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On the Banks of the Ganga: When Wastewater Meets a Sacred River by Kelly D. Alley
Introduction: Field Method and Layers of Data
“I started this project about nine years ago while studying tourism and public culture in north India. I remember the day that the original idea for this study emerged from a dialogue I overheard while touring the north Indian city of Benaras with several American and German tourists. While boating along the river Ganga and watching Hindu pilgrims bathe in this sacred river, these tourists discussed the state of the river, expressing horror that the native population did not recognize its polluted nature. One said, “I wouldn’t put my big toe in this river, it is so polluted!” As an observer, I began to think about this Western tourist interpretation in the light of the Hindu practice of bathing in sacred rivers, and about how this view of pollution is juxtaposed against a view of the sacred. Other questions emerged. Are these differences in thinking and approach mirrored within and outside of India in other ways? How should an investigation of these two perspectives, the one in relation to the other, proceed? What shall the methodology be?”
Preview the book On the Banks of the Ganga here.
"We do not condemn modern civilization but we don't like to get it at the cost of God Consciousness, that is suicide."
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The Beauty of Beans
"One acre of beans produces ten times more protein than an acre of pasture set aside for meat production." -Higher Taste
Moundsville, West Virginia
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ISKCON Gita Nagari Farm Community
Port Royal, Pennsylvania
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ISKCON New Goloka Farm Community
Hillsborough, North Carolina
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ISKCON New Talavan Farm Community
Carriere, Mississippi
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ISKCON Saranagati Eco-Village
British Columbia, Canada
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ISKCON Gaura Vrindaban
Paraty, Brazil
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ISKCON Krishna Valley Farm Community
Somogyvamos, Hungary
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Bhaktivedanta Eco-Village
Sagar Taluq, South India
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ISKCON Cow Protection
"There are so many facilities afforded by cow protection, but people have forgotten these arts. The importance of protecting cows is therefore stressed by Krsna in Bhagavad-gita (krsi-go-raksya-vanijyam vaisya-karma svabhavajam [Bg. 18.44]). Even now in the Indian villages surrounding Vrndavana, the villagers live happily simply by giving protection to the cow. They keep cow dung very carefully and dry it to use as fuel. They keep a sufficient stock of grains, and because of giving protection to the cows, they have sufficient milk and milk products to solve all economic problems. Simply by giving protection to the cow, the villagers live so peacefully. Even the urine and stool of cows have medicinal value."
-Srila Prabhupada
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