A journey down the Ganga in the age of Narendra Modi

From its origins in the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, the Ganges is a place of worship, a source of livelihoods, of water, power, and transport: It is all of those and more

She is said to have descended to Earth to release humankind from suffering, a gift from the creator Brahma. 

Every Hindu in India learns the story of the goddess Ganga and the medicinal qualities of her waters. And every dying Hindu is given a few drops from the Ganges River to free the soul from the cycle of life and death. Narendra Modi’s first act on taking charge as prime minister in 2014 was to worship India’s holies t— and arguably its most polluted—watercourse. “Mother Ganga needs someone to take her out of this dirt,” Modi declared from his electoral district