All language subtitles for Sacred Rivers (BBC Earth 2014) 02 The Ganges 720p HDTV x264__EN

I'm going on a series of astonishing
adventures.

Whoa! Absolutely stunning!

Travelling along three of the
mightiest rivers on the planet.

These rivers have given rise

to some of the world's greatest
civilisations.

For centuries, we've worshipped
their life-giving waters...

..and feared their awesome
destructive powers.

The current is a killer!

On these epic journeys, I'll meet
some extraordinary characters.

BOTH SPEAK HINDI

PERCUSSIVE MUSIC

And experience the very different
cultures,

religions and countries that have
emerged along our sacred rivers.

In this episode, I'll be travelling
more than 1,000 miles

along the Ganges, the great artery
of India,

from the foothills of the Himalayas
to the Indian Ocean.

We're on the beach!

For centuries, Indians have
worshipped the river

and believed it has sacred powers.

CAR HORN
But in the last few decades,
India's economy has boomed,

its population has doubled and the
river has paid a heavy price.

Hindus...they take mouthful...of
Ganges water.

Urgh! Can you imagining taking this
water?

Can India's great river and a
culture more than 3,500 years old

survive the pressures
of the 21st century?

And there it is!

The holy Ganges!

It's a river that is revered
as a goddess!

The reason I'm starting my journey
here is because above this point

these two rivers are known by their
local names.

It's at the town of Devprayag
where they converge

that this officially becomes
the mighty, sacred Ganges.

Central to my desire to make
this journey,

in fact to make this series of
journeys along sacred rivers,

is a realisation that if I want to
really understand a country,

then I have to understand the faith
and the beliefs

of the people who live there.

India is an emerging economic
superpower,

it's going to be the most populous
country in the world,

and what do its people really think
and believe?

The Ganges is not the longest
river on the planet,

but from this spot in Devprayag it
flows down onto the plains of India,

watering the lands of around
half a billion people.

The Ganges river basin covers
nearly a third of India

and has one of the largest
populations of any river basin
on earth.

No other river is so important to
India and none are as holy.

A billion Hindus worship the Ganges.

It's also known as Ganga
as a Goddess.

At the point where the river begins,
I'm meeting a Baba, a holy man,

who provides blessings for pilgrims.

This is astonishing!

BOTH SPEAK HINDI

Baba Gee. Baba Gee?

Yes. Baba Gee.
THEY SPEAK IN HINDI

Namaste. Namaste. Welcome.

Ganesh Maharaj says he has renounced
worldly goods

to live a simple life of
contemplation close to the river.

Oh!

Ganesh meditates next to the river
for hours every day

and says he draws power
from the water.

Very powerful. Very powerful. This
is my guru. I feel the power.

'My guru is the River Ganges.'

Baba Gee became a holy man soon
after leaving school,

eventually his devotion to the river
brought him here to this cave.

So, Baba Gee, do you actually sleep
in here, then? Do you stay here?

TRANSLATION:
Yes, for 12 years.

You've been here in the cave
for 12 years?

TRANSLATION: Yes. We are holy men,
we just have the clothes
on our back.

All year round?

'For the rest
of our lives, we are holy men.

'We never again do any job,
any work.'

'We just have a simple fire, good
food, good sleep, good smoke.'

'This is our life.'

It sounds...it sounds very
appealing.

TRANSLATION: 'OK.

'So you like it?'

Baba Gee's one of many who choose
this life.

In their final years, millions
of Hindus

give up their homes to wander India
with few possessions.

I think I'm about to get
a blessing for my journey.

Whoa!

TRANSLATION: Stop hiding behind
that camera!

Thank you, Baba Gee.

BIRDSONG

From Devprayag, I travelled south
west along the river

towards the city of Rishikesh.

From their origins at a melting
glacier in the high Himalayas,

the waters of the Ganges descend
more than 12,000 feet,

carving their way through
precipitous gorges.

A good half a mile drop.

Although the Ganges is steeped
in history and religious tradition,

in modern India it's not just seen
as something to be worshipped.

Simon? Diplan? Diplan.

Very nice to meet you.

Look at you with your trendy shades.

