The national river Ganga, which travels from Gangotri in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand to Gangasagar, has always been the center of faith and economy for the country and the world. To give a bigger shape to this confluence of faith and economy, now again with new talent, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) has started ‘Ganga Bhog’ in collaboration with the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization (HESCO).
The five ‘M’s, i.e. Mother Ganga, Temple, Women, Honey-thick grains and soil, are included in this initiative. The effort is to make local products a part of the offerings in the temples adjacent to the states through which the Ganga passes. In this initiative, the emphasis is on including one laddu or any other local product as Prasad in all the temples connected with Ganga. This will also help in giving a concrete shape to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vocal for Local slogan on the ground.
Five ‘M’ and ‘Ganga Bhog’:
For the cleanliness and purity of the national river Ganga, the Namami Gange project is being implemented under the ambitious National Clean Ganga Mission of the Central Government. The Director General of the mission G. Ashok Kumar says that in the meeting of the mission held in the past, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested to build an economic bridge along with connecting Ganga cleanliness.
In this episode, natural farming, livelihood development and other steps were taken in the Arth Ganga programme. Meanwhile, it came to light that HESCO has developed local products as offerings to be offered in temples. Then, in a discussion with HESCO’s founder Padmabhushan Dr. Anil Prakash Joshi, the idea of mother Ganga, temple, woman, honey-thick grains and soil came to the fore to connect Ganga with faith and economy. It came out that if these ‘five M’ are linked to the Ganga, then the local economy will improve. This was possible only in the form of Prasad and it was named ‘Ganga Bhog’.
In the first phase, talks were held with the heads of the temples and monasteries adjacent to the Ganga and the committees associated with them. Villages and women groups around the temples were contacted, so that products based on grains and local resources could be used as offerings in the temples. After this, it was also started from the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh on 22 April.
Local women will be empowered:
In Ganga Bhog, there is a plan to bring prasad based on local resources including honey-thick grains, soil and other local resources by local women in all the temples adjacent to the Ganges from Gangotri to Gangasagar. That is, the local products in the area, they will become a part of the prasad there. So far 61 temples have been linked with Ganga Bhog Prasad. If even a laddu of amaranth becomes a part of all the temples adjacent to the Ganga, then lakhs of laddus will be needed for this. It is clear that by providing employment to women, their economy will be strengthened.
Ashrams will also be connected with Ganga Bhog:
According to Ashok Kumar, Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga, Ganga Bhog Prasad will be added to all the temples adjacent to the Ganges and ashrams as well. For this, talks are being held with the concerned Shrine Board and Ashrams. Efforts will also be made to install Ganga Bhog Prasad stalls in temples and ashrams. Apart from this, the idea of adopting other models is also going on.
An example of village’s association with faith and economy will be:
According to Padmabhushan Dr. Anil Prakash Joshi, founder of HESCO, in Indian culture, agricultural products are offered to deities. In this episode, an initiative has been taken to see how the important temples associated with the Ganga can flourish as new employment for the local residents. Ganga Bhog has been conceived by keeping women, temple, prasad, grains all at the center. It will create a huge space in the times to come. People have been associated with Ganga for centuries, but now Ganga will establish the identity of temples in a new form with Bhog, while giving employment to women and new dimensions to agriculture. In the coming times, Ganga Bhog will become an example of association of every village with faith and economy.
