Chapter 14 Ganga water rites
It was an old custom among Hindus to immerse a part of the body of those who had died into the Ganges river. Although that river was far from western Rajasthan, it was done by most Hindu villagers living there, Tan Dan told. Both by savarn Hindus who cremated their dead relatives and lowcaste Hindus who buried them.
The custom of considering river water sacred and to immerse the body of the deceased into it might have an even more ancient and universal origin than the Brahmin regulated Hinduism, as pointed out by Hutton, 1946, p.236. He suggested that the connection between the soul of the dead and the fertilization of the ground is reflected in its association with water.
Similar magico-religious thought and practice is widespread throughout Indonesia and southwest Asia and survives in strength in farther India, according to Hutton. Also among Indian tribals largely uninfluenced by Brahmin Hinduism there were similar beliefs.
"It is hardly necessary to call to mind the value set by Hindus upon the immersion of their dead in the Ganges, but there are a number of parallel beliefs in more or less primitive tribes, which do not seem to owe their existence to Hindu influence, but rather to have their origin with the ingredients of that religious system. Thus the Meithei practice of disposing of the frontal bone of the deceased in the Ganges appears, at first sight, to be the result of their Hinduization, and no doubt their choice of the Ganges is such a result, but their neighbours the Kacharis, when yet un-Hinduized, used to consign their frontal bones to the Kopili river after the harvest, while the Rengma Naga make a pool for water at the grave of any notable man that the rain, and rice, may be plentiful - The Santal again have the practice, at any rate under certain circumstances, of consigning a piece of bone from the head and another from the breast of the dead to the waters of the Damodar river." (Ibid.)
Those who bury their dead have no ash to immerse into the Ganges river
In western Rajasthan the Hindu rite of merging a symbolic part of the body of the dead into Ganga has been followed also by caste groups with little savarn Hindu influence such as Bhangi and Bhambis. As they do not cremate their dead, they do not have any ash to immerse into the river Ganga when going to Hardvar for the liberation of the soul of the dead relatives. Instead they take some nails or other small part of the dead body such as a loose tooth, and put these in the small cloth bag they bring to Hardvar. The content of the bag represents the whole body. Such pieces from the dead are called pind, i.e. the body in Rajasthani. These details Tan Dan has been told by several persons of both Bhangi and Bhambi communities at Chelana and elsewhere. They seem to copy the savarn Hindus with regard to the cloth bag, but the rite of submerging parts of the dead body into sacred water is evidently an old custom also among tribals and similar groups without much contact with Brahmin culture.
Is the Ganges water too sacred for the untouchables?
However, in western Rajasthan, keeping untouchables out of reach of Ganges water has been one of many ways of the Brahmins to discriminate against them, Tan Dan told. According to the Brahmin tradition, no untouchable Shudra was allowed to bring Ganga water to their homes. The Brahmins even forbid them to touch any Ganga water at all. On the other hand, it was a compulsory custom for a savarn Hindu and a touchable shudra to go to Hardvar at least once in his life to bring water from the river Ganges to his home.
How Mother Ganga came down to the earth
'Ganga Mai', i.e. mother Ganga, is an affectionate epithet of this river. It was the most sacred of all rivers, as it flowed from heaven, according to popular belief. Heaven was situated at the top of the huge snowclad mountains of the Himalayas. There the gods lived on a mountain peak called Sumeru Parvat. As all could see that the Ganges river flowed down from these unreachable mysterious mountains, it was natural for those in the plains to believe, that the river came straigtht from heaven.
The stories about how the Godess Ganga became a river are popular all over north India. Also at Chelana, where most villagers have heard the following version:
Brahma once requested Godess Ganga to go down to the Earth and shower her love on her devotees. Being assigned such a task she felt very great, equal to Lord Shiva himself, and therefore did not show him as much respect as she used to. Before leaving heaven for earth, she went around chatting and dancing, showing herself off to the other Gods, while saying goodbye. Lord Shiva was sitting by himself in meditation. Ganga could not distract his attention in spite of displaying all her beauty. To get him to react she teased him by telling, "That old hermit is always busy in his own thoughts." Shiva did not like to hear this, and thought he would teach her a lesson. He stretched out his hand, grabbed her, and swept her into his long curling bundle of hair, in which she disappeared and got lost to such an extent that she could not find her way out. Mahadev closed his eyes again, and continued his meditation. It was really a long one, because he used to meditate for twelve years at a stretch.