Welcome to...INDISTINCT.
Thank you very much.

The Land of the Lords. Thank you.
SIMON LAUGHS

Diplan is a Ganges river guide.

40 years ago, few Indians could
afford to go on holiday,

now there are around 250 million
middle-class Indians.

On their holidays, they're finding
new ways

of celebrating and enjoying the
river.

We're going in the water.
Rafting on the Ganges!

Looks fairly calm here.

I suspect it isn't all like that.

MAN SPEAKS HINDI

MAN CHANTS IN HINDI
ALL CHEER

ALL CHEER

Paddle a little harder. Harder!

Harder! Come on! Fast!

Fast! Ah!

The first rapid on this stretch
of the river was relatively gentle.

Good morning! Good morning!

It's nicknamed "good morning."

Whoo!

SCREAMING
LAUGHTER

Go! Hard! Hard!

Good!

But downriver the rapids are a bit
more energetic.

Wow!

Whoa!

White-water rafting is fairly new to
India,

but the tourist industry is growing
rapidly

along this beautiful section of the
Ganges.

That was fantastic! Yeah, really.
Thank you. Really.

DIPLAN LAUGHS

You...you did it really well.

And if you're happy, we're happy.
Ah, that's a lovely thing to say.

Mother Ganga is full happy.

Tell us about the camps that we
can see

along the bank of the river here.

We've seen them the whole way down,
there's dozens of them.

Who's staying in these tented
encampments?

Adventurers. Indians. They're really
freaking out.

These days they are...they are, like,
90%.

Is this quite an important change,
then?

This is Indians enjoying the river
not just worshipping it?

This is still Mother Ganga,
the holy Ganga,

but nowadays it is more adventurous
like.

They are freaking out in adventures.

Just down river is a community

that's long been a beacon
for western visitors

wanting meaning, eastern wisdom
and a bit of enlightenment,

the town of Rishikesh.

In 1968, the Beatles visited
a religious retreat here

known as an "ashram" for some soul
searching and chanting.

Like them and hundreds of thousands
of travellers who've since followed
in their footsteps,

I was going to be staying
at an ashram.

Goodness me! Look where we're going
now.

There's been a few illustrious
visitors before.

Thank you. OK.

Sadfi? Yes, welcome. Namaste.
How are you? Very well thank you.

Simon. So nice to meet you.

Lovely to meet you. Sorry to keep
you waiting. No problem at all.
Welcome home. Welcome home?

Of course. Goodness me!

Sadfi, a Californian who came here
ten years ago

is now a leader of the Parmarth
Niketan Ashram.

It's the largest ashram in all
of Rishikesh.

It's actually one of the largest

spiritual institutions
in all of India.

TRADITIONAL INDIAN MUSIC

Each evening the residents of
the ashram and visitors

gather on the banks of the Ganges to
chant and pray.

The president and spiritual leader
of the ashram

is His Holiness Swami Chidanand
Saraswati Maharajah.

Swami Gee also heads a foundation
sponsoring free schools,

a clinic, orphanages,
and he's trying to organise

a clean up of the River Ganges.

How are you? I'm very well, thank
you. Sorry to keep you waiting.

Simon. Welcome home.

Thank you very much indeed.

You can take. The whole thing?
Everything? Yes.

There are often hundreds of foreign
visitors staying at the ashram,

paying just a few pounds
for a simple room

and a chance to experience a
completely different way of life.

The ashram is also home to 200 local
boys from disadvantaged backgrounds

who receive academic and spiritual
education

as well as food and shelter.

ALL SING IN HINDI

I'd been presented with a tree,
watered by the Ganges.

I was told it symbolised the
life-giving power of the water

and the need to protect the river.

This is an audience with the Swami
Gee now.

I'm going to put my sacred tree
here. Nobody take this.

We're travelling along the Ganges,
travelling down the Ganges,

and I just wondered if you could
perhaps help us to understand,

why is the Ganges so sacred to
Indians?

Ganga...and me has a very special
relation.

When I was on the banks of Ganga,
I could feel the power.

Eyes are closed...

..and in those moments

that charging which I needed
every day.

Our mobile today needs charging.

