22 Part I: Land and Language
plains of North India at the sacred town of Haridwar. Gathering river after
river in her eastward flow, Ganga Ma finally empties into the Bay of Bengal. In
sacred towns up and down the river, Ganga Ma is worshipped daily at dawn
and dusk by priests waving sacred flames while devout Hindus sing the great
hymn, “Om Jai Gange Mata” (“Hail to Mother Ganga”).
However, there is constant worry about the health of the river. With mil-
lions washing and shampooing, “doing latrine,” laundering clothes, dumping
the remains of cremation and often enough uncremated bodies into the river,
Mother Ganga does indeed carry away the pollution of humans. “Ganga coex-Worship of Ganga Ma at Rishikesh on the Ganges. At hundreds of sites all along
the Ganges River, but especially at certain sacred sites like the upriver towns of
Rishikesh and Haridwar, the Goddess Ganga—i.e., the river itself—is worshipped
with fire (arati) at dawn and dusk. Brahmans perform the worship, joined by hun-
dreds of worshippers.