Ganga struggled to come out of Shiva's hair, but on her own she could not. At last Shiva (Mahadev) showed his mercy and let her go. She poured out of his hair in the shape of water, flow down the Himalayan mountain slopes and reached the plain at Hardvar.
Villagers in other parts of the subcontinent knew somewhat different versions of this legend, but they all had heard that Ganga is a river coming from heaven, springing out of Shiva's hair as a fountain. That is why the river is so sacred river. It is a widely spread belief, according to Tan Dan. Also among Hindus with university education, very few thought that Ganga is just an ordinary river made up of rain water and melted snow, originating from watersheds in the mountains.
To many villagers at Chelana doubt in religious matters was impossible. How could the Maharaj (the Brahmin) be wrong? To question the teaching of the Brahmins is pap (sin), and does not become a good Hindu, Tan Dan was told by pious people.
They argued like this: "It is my sacred duty to believe him. If he misleads me by saying something which is not correct, it is not my concern. Rather, it is for the Maharaj to take care of his own dharma."
There were religious-minded people who did not believe in the mythological explanations, though. Those who belonged to the Hindu sects believing in nirankarvad, i.e. that God is universal and shapeless. To them all talk about the holiness of river Ganga was fake and humbug. One of these sects was the Kabir pant in northern India. They were followers of the poet saint Kabir, who lived in the 15th century. A.D.. Most followers of such dissidents belonged to low castes, and their saintly leaders, too.
Those of untouchable shudra castes might have mixed feelings for Mother Ganga, as savarn Hindus did not want them to worship that godess. They did not want the untouchables to worship Shiva, either, although he is a god, who, in ancient times, was worshipped in India already before the Indo-Aryan tribes migrated into the subcontinent more than three thousand years ago. Judging from archaeological findings from the Harappan civilization.
The Hindu custom of bringing some ash to Hardvar for merging with Ganga
Hardvar means 'the gate of the gods'. It is a busy pilgrim town on the Ganges river near the Himalayan foothills. Villagers of western Rajasthan bring to Hardvar ash and small pieces of bones of their deceased relatives. Ash and small pieces of bones from the cremation pyre at their home village is brought to Hardvar in a small cloth bag hanging in a string around the neck of the the pilgrim mourner. The ash of both men and women are brought to Hardvar. It is done by the son or some other male relative. Such ash is called asthi phul. That is, 'flowers of the bones'. The ash in the cloth bag represents the whole body of the person who has died, and at Hardvar these remnants are immersed into the sacred river. Brought by millions of relatives.
The pandas at Hardvar in the 1970s, as experienced by Tan Dan
At Hardvar the pilgrim mourners will look for the panda of their own caste and gotra in order to get his help with the ritual ceremonies. The pandas belong to the section of Brahmins, who take care of the last remnants of the dead bod
y. There were thousands of pandas at Hardvar, each of them in charge of a certain gotra. If the gotra is big, the panda may have assistants attending the relatives of the deceased.
Tradition prescribes, that the relatives of the dead should carry out the rituals in a certain order under the guidance of the panda of their gotra down at the ghat. It is the stone-paved bank of the river with steps down to the water. First of all they had to find the panda of their own particular gotra in the crowd of pandas. Each panda had his own corner down at the ghat. He sits according to an ancient system along caste lines grouped in varnas. It is therefore possible for other pandas to show the way to the panda searched for. The crowd of pandas at Hardvar, and the way they sit in relation to each other, represents a significant part of the whole Indian caste system, Tan Dan thought.