Cellphones need charging.

That charging was also available
immediately

whenever I need it for that reason.
From the river?

From the river. And I can tell you,
not only me,

this is experience of many who left
their families,

came to the Himalayas, were there,

they were not all just came just for
they had nothing and they came
to find peace.

They were judges, they were doctors,

they were engineers,
they were professionals.

This place specially...

..has...has become a powerhouse.

BIRDSONG

Hinduism is a set of ancient beliefs

allowing followers to create
their own relationship

with a multiplicity of gods.

There's no central authority in
Hinduism, no single founding text.

Most foreign visitors to ashrams
don't come looking to convert,

but instead to find time to think
and unwind

with the help of practices
like yoga.

"Yoga and meditation." Oh, that's
where were going.

It was a chilly morning

and I'd been asked to wear
what felt like a giant nappy.

WOMAN CHANTS IN HINDI

The emphasis in this class was on
meditation and prayer

as well as the correct physical
posture.

I was a natural.

ALL HUM

How was that for you? Huh?
How was that for you? Good.

Why are you here? Oh, I'm here
for the yoga.

Right. But why have you come...? You
could do yoga in America, surely?

Well, it was...it was much better
to get away.
SHE LAUGHS

It took me five months to close my
law practice, to sell and give away
everything I owned. Wow!

To say goodbye to my children
and my parents.

And I've been here for a year
and a half. My goodness!

That's not just coming for a little
trip, is it?

SHE LAUGHS
You're here now. I'm here.

Why...why here, though?

Do you feel there's something
special about this place?

About the country even?
Yes, absolutely.

This place is very special.

It's like a big energy vortex.

As well as attending yoga classes,

some residents here volunteer
to take part in service,

including helping out with cleaning
and cooking.

Hello, ladies.

Hello. What brought you here?
Are you resident or are you...?

Guest. I'm a resident here.

How long have you been here?
I've been here for three years.

Three years? And you live here as
well?

No, I've just come for five weeks.
And you've been here for?

I'm here from six months.

Six months? And what drew you all
here?

We all are doing sava.
Doing...performing service?

Selfless service. Are you
from Rishikesh?

I'm not from Rishikesh,
I'm from Gujarat.

From Gujarat? OK. And you're from?
London.

I was thinking that sounded like
a remarkably clear accent there.
LAUGHTER

And whereabouts in London
are your from?

Harrow. From Harrow? Yes. OK.
And why have you come here?!

I've met Swami Gee a few times
and he's come to London as well.

And I've been here with family

and I just want to keep coming back.
SHE LAUGHS

I think to your question of what
drew you here, it's...

I don't think it was a decision
that we took, you know?

I was born and raised in America,
in California,

I didn't know about the Ganga.

I mean, yes, my family is of Indian
origin, I must have heard Ganga
in a movie or something,

but it's not like American textbooks
teach you about a river called Ganga.

And something brought me to Rishikesh
and I never left.

How does your...how does your old
American self, as it were,

differ from your new self?

You know, in America it's always like
you're working and you're going
to school

and there's stress and there's energy
being expended...

You're just being and existing in
the day? It's the next thing.

It's always the next thing.

And here it's just you are
and you just...be. Hmm.

Alternative spiritual practices
obviously have an immense appeal

to the many western visitors
who come here,

as was clearly evident in downtown
Rishikesh.

It felt a bit like Glastonbury.

Lots of lovely New Age stuff going
on here.

Look, the Ganga Astrology
and Palmistry Centre.

Yoga teacher training here.

Look, the Himalayan Yoga Retreat:
Breath of Bliss.

"Emotional blockage treatment."

Goodness me! This is the self
bodyworks.

This is a real spiritual
supermarket.

Something for everyone.

Then when you've done your yoga, you
can come to the German bakery here,

step in for continental, Russian,
Indian, Chinese, Mexican foods.

You can get an English
breakfast...or a Greek salad.

I've had a difficult relationship
with India on my travels.

Oh, mind the thieving little
monkeys.

Don't chuck that plastic
in the river.

A third of the world's poorest
people live here

and I've always found the poverty
desperately upsetting.

Look at this!

