The Extraordinary Purifying Power Of River Ganga — Scientific Facts
Millions and Millions of people bath in the River Ganga, or Ganges, during Kumbh Mela, Magh Mela, Shivratri and on other auspicious days, but rarely have we heard about the breakout of a major epidemic like Cholera or other waterborne diseases. Industrial waste and human waste is dumped into Ganga at several points but Ganga continues to amaze everyone with its purifying power. So what is the science behind the extraordinary power of Ganga? And does science have the all the clues to the purifying properties of Ganges?
In Hinduism, there is frequently a connection between mythology and science. Hindu scriptures say that bathing in Ganga purifies the sins of this birth and previous birth. Ganga Ma, or Mother Ganga, is a Goddess in Hinduism. Puranas and epics extol her greatness and she descends to the earth from the matted locks of Lord Shiva. A dying Hindu’s last wish is to have a few drops of Ganga water. Hindus have always believed that River Ganga has extraordinary power and it prevents diseases.
Julian Crandall Hollick in his series on River Ganga in NPR explores the science behind the extraordinary purifying power of River Ganga. You can listen to the audio here.
Hindus are known to keep Ganga water in closed containers for various religious purposes. The water never goes bad or putrefies. This means that Ganga water contains lot of oxygen which can assimilate organic matter like human waste and vegetable matter. This property of Ganga is 25% more than any other river.
The amount of organic waste that goes into Ganga should have already exhausted the amount of oxygen. But this has not happened. There is some material present in Ganges that replenishes the oxygen content and kills the pathogens.
Interestingly, boiled Ganga water does not have the capability to kill pathogens. Similarly, Yamuna, a river which joins Ganges, does not contain the special material present in Ganga. The most convincing answer to Ganga’s purifying property or to kill pathogens is associated with the bacteriophage present in its water. Bacteriophage enters bacteria present in the water and destroys it and multiplies inside it in millions and then bursts out searching for new bacteria. This one reason why there are no epidemics in Ganges when millions of people take bath during melas.
In simple terms, organic matter is assimilated by the special molecular structure of Ganga water and the bacteria is destroyed or maintained in the optimum level by bacteriophage. And thus the pathogens are contained by Ganga.
But bacteriophage, or phages, are present everywhere, it is not unique to Ganges alone.
So the mystery still continues and one question still remains unanswered what is that particular property that allows Ganga to retain extraordinary amount of oxygen which is the root cause of all purifying activities taking place in the river.
Buy Gangajal: Holy Water from River Ganga now Available Online for Sale!
Now Gangajal is available online and is available as bottled Gangajal – packed water from River Ganges. The Gangajal is filled from Haridwar. The bottled Ganga water is sold online and us used in the religion and spirituality section under puja accessories. The cost including postage ranges from Rupees 250 for 100ml / Rupees 300 for 200ml / Rupees 350 for 500ml / Rupees 400 for 1000ml / Rupees 500 for 2000ml.
Pundits claim that the Ganga water fight the malefic effects of the Kali Yuga. It can be used during pujas and placing the bottled Ganga water at home would bring good luck and prosperity. Other claims include the holy vibrations from the water would ward off evil and bad luck.
Now how can a potential buyer be sure that the bottled water is Gangajal? The websites offer no answer. At present there is no government agency or competent authority to check whether the water that is being sold is Gangajal or not.
But it is said that real Gangajal never putrefies, even if it is kept in a container.