The drama of asthi phul immersion
The panda must confirm that the person has come to the right panda, and therefore he asks the visitor about the name of his father and other relatives who have been to Hardvar earlier. Then the panda disappears to look up the names in the book, where the names of all his previous clients have been recorded.
The book is kept by a senior panda in his temple higher up from the river. Singing, praying, and guarding the book of the gotra, in which entries always must be made of the particulars of the dead and his party. The name of the dead person, his caste, gotra, and the place where he has lived, are recorded, but no dates. Some books were very big and bulky.
If the panda finds the names in the book and feels sure he deals with an entitled person, he sends him to the nai (barber) to get the ritual shaving of all hairs of his head except the eyebrows. The client returns from the barber completely baldheaded and is then instructed to take his ritual bath in the river Ganga. The bath is a long ceremony starting with giving some money to the panda. With his permission you may then dip your right foot into the water. The panda asks for some more money. You obey to show your gratitude for his help. Now you are allowed to put down your left foot also into the water, and ordered to give some more money. The amounts are clearly stated by the Brahmin panda, and differs from client to client depending on how much the panda thinks his client can pay. The brahmin panda tells his visitor, that the Ganga water is very holy, as it comes from heaven. "We pandas have been authorised by the gods to take care of you and the welfare of the world. Only with our permission you are allowed to dip yourself in the Ganga, and wash away your sin. Only by our service you will be able to help your dead relative and yourself to reach salvation (moksha). Without the dip you are not allowed to do the sacred rites. To dip yourself without our permission would be like theft."
Then the client should dip himself completely. While doing that, the client lifts his arms above his head and holds the small bag of asthi phul ashes in his hands. It should not get wet while he keeps his head under the water surface.
The client has now taken his dip and is clean from sin. He is therefore pure enough to submerge the ashes of his relative on the instructions of the panda. The Panda tells, "Your relative does not die several times, and this is your last opportunity to serve him. You are donating for the welfare of your beloved relative, and whatever you give, give it with all your heart."
The panda starts shouting slokas looking here and there in a carefree manner, with his ears wide open. After a while he stops and asks his client, if he has made up his mind. The client muster courage and tells a sum. The panda shows his surprise and disappointment, and asks his client to try again.
It is a critical moment for the client, as the ritual has to be carried out at any cost, in order to save the soul of the dead relative. According to the Hindu belief at least a portion of the bones and ashes of the dead body has to be submerged into the water of Ganga, and not until that is done, it is possible for the soul of the deceased to take abode in a new body and get reincarnated. Dharm Raj will not permit Vidhata to use a soul from a perished body for which all the death rituals has not been completed.
Dharm Raj is the god in Heaven, who estimates the dharma of every soul. The dharma score of the soul is based on the performance of the soul in all lives completed up to that time. On the basis of that score Dharm Raj decides in what kind of body the soul shall take abode. Then it is the duty of the godess Vidhata to insert the soul in a suitable body down on Earth.
When the ashes of the deceased relative is immersed into the water, his body merges with God, as river Ganga is a godess in the shape of water and the ashes represents his body. As it comes from heaven, it never stops flowing, pious people told Tan Dan.
When the Ganges water reaches Hardvar, it is refreshingly cool in the hot summer, but can be bitterly cold in winter, which evidently has to do with melted snow, regardless of the legend about Shiva's hair. Shivering of cold in knee-deep water, the panda's client soon realizes he has to make up his mind about the donation quickly. If not, he may catch pneumonia. He hands the panda a sufficient amount of money to make him satisfied, and the final rituals start. These rites will save the soul of the client's relative. The panda sings a mantra, which the client is told to repeat word by word. Meanwhile the panda gives the client a white thread to keep across the palms of his hands. Then the ashes and pieces of bones in the little cloth bag around the client's neck is poured into the joined palms of the client.
On the order of the panda the client separates his palms, the white thread breaks, and the small heap of ashes of the client's relative pours into the water. At that moment the soul of his relative reaches the court of Dharm Raj, who then decides whether the relative's soul shall wait in hell or in heaven until Dharm Raj is ready with his calculations of the total score of the relative's karma, on the basis of which the god Vidhata will provide his soul with a suitable body for his next life.