This is the India that I have been
wanting to see

that...I have been waiting to see.

It does feel...quite spiritual.

I think that's partly because we're
so connected with nature here,

it's all around us.

CAR HORN

While Rishikesh is a particular
magnet for visitors from the west,

where I headed next is a major draw
for Indian tourists.

The beautiful Ganges. Look how low
it is here!

I'm meeting a friend who's guided me
around India before.

He's suggested we meet at a statue
of the god Shiva.

He says, "You won't miss it."

OK...he was right!
SIMON LAUGHS

I've travelled in other parts
of India on a couple of previous
trips with Abhra Bhattacharya.

Abhra! Hello, Simon!

Hello, mate! Come on. Hi.

And you said we wouldn't miss Shiva!
Yeah. Look at the size of him!

Colossal! He's one of the central
gods of Hinduism. Yeah.

Shiva is most revered
and most feared,

because he's the Lord of Destruction
and he's also the Creator,

because we believe every creation
begins from destruction,

so he destroys before he creates.

It's a powerful role. Yeah.

Abhra is there any connection
between Shiva and the Ganges?

Well, you see the huge dreadlock
that Shiva has?

In that he is supposed to have tamed
the untameable Ganges.

In his...in his dreadlocks? Yeah.

So the Ganges flows through his
dreadlocks

like the hills you must have not
missed on your way, you know?

So it tames the Ganges and its force.

So the river has flowed through his
dreadlocks and out across India?

Yeah. Wow!

Shiva has hundreds of millions
of followers.

He's one of the most popular gods,

but all Indians can revere
the Ganges for what it gifts
the country.

Haridwar is where the river enters
the plains of northern India

and brings life to almost half
the country's population.

Every 12 years,
the city plays host

to the religious festival
of the Kumbh Mela,

the biggest human gathering
on earth.

But every evening, travellers
come from all across India

to pay homage to the great goddess
Ganga.

And this evening Abhra and I were
joining them.

You must offer flower
and fire to Ganga.

Flowers and fire? Yeah.

Flowers? Yes. Those are meant
for that.

So do we get one of these? Yes.
There are a bit ornate, aren't they?

And there's the fire. Yeah.

OK. 100 rupees, less than a pound.
Yeah.

It's a bargain. Yeah.

He's checking carefully.
Happy with that, sir?

Thank you very much. Thank you.

So today is going to be your first
service to the Ganges?

It is, you're right! Yeah.

And it feels appropriate to be doing
this with you, Abhra.
ABHRA LAUGHS

For Hindus this religious service

is an opportunity to express their
gratitude to the life-giving river.

Come, Simon.

And to celebrate their belief
that as humans we're small parts
of a greater whole.

Namaste!

MAN CHANTS

BELL RINGS

There's not a lot of western faces
here.

This is a very real place
of pilgrimage for Indians.

Tens of thousands of them come here
every week.

The priests begin by making
offerings of milk to the river.

What were they saying?

He's translating the entire chant
which were in Sanskrit into Hindi.

A very ancient language? Yeah. Yeah.

And he's saying that whatever we were
saying the prayers,

say that Mother Ganges is
the main source of life.

ALL CHANT

As night falls the priests worship
the river with light.

BELLS RING

Personal offerings are also made of
flowers and candles.

Finally, it was our turn to make
an offering to the river.

We had a bit of help
from a local priest.

ALL CHANT IN HINDI

Now you are easy to go?

We go together my friend. Yeah.

We have to leave it. Put it in? Yeah.
OK.

But the most important thing a
visitor can do here is to bathe in
the sacred waters of the river.

It's a little bit chilly.

It's certainly refreshing.

Further? Further, otherwise....
What are we treading down on to?

Goodness knows!

That's better.

You don't want to be swept away
here.

One. Two.

And... Three!

I think I need to go a bit further.
INDISTINCT

Three times.

I'm running out of chain.

Yeah. There you go.

What does that mean? What does it
signify what we've done?

This signifies that, you know,
our soul has been cleansed.

All our past sins have been cleansed.

From our previous lives even?
Even from previous lives.

Wow! Now it's the beginning of a new
life and a new journey for you.

