All this week, Americans have been waking up to an extraordinary story about the Ganges/Ganga River. Actually, dozens of little stories -- and a fascinating cast of characters. NPR's "Morning Edition" has been running a series that ends this morning called "The Ganges: A Journey Into India." For the series, Philip Reeves traveled 1,500 miles from the source of the river in Devprayag in the Himalayas to where it ends, in the Bay of Bengal.
India's holy Ganges River travels 1,550 miles from the Himalayas and across the plains of north India before spilling into the Bay of Bengal. A five-part series explores life along the river: its extremes of ancient and modern, rural and urban, and rich and poor. The Ganges provides sustenance to more people than the population of the United States. She passes through India's most populous state, its most lawless state, its holiest city and Calcutta, the country's cultural capital and latest aspiring technology hub.
It's quite an journey and one well worth following. NPR.org has collected the entire audio and a series of diary entries from Reeves on its site, along with photos by Heathcliff O'Malley [ O'Malley's photos were also part of a London Telegraph series, "A Holy River: A Journey Down the Ganges" by Peter Foster.] Below are direct links to each day's reports. As many of you know, SAJA's own Madhulika Sikka is senior producer of "Morning Edition."
- Main page
- Part 1: Audio, text, pix: Exploring the Sacred, Modern Along the Ganges
Notebook: Devprayag, Rishikesh, Kanpur: The Journey's Start - Part 2: Audio, text, pix: Ganges Reveals Extremes in Indian Life
- Part 3: Audio, text, pix: India's Heart of Hinduism to Heart of Darkness
Notebook: From Varanasi to Bihar: Meeting the Divine, Criminal - Part 4: Audio, text, pix:Calcutta's Industrial Ambitions, Tradition Clash
Notebook: Calcutta: Habitat of the Indian Intellectual - Part 5: Audio, text, pix: Where the Ganges Meets the Sea, a Journey Ends
Notebook: Poverty, Idyllic Beauty Coexist on Sagar Island
Please take a look-and-listen and post your comments below.