Those who live far away from Hardvar, such as the farmers of Chelana, are often not able to go with the asthi phul until a long time after the death of a relative. Especially if they are poor, as such a journey can be expensive.
After several years, when somebody at last is able to go, he might bring the ash of all relatives who have died in between.
When the ashes of a deceased person still is kept in a small clay pot at the house of the family, ready for being brought to Hardvar, the soul of the dead can become a problem. The soul is thought to roam around aimlessly without rest and peace. If there is too long a delay in bringing the asthi phul to Hardvar, there is a risk that the soul of the desceased person may become a ghost (bhut). That is the common belief.
Pandas visiting Chelana
In the 1970s Tan Dan met two brothers from Hardvar. They were Brahmin priests, pandas who kept death records. These pandas come every ten years to their jajman clients and collect clothes for their women and money for themselves. At Hardvar they have one very big book, in which they enter additions from notebooks at the end of each day. They record visits from their jajman families of the Charan caste. All gotras of Maru Charans, except the Khiria gotra, went to these two Panda brothers at Hardvar.
While the two Pandas were on their tour to jajmans in Rajasthan, other male members of their families attended Charans, who meanwhile might come to Hardvar with ashes of relatives for the submersion rite, and for getting recorded in their big book full of names.
It is possible to figure out lineage from the pandas death record books, at least to some extent, but it can not tell other information except lineage. The valid record is considered to be that of the Bahi Bhat genealogists belonging to the Baldia group of castes hailing from northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The pedigree records kept by people of the Bahi Bhat caste have even been referred to in court cases.
Pilgrimage for taking water from the Ganga river
The death rite duties are often combined with Ganga water pilgrimage. Hindus from western Rajasthan may also go to Hardvar only as pilgrims, having a bath in the river and then bring home water, the sacred Ganges water.
The Brahmins at Chelana and elsewhere tell
people that it is very good for the future of their souls to go to Hardvar, where they should take a dip in the sacred river. They should also bring some sacred Ganges water back home.
Every man who had a chance should make such a pilgrimage, and it was good for women too. If husband and wife go together and take a joint dip wrapped in the same dhoti, both being naked, the couple will become husband and wife again in the next life. Such is the belief among most Hindus, both rural and urban, Tan Dan told.
It did not appeal to all, and some wives at Chelana refused to follow any advice in this direction given by the Brahmin family priest. Tan Dan's wife Chanda, for example.
The effect of your pilgrimage is said to be greatest, if you walk on foot both ways. It is a humble way of approaching the divine place. Going on foot might take weeks or even months for those who live far away. However, the north Indian highways nowadays are heavily trafficated tarmac roads, and pedestrians have a hard time. In the modern age (1991) most pilgrims go by bus.
When reaching Hardvar, the pilgrim search for his own panda, who would help in carrying out the rites. After having taken the dip and given donations to the panda in charge of his gotra, the rituals for taking water from the river can start. As a service to the pilgrims, there are pots for sale. The water pots are kept in baskets made of bamboo and decorated in bright colours. In the old days the pots were made of bronze, but nowadays of aluminium, which is lighter.
When the pilgrims have bought their pots, the panda takes them down to the riverside, to the ghats, and starts filling the pots of the pigrims one by one. It has to be done according to a certain ageold ritual, and it must be done by a panda, who charges money for the service. No pilgrim can make a shortcut and fill the pot himself in order to save money. When the pot has been filled and the mantras sung, the panda seals the water pot. He covers the pot with a lid and ties it with a thread by making a special knot, which is said to be sacred and Vedic, that is, prescribed by the Brahmins. The pot of Ganga water can only be opened again by the Brahmin priests of the pilgrims's home village.
Ganga water pilgrims walk home on foot to their village
In February 1977 Tan Dan met a group of such Ganga water carriers on the road from Delhi to Jaipur. They walked along with swift rythmic steps, and their movements were coordinated with the swings of their baskets full of Ganga water.