Thank you. For us both!

Come on!

From Haridwar, I followed the Ganges
more than 300 miles south-east

to a major industrial city.

India's population has more than
doubled in the last 40 years.

There's now more than 1.2 billion
people in the country.

The impact on the river has been
appalling.

We're coming into a place called
Kanpur now,

which is one of the most polluted
cities in India.

The banks of the river were
knee deep with rotting rubbish.

It was all in stark contrast
to the pure water

I'd seen flowing from the Himalayas
at the start of my journey.

But in spite of the evident filth
leeching into the river,

it was a religious holiday and
people were still taking a holy dip.

They're feeding those cows!

Yeah. In a ceremonial way?

Today is a very auspicious day,

so they are feeding the cows to gain
more, you know, blessings of God.

More karma? Yeah. Better karma?
Better karma.

Cows are revered in India because
they give milk freely.

It's taboo to kill or even injure
them.

So I was surprised to discover

India's now among the biggest
exporters

of beef and leather in the world.

Kanpur is the centre of the trade,
which is worth around three billion
pounds a year.

As we drove into the city

there were treated animal hides
everywhere I looked.

Tanneries here claim all the hides
come from water buffalo,

which aren't revered by most Hindus.

But religious activists and animal
rights campaigners

say that most of the them actually
come from an illicit trade

in slaughtered sacred cows.

Abhra and I went to visit a
sanctuary known as a cow shelter.

We were meeting Porva Joshipura

from the International Animal Rights
Group PETA.

Hi, Porva! Hi. Namaste. Simon.
Lovely to meet you.

Good to meet you, too.

What is this place?

This is a rescue centre for cows
who are saved from slaughter.

This is an area where cows
are killed,

they're transported illegally under
the cover of darkness,

you know, crammed into trucks on top
of one another

and they're taken illegally
to slaughter houses.

Slaughter houses?! Yes.

I... I thought this was not
something

that was legally permissible,
let alone religiously, in India.

It's not, it's not. There's up to
a seven-year imprisonment fine

if you get caught slaughtering cows,
but it happens nonetheless.

And so when the police get a
tip-off, from a caring citizen,

that cows are being transported
to slaughter,

they catch them and they bring them
here to this safe place.

I mean, this is a land

where compassion for animals
is considered...a major value.

I mean, it's a very basic value.

It's a religious code as well, isn't
it? It's a religious code as well.

And yet...? And because of the
religion

it's become important just
culturally.

And yet cows are being killed
in this country

to supply people who are buying
leather elsewhere.

Who's buying the leather that
India's exporting, then?

Um...people in the UK, people in
the European Union.

the EU buys 60% of the leather that
gets sold out of India.

There's a few people who are
fattening their wallets

from the leather industry.

Things are happening here which are
not allowed to happen

in the UK or in the EU or in some
other western country.

You know, the way that animals
are treated here

is not allowed to happen there.

Some British and American companies

have banned Indian leather because
of production concerns,

but it remains a huge business that
has a direct impact on the Ganges.

Many tanneries here use a toxic
cocktail to treat hides

that includes sulphuric acid
and cancer-causing chemicals.

Environmental groups say the waste
water from the tanneries

is then channelled into the river.

SIMON GROANS

We stopped at a waste-water pumping
station by the side of the road.

So this...this is some so-called
treated water.

A study by the Indian Institute
of Technology

found that even after supposedly
being treated

the waste water from the tanneries
still contains dangerously high
levels of poisonous chemicals

such as arsenic and mercury.

Apparently, the water here comes out
of the pipe over there

and it flows into these channels and
then it's used for irrigation,

for providing water for crops in the
dry season.

But in the wet season,

it just flows from here straight
into the River Ganges.

On the river bank on the outskirts
of the city,

I met environmental campaigner,
Rakesh Jaiswal.

Rakesh, thanks for meeting up with
us.

Can you tell us what is the state,
the health

of the River Ganges at this
point?

TRANSLATION: In Kanpur the river
is effectively dead.

No-one ever thought this would
happen.

All the rubbish and sewage from the
city

goes into the River Ganges.

Kanpur has four hundred tanneries,

they also drain their poisonous
water into the Ganges.

