MORE THAN JUST A RIVER
An exhibition on the river Ganga traces the journey of the holy river from its divine origin to its current polluted state
While many civilisations have celebrated and venerated rivers on the banks of which they have flourished, rarely has a river enjoyed the kind of prestige the Ganga has. Not only does it find repeated mention in religious scriptures and folklore, it is equally associated with traditional customs and popular culture. In March this year the Uttarakhand High Court declared the Ganga to be a living entity, conferring on it the same legal rights as a human. The river’s ‘holy’ status and the belief in the purifying powers of its water though, is more of an affliction for the Ganga than an advantage. Piety seekers eager to wash off their worldly sins have for years been polluting its waters with the burden of their ritualistic cleansing, choking its flow with the residue of their worship. An ongoing exhibition at the National Museum titled Ganga: The River Of Life And Eternity, traces this journey of the river from its divine origin to its current state of abuse.
“Though the exhibition was not initially conceived with any ‘moral of the story’, but any work on Ganga, from any perspective in its present condition cannot avoid dwelling on the dichotomy of its veneration and abuse. We need to take on the responsibility for it. There is an intrinsic link between culture, environment, and life,” says Shakeel Hossain, the curator of the exhibition. An architect and urban designer, Hossain is presently a consultant to the Agha Khan Trust for Culture.
The exhibition begins with the different theories on the origin of the river, all associated with Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and how those narratives have been interpreted and expressed in works down the eras. It then goes on to explore the theme of her descent to earth, her role as nurturer and mother and the cultural and popular manifestations of the belief in the Ganga as the goddess of purity and salvation. The final section addresses how we are polluting the very river that we worship.
On display are sculptures, miniature paintings from manuscripts and Mughal portfolios, pat paintings, utility items associated with the Ganga and decorative and iconographic fragments of architecture. There are old maps to show the path of the Ganga and a detailed timeline to present the various empires that have flourished along the river. Plus photographs and models representative of the present-day rituals and festivals associated with the Ganga – the Kumbh Mela, the tazias of Muharram, idols for worship that are made from the clay on the banks of the Ganga and are immersed in it after the puja and the Ganga aarti of Benaras. One section is dedicated to Ganga in pop culture, with posters of films such as Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Jis Des Mein Ganga Behti Hai adorning the wall.
“I conceived of the exhibition about 30 years ago for the Festival of India at Leningrad. It did not materialise then. The exhibition concept was inspired by a travelogue by Eric Newby – Slowly Down the Ganges. The Ganga as an icon of India provided an all encompassing canvas to present the myths, history, culture and art of the country,” says Hossain, who has curated the show with Tara Sharma.
From the time that he proposed the idea to the National Museum, Hossain says it took him two years to put it all together. “Arts, crafts, rituals and practices along the Ganga and associated with Ganga were researched and documented. Once the exhibition narratives got firmed up we started researching for objects in various museums which complement the narrative and commissioning new objects where required,” he explains.
But what we see at the National Museum is only half of what was envisioned, says Hossain. All because of a funds crunch. “In the beginning, the National Mission for Clean Ganga had promised the funds... but it did not come through. The Ministry of Culture also could not allot any funds for it,” he says.