I have been having some frequent thoughts about something I had witnessed several times… & learnt. So, here I start with 'the something' today!
Hindus (specially) worship ‘Idols’. I do not wish to confer much with the pros & cons of the same. I rather value this ‘Idol worship’. It is as simple & acceptable as, a human brain needing an image or shape to frame up the positive power or the supernatural power (as you term it), that is performing the routines of each living being, each moment, each place, seasons, nature, planet, universe… Fine enough! Acceptable!
Nor it is mandatory for anyone to believe in the Idols of Lord Vishnu/Shiva/Durga/Saraswati/Ganesha etc. It is not at all required to go to Temples, Mosques or Churches to show your devotion or faith. You visit the places to either ask for something or in fear of God or to just put an attendance for an anonymous reason, isn't it? Anyways, even that is not the topic here. It is cool to practice anything, till it makes you feel good (inside) & is not any big trouble for others.
What I am here concerned about is; if one is worshiping any matter… say a paperweight or a candle or an Idol… Would a person not feel devastated to see the worshiped substance in a pathetic display?? …As if rotten or smashed?? Or faded?? Or broken?? Or eaten up??
The highlight here is “Disposal”!!! The same Idols of God
are disposed in several ways after the rituals have been performed. The most
common & practiced method is “Visarjan” i.e. to deliver the sculpture
(Idol) to water… Rivers & Ponds. But there is another practice, on-going
since long in India, which is of disposing the Idols over deserted road-sides,
farms, back-yards, lake-sides, under trees & other similar spots. This is a very common practice in Assam
(Silchar, Guwahati & other cities)
Now what happens to these Deities?? With the stroke of time,
they start deforming. The Idols standing aloof on numerous corners of the towns
face rain, ignorant animal’s toy, storm & other but-obvious accidents! They get faded, discolored & de-shaped.
Some Idols are found lying absurd by some hit, some have their bulging eyes
melted in rain, some are found even covered by animal shit!
My question is: ‘Why worship the Deities to disgrace &
dis-respect the sole purpose of their being?’
With the city growing, the number of worships & rituals
are equally pacing. These include social, national as well as personal rituals
performed in Business establishments, Marriages, Home inauguration etc. And
later the Idols are left on road-side, or near a drain or under a tree, till it
gets disposed itself.
This is making the cities highly polluted & moreover –
UGLY!!
We can witness hundreds of TV commercials to keep city
clean, to reduce pollution. Even the major celebrities like Amir Khan, Salman
Khan, and Amitabh Bachhan, everyone pledging & pleading for the same… But
to whom?
Tradition & Religion is not bad. But a traditional
practice that leads to hideous consequences & display is of course not
welcomed. A religion leading to abuse of other religion or riots is surely not
fascinating. An orthodox practice, in the name of ‘Dharma’ that causes pollution
& cons of worship is definitely not pleasing. Lots of ‘Morale’ & ‘Science’
is blabbered for Hindu practices, but 'Science can prove disasters too!'
And it is not about Idol worship or about Hindus! Muslims
too, bow down to a black rock, that is again symbolization, an Idol. The Jewish
pray to the west wall. Christians sing to Jesus & Merry statues… All this
is Idol-worship. But the particular ill-effect I am talking about is something
to bother!
I have live witnessed the after-ritual scenes in Silchar
last to last year. It is terrifying, sad & creepy!
We need to figure out ways. Perhaps a ground can be allotted with degrading slots, to deliver the deities post-rituals. By the arrival of the next festival, many plots would be already decomposed to absorb a new deity. This is a mere suggestion from my side... Even NGOs are taking actions to collect the deformed Idols from roads to offer a better disposal.
Yes, I won’t even skip the other part: Disposal in Rivers.
Let me talk about the most sacred river “Ganges”. Ganga flows through several
highlighted cities like Kanpur, Soron, Varanasi, Patna, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur,
Mirzapur, Buxar, Rishikesh, Haridwar & some more. Today, over 29 cities, 70
towns & thousands of villages extend along the banks of Ganga.