Rakesh showed me a channel he said

was carrying tannery effluent
directly into the river.

Oh, my God!

So this channel here is just taking
filthy water

straight into...straight into the
Ganges?

Yes.

This contains heavy metals, acids,
dyes and other chemicals

used by tanneries.

It's all in there?
It's all in there?

It's a poison?

Hindus...they take mouthful
of Ganges water.

Urgh! Can you imagining taking this
water?

Can someone dare drink directly
from Ganga at this place?

I don't...I don't really
understand.

Hindus, the faith, teaches a respect
and love for nature.

This is the sacred Ganges.

Why are Indians doing this to the
Ganges?

Even I can't understand this.

This is a river we worship
and revere,

and whose waters we consider holy...

yet we remain silent about its
desecration.

BIRDSONG

Tanneries claim the pollution is
caused

by other towns and cities on the
Ganges and not by them.

Water and sanitation remains
a colossal issue in India,

up to 600 million people here don't
have access to a toilet.

One study discovered the bacteria
from sewage in the Ganges

was 12,000 times permissible
levels for bathing.

The Ganges and other Indian rivers
are horrifically polluted

and successive Indian governments
have failed to clean them up.

I travelled another 200 miles to
Varanasi,

one of the most sacred Hindu holy
cities.

And we're just coming into the city
of Varanasi.

It's one of the oldest continuously
inhabited cities in the world.

It's a place that's said to be as
old as Babylon.

The same religious rituals have been
practised in the temples here

for more than 1,00 years and remain
virtually unchanged.

At dawn each morning people come
to worship the river

and bathe in its sacred waters.

The American writer, Mark Twain,

who came here in the 1890s wrote
that the city is older than history,

older than tradition,
older even than legend.

Varanasi has been a place of faith
for 30 centuries.

This is absolutely stunning!

This is one of the most amazing
places I've ever been to.

Along the banks of the river

are dozens of gats or flights of
stone steps leading up to temples,

palaces and guest houses.

Hindus believe that to die within
the confines of this city

or to have one's ashes scattered in
the river here

is to escape the laborious cycle of
reincarnation

and achieve Moksha or eternal
liberation.

Abhra, where are we going?

So we are going to a very special
place...a very special hotel rather.

OK. It's just round the corner.

The hotel is a rather unique
retirement home

for the elderly or sick who want to
die in holy Varanasi.

It's sometimes known as a
"death hotel".

Abhra took me to meet Manvuri
Gapathi and his wife,

who've retired from a life of
farming to live out their days here.

Namaste.

So what is this place and why are
you here?

TRANSLATION: This is the Kashi
Liberation Home.

According to the holy scriptures you
can attain liberation here.

Otherwise people like us our souls
will not be liberated

from the cycle of reincarnations,
they will be restless.

It's this desire for liberation
that brings me here.

Is everybody here...to die? Is that
why people come here?

We have come there for that,

but we can only die here if it is
written in our destiny.

When did you come here? How
long have you been here?

It has been 18 years now.

You've both been here for 18 years?!

She sometimes goes back home,
I don't.

And you will never leave because
you don't want to risk not dying
here, is that right?

No, I could leave but I would only
go

to other holy places like Prayag
or Haridwar.

Even if my soul leaves my body
at another holy place, it would
still be liberated.

I am...I am completely terrified
of death.

I wake in the night sometimes
in a cold sweat,

but it sounds to me like
you embrace it.

No, no, you should never be scared.

From the moment you are born
death is part of life.

They go together.

I am not afraid.

I can't understand it because my...

Everything in my culture
is fearful of dying

and everything in your culture
accepts it

and to a certain extent embraces it.

It seems...it seems an absolutely
fundamental difference.

With so many people coming to the
city of Varanasi to die close
to the Ganges,

funerals are big business here.

Families go to great lengths
to ensure their loved ones

are cremated on the river bank thus
securing their eternal salvation.

At the main cremation area next
to the river,

Abhra and I had arranged to meet
the Dom Raja,

a man who's said to have made a
fortune controlling funerals here.

Very nice to meet you, sir.

May I sit here?

