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Following the flow
Sacred touch A still from the book
For Vijay Singal, the writer of “Ganga – A Divinity In Flow”, Ganga is the symbol of life and an emancipator of mankind. The recently published book, by Vision India with a foreword by Amitabh Bachchan, is full of beautiful pictures taken by Atul Bhardwaj. His vivid photographs and Singal’s eloquent narratives go side by side, creating a beautiful symphony on paper. Apart from the holy river’s contribution in shaping the history of the Indian subcontinent, pictures like the bathing of believers in the icy waters on the bank of the Bhagirathi make one think about people’s unquestioning faith in this ‘living god’.
The 240-page coffee table book is a representation of life on the banks of the Ganga, from Gangotri to the Bay of Bengal. The photographer talks of how on the banks of this sacred river one feels close to god irrespective of one’s faith. Its natural beauty even allured Bismillah Khan, to blow his shehnai on the ghats of Varanasi. “I want others to know about the river. For the pilgrims hardly get a chance to see the whole of the Ganga although their lives start and end with its holy water,” says Bhardwaj.
Singal, a bureaucrat by profession, adds,“Ganga is a symbol of communal harmony.” In the foreword of the book, Bachchan writes, “It’s truly ironic that today this great river, which has been such an integral part of our history and mythology, and has seen preachers and poets sit by its flowing waters, is in a perilous state.”
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