Page 21 - Namami Gange 35th Edition

A TRILOGY ON THE GANGA AND MORE

Dhruv Sah & Manu Bhatnagar, INTACH

The rejuvenation of the Ganga legends and the stories behind its
is dear to all of us. In this regard several names, its global renown
Indian National Trust for Art and even in ancient times. The
Cultural Heritage {INTACH} has second Volume ‘Ganga Katha
made concerted efforts to generate : Samakshata’ brings forth the
a holistic approach to the Ganga, documentation of built, cultural
going beyond pollution, and and natural heritage along the 51
looking into the manifold aspects districts and 2525 kms. of the
of the river and its basin. Work Ganga. It is a distillation of more
of INTACH on the holy river is than 15000 pages of research,
reflected in a trilogy of seminal lands and cultures she sustains field work and documentation
books, researched and written and the creativity she inspires us undertaken by INTACH over
over the last 5 years, but published with. The significance of Ganga the span of 4 years. Samakshata
in 2023. These publications are : in shaping our past as well as the takes us on a journey from the
future cannot go unnoticed, and
The twin volumes ‘Samgrata’ and it needs to be understood that snow clad peaks of Himalayas,
‘Samakshata’ the birth place of Ganga, through
all aspects of Ganga including, the wide expanse of the Gangetic
‘A Narrative of the Ganga – but not limited to cultural, social, Plains richly endowed with relics
Citizens’ Report’ architectural, mythological, of our glorious past, and finally
natural, cannot be left isolated
‘Heads and Tails of the Ganga’
from each other and need to be
brought under one umbrella of
understanding and attachment.

The humongous task of
documenting the built, natural
and the cultural heritage spread

along the 51 districts in 5 states
that Ganga flows through, was an
opportunity for INTACH to bring
out the unexplored, lesser known
Probably one of its kind, the Ganga facts about Ganga, through to Gangasagar in Bay of Bengal
Cultural Documentation project, publication of the twin volumes where Ganga embraces the sea.
sponsored by the National Mission ‘Samagrata’ and ‘Samakshata’. The amazingly rich heritage
for Clean Ganga (NMCG), has The first volume ‘Ganga Katha
been an enlightening, tough but : Samagrata’ talks about the aspects along the river leave a
fulfilling start of a journey into completeness of the holy Ganga reader spell bound shifting our
the unexplored realms of Ganga, and its multi-faceted nature, its perspective from a mere water
the gifts she bestows upon us, the iconography and cosmology, its channel to a cultural stream.

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