Is that going to be all right?
Yeah, yeah, sure.

What an extraordinary place.

Can you...can you tell us what is
the job of the Dom Raja?

TRANSLATION: Our job is to provide
the flame for the funeral pyre.

Our men assist in the burning
of the bodies.

How many bodies are burned here?

We don't keep count.

It can range from 20 to 100 bodies
a day.

How do you decide how much to
charge people

for having their relative burnt
here?

There is no fixed price.

People give whatever they can
afford.

This sounds like a...very difficult
and upsetting job.

Is it a job and a role that you
find difficult,

or do you enjoy it?

It is a family tradition and I see
it as a duty.

It's like a family business.

It doesn't upset me.

It's my way of practising my faith
as a Hindu.

Why does religion dictate that you
and your family do this job?

A very long time ago, we were
upper-caste priests,

but we were cursed by the gods.

Now we do this job.

So the legend is that your family

were cursed and that's why you
have to do this job?

Exactly.

In India's caste system,

in which job or role is often
determined from birth,

the Dom Raja's family belonged
to the lowest caste,

the so-called Untouchables.

Is the caste system still alive in
India?

Well, we are developing,

we are growing up in the sense of
more and more education,

but the shadow is always there,
you see.

There are still people who would,

if they even step in the shadow of an
Untouchable, would go to the Ganges

and have a bath before they get back
to their home.

If they step into their shadow?

Yeah, it's that bad.

It's 2014! India's got a space
programme!

Yeah.

That's incredible.

That's why we call it Incredible
India.

Cremations here are public
but ritual events.

The eldest son of a deceased family
leads the funeral rites.

First, the body's prepared by
immersing it in the Ganges.

Then the son circles the funeral
pyre.

This is an utterly overwhelming
place.

You can't really hope to understand
this,

but...you can't help but absorb
what's going on here.

Finally, having obtained a flame

from a member of the Dom Raja's
family, he lights the fire.

Like millions of cremated and
partially-cremated bodies each year

the remains will be put into the
Ganges.

You lived here, didn't you?
You lived in Varanasi?

I lived in Varanasi for more than
eight years.

And, presumably, the burning of
the bodies here

is just very much part of life?

It's part of life, but in the Ganges
you can say it's special

that I have seen what I haven't seen
anywhere,

so many bodies being burned in one
place, you know.

You can see ten bodies burning here
if you count, you know.

At any moment.

Varanasi was the most sacred place
I'd visited on the Ganges.

There was no mistaking the power
and the pull of its waters.

It was a profoundly moving
experience.

The next morning, we followed
the Ganges

towards Patna the state capital
of Bihar.

It's raining, we're on the road

and we've just crossed into Bihar,

which is the poorest state
in the country.

There's room in India for modern as
well an ancient figures of worship,

and that even includes today's movie
stars or sporting heroes.

Nowhere is this devotion more
apparent

than in India's impoverished
villages,

where movies and sport provide
welcome escape from the desperate
hardship of everyday life.

Oh, my goodness!

This is what we're here for? Yeah.

That's Sachin Tendulkar.

It does look like him, that's true.
The famous cricketer.

Sachin Tendulkar! Yes, of course.

And that's the World Cup in his hand.

The cricket World Cup? Yeah.

He's a world-famous cricketer,

but here it looks as though
he's being revered

as something even more than that.

He's not just revered, here he's
worshipped.

This is a temple they are making.
They're building a temple to him?

Yes. To him? And they worship him
every morning and evening like Lord
Shiva.

My goodness!

So he's being turned into what,
a living god?

Yeah. Is that...acceptable
in Hinduism?

Here we do worship humans
like religious gurus.

And he is a cricket guru, so we can
worship him.
HE LAUGHS

Everybody's gathered here.
My goodness!

When's the temple going to be built?

And how big will the temple be?

How many people do you expect will
be able to worship in there?

INDISTINCT CHATTER

He's going to put it in the car?

Open...open the door.

The villages have even composed
and recorded a devotional song

to what they say is their new
demi-god.

SINGING IN HINDI

What's it saying?

It's saying that, "Sachin,
you are like our god.

"You have taken all of India
to a different level."

