretation of the Ganga River. The Ganga River originates from Gaumukh- situated in the high Himalaya, flows through the world's biggest fertile alluvial plain, and inlets into the Bay of Bengal at Ganga Sagar. It makes a unique natural and cultural landscape and is believed to be the holiest river of India. The Hindus called it 'Mother Ganga' and worship it. The towns/cities, situated on its bank, are world-famous and are known as the highland and valley pilgrimages. The water of the Ganga is pious, and the Hindus use it on different occasions while performing the rituals and customs. This book is unique because no previous study which presents a complete and comprehensive geographical description of the Ganga has been composed. This book presents the historical and cultural significance of the Ganga and its tributaries. Empirical, archival, and observation methods were applied to conduct this study. There are a total of 10 chapters in this book such as 'Introduction', 'the Ganga Basin', 'Geography of the Ganga Basin', 'the Ganges System: Ganga and its Tributaries', 'Ganga between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi', 'the Major Cultural Towns', 'Major Fairs and Festivals', 'Economic Significance of the Ganga', 'Environmental Issues', and 'Conclusions'. The contents of the book are enriched by 89 figures, 15 tables, and substantial citations and references.

The Twice-Born: Life and Death on the Ganges By Aatish Taseer
2019 | 256 Pages | ISBN: 0374279608 | EPUB | 2 MB
InThe Twice-Born, Aatish Taseer embarks on a journey of self-discovery in an intoxicating, unsettling personal reckoning with modern India, where ancient customs collide with the contemporary politics of revivalism and revengeWhen Aatish Taseer first came to Benares, the spiritual capital of Hinduism, he was eighteen, the Westernized child of an Indian journalist and a Pakistani politician, raised among the intellectual and cultural elite of New Delhi. Nearly two decades later, Taseer leaves his life in Manhattan to go in search of the Brahmins, wanting to understand his own estrangement from India through their ties to tradition.Known as the twice-born-first into the flesh, and again when initiated into their vocation-the Brahmins are a caste devoted to sacred learning. But what Taseer finds in Benares, the holy city of death also known as Varanasi, is a window on an India as internally fractured as his own continent-bridging identity. At every turn, the seductive, homogenizing force of modernity collides with the insistent presence of the past. In a globalized world, to be modern is to renounce India-and yet the tide of nationalism is rising, heralded by cries of "Victory to Mother India!" and an outbreak of anti-Muslim violence.From the narrow streets of the temple town to a Modi rally in Delhi, among the blossoming cotton trees and the bathers and burning corpses of the Ganges, Taseer struggles to reconcile magic with reason, faith in tradition with hope for the future and the brutalities of the caste system, all the while challenging his own myths about himself, his past, and his countries old and new.