Let me talk about the most highlighted, known as the oldest
city of India, the city of temples, the holy city ‘Varanasi’. Ganga has been playing a major role of
attraction & faith over the city. The river water is worshiped as ‘Maa
Ganga’ (Mother Ganges) with flowers & leaf-diyaas floating, fire-prayers
(Agni-Aarti) is regularly offered & indeed it is a spectacular view to attend
on the Ghat-edges.
But ‘Divinity comes with Sanity’ right? Then what about the Cleanliness
& Sanity of the river?? The purity of the river is been maligned everyday
continuously. It is perhaps declared on rank 5 from top, in the list of ‘Most
polluted rivers of the world’. Feeling proud yet??
Recent water samples collected in Varanasi revealed
fecal-coli-form counts of about 50,000 bacteria per 100 milliliters of water
i.e. 10,000% higher than the government standard of safe river bathing!
The major pollution causing elements of Ganges are organic
waste, sewage, industry waste, trash, food, human & animal remains. Here,
allow me to talk about the Deity disposal (Visarjan) as well as Human-body
disposal.
The deities that are offered to the river, after the
rituals, keep floating till consumed with water & again during the
time-slot they show many ill-shapes (that float up to the river banks at times
or are witnessed while on boats & worth mentioning, boats are always
wafting over since it is a big tourist-city!) Well, the sculptures are made of
frozen soil, so degradable, fine! They dissolve with the river & settle to
the base or over the banks with time. But during the procedure, the colors
& soil foams keep disturbing the clarity of the river.
The Government has also been framing up laws to ban the
same, but till another solution comes up, that is acceptable by the city people
(it is too tough to get the Varanasians out of tradition); the practice will go
on!
Now, about the ‘Moksha’. It is believed that Human body is
composed of five major substances (tatvas) (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Ether). It
is believed that to burn the body (in Hindus particularly), the immortal soul
gets moksha, since the ‘tatvas’ get dissolved in their origins.
The burning practice involves procedures to build a bed of
wood pyres, place the dead body over it & burn. But these pyres, do not
consume the body so well. Many a times, due to rain or impatient practitioners
of the ritual; the bodies remain incompletely burnt, that are then disposed to
the river directly. Along with the remains of these traditional funerals, there
are many who cannot afford a procedural cremation. They simply throw the bodies
in Ganga. Many animals/cattle's are also been disposed in the same way. Thus, a
large number of partially burnt or un-burnt bodies are floating over the river
waves. Can you even imagine the amount of water-pollution this would contribute
to??
Every-week, hundreds of corpses burn on the line of wooden
pyres. Men covered in soot, bustle about it gathering the still glowing rashes
& sweeping them into the river. The gray dust from the burnt woods, mixed
with the flower garlands offered & the foam, resurfaces some distance away
on the river surface. This time the dust & the debris is witnessed to be
intermixed with poly-bags, empty cans & dirty clothes. This is the real view
of Ganga at its holiest spot – Varanasi!
Now-a-days the ‘Electronic Cremations’ are available, very
much attached to the river banks, to avoid such half-burnt bodies &
disgraced disposals. The air-pollution is yet not under a fix, but both of the
procedures involve it. So why not adopt the ‘still better’ one!
The worship, rituals & holy-practices, to get connected
to God, as it is literary termed; seems to work the other way round. Deity
disposals in such gross presentations & Moksha attendance in a filthy
manner, doesn't seem to be a very divine practice!
As we term it ‘God’, shall we not decorate the after-works
of his prayers? Shall we not demolish his awful Graveyards? Shall we not find
better ways of keeping things actually pure?
Understand… Worship is inside. Offering milk over rocks
& getting temples mud-slipped, is NOT worship! Pray to a pen & write
with it, Pray to a piece of paper and soil in in ground, Pray to nothing &
feel relaxed… that is more than enough. And if your practice & religion commands
you to worship deities ...make sure you do not disrespect your prayer !!