That's very catchy!

The villagers are hoping tourists

will stop by their new shrine and,
no doubt, buy a few souvenirs.

TRAIN HORN

I was on the final leg
of my journey.

My route took me past a
controversial dam on the Ganges

that's nearly 7,500ft long.

And there it is!

The Farakka Barrage!

Now, what is the Farakka Barrage?

In the 1960s, India had a major
problem,

because from this point on
the river forks,

one part goes to Bangladesh,
it becomes the River Padma,

and another part turns right here
and heads towards Kolkata

and it becomes the River Hooghly.

But the River Hooghly wasn't getting
much water in it.

So what did India do, it built a
massive barrage across the river,

so it could regulate the flow.

Basically, India has the ability

to turn off the taps on the River
Ganges at this point.

But India's neighbour has paid
a high price.

Since the barrage was completed
in the 1970s,

the Bangladeshi government says that
water flowing into the country

has been reduced and parts of
Bangladesh

have suffered drought and even
famine.

The waters of the Ganges are a
life-and-death issue here.

What I find particularly astonishing

is that when this barrage was being
built it was talked about

and is today as part of India's
religious duty to the river.

It was a religious requirement to
create this barrage

and regulate and control the flow
of the sacred River Ganges.

The thought that the rest of the
River Ganges that flows on from here

through India could dry up was just
sacrilegious. It was unthinkable!

The holy River Ganges that flows on
from here, through India,

towards the city of Calcutta had
to have enough water.

From Farakka the river flows
about 160 miles

through the city of Kolkata

before flowing out into the Bay of
Bengal at Sagar Island.

It was an auspicious time to arrive
at the end of the river.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

For a period of several weeks,

thousands of pilgrims were
travelling to the point

where the river empties into
the sea, known as Ganga Sagar.

In a country whose population could
ultimately surpass China's as the
largest in the world,

ferries to the island were
understandably crowded.

Oops! Bit of a rush! Bit of a push!

An old lady is pressing
against my bottom.

Goodness me!

I was pinched by an elderly lady!

ABHRA LAUGHS

Hundreds of millions of Indians
accept the idea the Ganges is holy.

They worship it and they travel to
bathe in it.

Why are you going to Ganga Sagar?

TRANSLATION: I'm going to Ganga Sagar

to meet God and to bathe
in the water.

Are you on pilgrimage, then?

You're on a pilgrimage going to the
island to see the end of the River
Ganges?

The holy River Ganges?

Yes, it's a pilgrimage, a pilgrimage
to Ganga Sagar.

What's...what's special about
the island?

It's the soul, the god. Ganga is
India's number one god.

You can do pilgrimages to
the other sites many times,

but you must come here once. OK?

She didn't really have a why, an
explanation about why she's going.

There isn't a why.

It's a practice which is going on
and on and on.

It's a practice. You have to go to
Ganga Sagar once in your lifetime.

That's it, that's the why.

India is changing, but I was struck
by the fact

that ancient religious beliefs
still seem to be thriving.

The country now has more than three
million places of worship,

but a shortage of hospitals
and schools.

BELL SOUNDS

Ohh! Thank you.

I'd finally reached the end of
the Ganges

and the end of this part of my
journey.

The river comes down here...

and merges with the Bay of Bengal
and the Indian Ocean.

We're on the beach!

DOG BARKS

The Ganges was absolutely central to
the development of civilisation in
India.

I feel the river's now become
a litmus test for India in the 21st
century.

If it can't protect its living
goddess from pollution,

then what hope can it have of
defeating corruption,

challenging the caste system
or reducing poverty?

The River Ganges,

worshiped from source to sea.

Like everything about India...it's
complicated.

It's a holy river, but it could
really do with a clean up.

I've loved travelling along it

and I can't wait for my other
journeys along sacred rivers.

On my next journey, I'll be
travelling along the Yangtze,

Asia's longest river.

Let's take a dip in the Yangtze!

I'll attempt to swim across it,
dodging dangerous freighters.

SHIP'S HORN

Look at what we as a species are
capable of.

And visiting an engineering marvel
that's one of the largest man-made
structures on the planet.

HE GASPS