They all came from the village Baneti in Jaipur District, Rajasthan. They had started from their village on 4 February 1977 and it took them ten days to reach Hardvar. Tan Dan met them on their way back to their village. There they would feed one thousand Brahmins, they told. They estimated, it would cost them at least seven to eight thousand Rupees, out of which two to three thousand Rupees would be donations.
They were eleven farmers belonging to different castes. Five of them were Rajputs including the leader of the group, and an ex-armyman. There were two Brahmins, one Sonar Goldsmith, one Darji Tailor. One of them belonged to a pastoral caste, Ahir. The eleventh pilgrim of the group was the most unusual one. His name was Puranmal and he belonged to the Khatik caste, which traditionally had been a caste of leather traders and Hindu butchers. The Khatik caste had a very low rank in the caste hierarchy of his village. Still the other villagers let him come along. As he was an untouchable Shudra in the eyes of the Brahmins, he had faced difficulties at Hardvar in getting attendance, but he managed at last by giving one hundred and one Rupees to a panda, who compromised with his principles against an extra income. The normal fee was either five, eleven or twentyone Rupees.
These amounts belong to the lucky numbers, according to Hindu tradition. 1, 5, 11, 21, 51, and 101 are all lucky numbers. Therefore, donations and gifts were mostly given in such amounts.
How the arrival of Ganga water used to be celebrated in Rajasthani villages
When they reached home the Ganga water carriers would be welcomed by a big crowd outside the village. Relatives and others would gather to celebrate the event.
On such occasions village musicians play and the crowd sing all the time. People shout "Ganga Mai ki jai ho". (Victory to Mother Ganga.) The celebration is called panthvari puja. They celebrate that river Ganga is flowing into the village with the help of the pilgrims and their pots.
From the field where the pilgrims were received, the Ganga water carriers walk in a procession on the road leading into the village. The villagers worship the road, as they think it has become an extension of the river Ganga itself this day. The pilgrims walk with the pots filled with Ganga water on their heads. Husband and wife, the wife behind her husband, both being tied together through the odhni of the wife and a towel-like cloth, which the husband has bought at Hardvar.
The wives of the water carriers, and other female relatives, have dressed themselves in their brightest and most beautifully decorated clothes. Only married couples participate in the procession of Ganga waterroad worshippers. Other persons are just spectators.
Therefore, any unmarried man, who have joined the party of water carriers to Hardvar, must hand over his two water pots to a married relative. He and his wife will bring the water into the village along with the rest of the procession.
Also Puranmal Khatik, the water carrier on the Delhi-Jaipur road, would be compelled to hand over his pots to a savarn Hindu friend, as no untouchable would be allowed to participate in the procession going into the village.
According to custom, the procession must take place in the morning. If the pilgrims happen to arrive later in the day, they must wait until next morning outside the village at a small shrine erected for this occasion. It is a temporary temple of godess Ganga Mai, and she is worshipped there at this panthvari celebration.
The feast for opening the water pots
The water pots are then carried to the temples of the village, where they will be kept until the water pot opening ceremony. It is called Ganga jal bhartavna in Rajasthani. The family of each pilgrim will carry out that ceremony on its own on some later occasion. It is an expensive function, so the family has to wait until it has saved enough money for it. All close and distant relatives are invited to this feast. All the Brahmins of the village are also invited to eat at the feast to the best of their ability, also Brahmin women and children. The cost of food and donations (dan) to the Brahmins can be back-breaking at such feasts, at least for an ordinary villager with limited means.
In the 1970s the cost of the Ganga jal bhartavna function in western Rajasthan was in the range of 2,000-50,000 Rupees, judging from the functions Tan Dan had attended.
The food was cooked in the night prior to the feast. It is a lot of work and everybody is busy. The women keep singing until dawn.
Then the Brahmin priest opens the pots under solemn elaborate rites. He sprinkles Ganges water around the whole house and on the food. In this way all of it receives ritual purification.