GALLERY 02 | WATER & CULTURE
EXHIBIT 01/03 01
Water and Faith
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Sacred texts from various faiths, poets and philosophers have echoed over time with their reverence of water. Mumbai and its cultural diversity provide ample scope for practices that various communities link to its natural and artificial water bodies through
the acts of cleansing, offering and immersion.
Let's explore Mumbai’s tryst with water through the paradigm of faith.
विविध धर्म-पंथातील कवी आणि विचारवंतांनी त्यांची पाण्या वरील श्रद्धा पवित्र ग्रंथांत वेळोवेळी अधोरेखित केली आहे. मुंबई आणि येथील सांस्कृतिक वैविध्य प्राप्त करून देत असलेल्या सुसंधीमुळे, निरनिराळ्या जाती-पंथ येथील नैसर्गिक आणि मानव निर्मित
पाणी साठ्यांशी विविध धर्मिकविधी व चालीरीतींमुळे जोडला गेला आहे.
चला तर मग, मुंबई आणि पाण्याच्या या नाजूक नात्याचा श्रद्धेच्या नजरेतून शोध घेऊ या
From the holy water in a church, to the vazu in a mosque or the amrit chakna in a gurudwara and a dip in the sacred rivers, the sanctity of water echoes in different faiths. Sacred texts from various faiths, poets and philosophers have echoed over time with their reverence of water. Mumbai and its cultural diversity provide ample scope for practices that various communities link to its natural and artificial water bodies through the acts of cleansing, offering and immersion.
Let's explore Mumbai’s tryst with water through the paradigm of faith.
image by : Mohammed Esa Shaikh
Wuzu, a purification ritual followed by Muslims, includes cleansing the body and calming the mind before offering prayers. Whilst the newer mosques offer a battery of taps to provide the water required for the same, some of the older mosques in the city are equipped with open water tanks for the faithful to use before offering namaaz.
And we send down water from the heavens in its due degree, and we cause it to settle on the earth, and we have power for its withdrawal too- and by it we cause palm trees and vineyards to spring forth for you in which you have plenteous fruit and whereof you eat.
Quran Surah 23:18
Water plays a vital role in the Christian ritual of Baptism or Christening as an admission into the faith. The new-born is held over a baptismal font and holy water is sprinkled or poured over the child’s head by the priest amidst prayers and joyful hymns, in the belief that God’s Holy Spirit has come into the child’s life.
image by : Jovel Silva
image by : Minaz Ansari
They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.
Isaiah 48:21
image by : Minaz Ansari
As a ritual of ablution, before entering a gurudwara, the Sikh place of worship, devotees wash their feet with water in a water sump provided at the entrance of the place of worship. Also, holy water is sprinkled on the head of the person for his/her baptism into the Sikh faith. This ritual is called 'Amrit Chakhna'.
Air is the Guru, Water is the Father, and Earth is the Great Mother of all. Day and night are the two nurses, in whose lap all the world is at play.
Guru Granth Sahib
Good deeds and bad deeds-the record is read out in the Presence of the Lord of Dharma. According to their own actions, some are drawn closer, and some are driven farther away.
Guru Granth Sahib
Every four years an additional month is added to the Hindu lunar calendar or panchanga in order to align it to the solar cycle. A cleansing bath in the mythical Banganga Tank in this month or Adhik Maas is considered sacred and purifying.
image by : Mohammed Esa Shaikh
Unable to perceive the shape of you I find you all around me Your presence fills my eyes with your love It humbles my heart For you are everywhere.
- a Sufi poem from the movie
The Shape Of Water
image by : Pratik Chorge
Narali Purnima is a day of great significance to the Kolis or the fishing community in Mumbai. It marks the departure of the monsoon after which the fishermen start venturing back into the sea. The Kolis celebrate the event by making an offering of coconut and flowers to the sea, marking their gratitude and praying for safety and an abundant catch.
O Holy Rivers Ganga and Yamuna, and also Godavari and Saraswati, O Holy Rivers Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri; Please be Present in this Water (and make it Holy).
Hindu Stotra
Offerings around water also include the Pitru Paksha rituals for paying homage to ancestors who have passed on. Observed over a day period in a lunar cycle, Hindu priests are seen on the edges of water tanks or the sea, making an offering of food to the crows, as they represent the messengers of Yama, the God of death, or the dead ancestors themselves.
image by : Pratik Chorge
Rahim says, water is most important. As without water, there is no wealth (pearls), life or earth.
Rahimdas
image by : Pratik Chorge
On the sixth day of the Kartik month of the Hindu lunar calendar, a huge number of devotees gather at the beaches of Mumbai. They are seen standing in the water at sunrise or sunset, burning incense sticks, praying to the rising and setting sun and offering flowers and fruits into the water.
To whatever parts the undefiled Ardvi Sura (River) flows she renders those parts prosperous
Extract from Zoroastrian Prayer
On this auspicious day, Zoroastrians in the city flock to the sea or Parsee wells in the city in large numbers to venerate Aredvi Sura Anahita, who looks after the waters of the world. The faithful spend time on the coast or at the wells, whispering silent prayers and offering coconuts and flowers into the water.
image by : Pratik Chorge
‘That the heavens and earth were joined together (as unit of creation) Before we clove them asunder (separated in two) We made from water Every living thing.’
Surah -Ambia , 21:30
image by : Minaz Ansari
Muharram is observed as a period of mourning mainly by the Shia Muslim community in memory of the battle of Karbala, where the grandsons of the prophet lost their lives. Water, sherbet and food is served to one and all at community water booths in remembrance of those who were deprived of water during the period of the war.
"Spring up, O well, Sing ye to it: Thou well dug by princes, Sunk by the nobles of the people, With the sceptre, with their staves Out of the desert a gift."
A Jewish Prayer
image by : Pratik Chorge
Every year the city transforms into a sea of people moving in a pulsating rhythm towards the sea to bid farewell to their favourite deity- Ganpati Bappa, as He fades into the waters of the Arabian Sea. Though often criticized for being a cause of water pollution, the Ganpati immersion continues to be a popular celebration in the city, with devotees slowly gravitating towards eco-friendly practices of immersion.
I am the taste in Water; I am the radiance in the Sun and Moon. I am the sacred OM in all the Vedas; I am the Sound in the space. I am the virility in men.
(Excerpt from the Bhagvad Gita)
On the heels of the Ganesh festival comes Navratri, the celebration of the power of the feminine- the devi. A city that is believed to be under the divine protection of seven goddesses goes all out to exult in the glory of the goddess Durga, in her most powerful form. Nine days of dance and music culminate into an immersion of the image of the goddess into the sea.
image by : Pratik Chorge
Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Ether, Thoughts, Reasoning and Consciousness of individuality- These are the eightfold divisions of My Nature.
(Excerpt from the Bhagvad Gita)
image by : Pratik Chorge
Water is a refuge to its patrons in times of joy and sorrow alike. The waters that embrace the icons of their favourite gods are also used to immerse the ashes of a loved one to release their soul from bondage as per Hindu belief. Mumbai’s many waterfronts provide spaces for this ritual and help individuals and families find closure in times of grief.
Water, fulfills every human need Like the mythological Kalpvriksh But water can also destroy like acid ,
'Water Oh water! Tell me what's your colour? My child, It is the colour of the water droplets in your eyes Water Oh water! Tell me what's your colour? My child, It is the colour of your thirst’
Excerpt of poem by Marathi Poet and Dalit Activist Namdeo Dhasal
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