river and religious activities

Submitted by: Hardik Gandhi

M.arch.- I; Sem. - I

Seminar: River And Religious Activities

Space Culture and Urban Design

Faculty Advisor: Prof. Vishal Shah

River And Religious Activities

Acknowledgement:

River and religious activities:

The topic contains the relation of river with religious activities with people of the city.

It has significance of sacredness with the people’s feelings towards religious activities. The river is considered to be the most important feature in the Hindu beliefs. Tapi is considered to be the daughter of Sun god and it is the most sacred river of India. It is also considered that Tapi has more importance than Ganga.

For Surat, Tapi is the main source of origin. Due to Tapi, Surat has evolved this much and all the important points which are now religious points, were initially important parts of history.

Tapi has vibrant character due to culture of Surat. It is used not only for religious activity but also for recreational activities. In this study, main focus is religious activities performed on the bank of river Tapi.

Space Culture and Urban Design (M.Arch.-I: Sem.-I) 2


Contents:

1 Introduction,

2 History of Tapi river,

3 Importance of Tapi river as per mythology,

4 Location maps of religious places on the bank of the river,

5 History and importance of these places,

6 Issues related to post rituals,

- Pollution,- Chaos,- Traffic problems.

7. Conclusion.



1). Introduction:Among the most distinctive features of India are its rivers, which hold the highly religious importance among its people. Covering the vast geographical area of 329 million hectares, Indian rivers have been an important reason for the rural prosperity of India. Carrying a wider importance in cultural, economical, geographical as well as religious development, the numerous river of India is of great value in India. The rivers in India are considered as God and Goddess and are even worshiped among the Hindus. They provide tourists a wonderful insight into the historical, cultural and traditional aspect of India. Some of the most prominent rivers in India include Ganga, Yamuna, Krishna, Godavari, Narmada, Kaveri and Tapi.

Religious activities, when we think of any religious activity, first glance is of riverfront temple with pooja happening all around. Because river is always taken as the holy place.

When we think of a river and religious activities, the 1st place comes to our mind is Haridwar. Haridwar is a center of religious activities. On an average 10,000 people visit Haridwar per month to get the benefit of rituals, pooja.

As per Hindu mythology, rituals performed on the bank of river are considered as performed directly in the “swarg”. That’s why rivers have much importance in our Hindu religion. Haridwar is considered as a divine place for rituals after death. People go to Haridwar for “Asthi Visarjan”. According to the legends, Tapi river also known as Tapti is the daughter of Surya (the Sun God). Some says that Surya created the Tapi river in order to save himself from his own intense heat. The river finds mention in the great Indian epic.



Mahabharata, according to which Tapti had married Sanvaran, a legendary hero of the moon dynasty. Tapti and Sanvaran also had the son called Kuru. It was on his name only the Kuru dynasty started. Tapi is considered as the Goddess among the Hindus and is worshiped among them.

The origin of Tapti river is at the Satpura range of Betul district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is supposed to originating from small pond at a small town known as Multai, originally known as Multapi or the origin spot of Tapti. The Tapi river is considered to be the daughter of lord Surya. There is a Purana dedicated to the virtues of Tapi, which praises the river as holier than all other rivers including the Ganges. The Tapi Purana has mentioned that bathing in the Ganges, beholding Narmada and remembering Tapi, any person can be delivered from all sins.

The Tapi river exist since a long and there are many stories and mythologies behind its existence. Tapi is considered to be the daughter of lord Surya and it is bless by lord Surya “if a person worships on the bank of this river, it will be the considered as it is performed in the “swarg”.

Tapati, Tapti, Tapee, Taapi are the other names used for the Tapi river in India.

Plan showing Tapi from origin till end

Plan showing Tapi passing from Surat.

2). Scope of Study:


Betul DIstrict, MP

Surat, Gujarat


Here is the scope of area to be considered for the purpose of studying the religious activities. It ranges from Chowpati to Causeway. There are several religiously important places along old city edge. These places are historical and have its own importance in terms of religion as well as development of river edge.

Here is the location plan of few important religious places. Patali hanuman temple, Ghanta Ovara, Raja Ovara, Dacca Ovara, Navdi Ovara, Swaminarayana Temple are the major places located on the plan.

The area is been developed since the development of Surat has taken place and the whole area has ancient values with special religious values.

Initially, the Macca ovara was used as the port for pilgrimage tours to Macca and Madina. Now “Makkai bridge” is built there.

Plan showing area to be catered



3). Religious Activities on the edge of the river:The table shows the activities of

people during day, month and yearly basis.

These activities show the variety in religious acts and relation to the river. Actually river is considered to be the most important natural resource which is worshiped throughout the year.

It actually shows the variety of religious activities which makes our city, rather India vibrant.


DAILY/ RITUALS Monthly/Frequetnly YEARLY

Religious Activities

Visiting temple,Rituals after death

Community puja

Ganesh puja Navaratri puja Muharram Shitala mata’s

pooja Tapi mata’s pooja Shiv pooja Satyanarayana

pooja Dasha maa pooja Durga visarjan Chhadi nom Vad Savitri Vrat

(karwa chowth) Shiva ling

visarjan during “shravan mas”


4). Development of Ovaras:4.1). Brief history of Surat:Settlement – 15th Century

Fisherman, sailors and kolis established the city. It is believed to be the old Suryapur.

In 1194 Surat was under the rule of the Rajputs but at that time Kamrej was the port and the river changed the course, and Surat became a port. The important Suwali was on the seashore where ships and vessels were anchored and goods were transported to Surat.Gujarat sultanate - Gopi’s period (1496 - 1521).

At the end of the 15th century, rich Hindu trader settled in Surat name Gopi and he induced other merchants to settle at Surat. During this period Surat started developing as a port and due to this many merchants, weavers, workers, artisans came and settled here and they built a large house and garden. He founded one of the quarters of the town called, in his honor as Gopipura.

At the time of his period once there was a very bad famine, so many people were jobless and dying of hunger. It is said that to employ those people, Gopi enlarged and built a lake with stone and making it the chief ornament of the city. Mughal period (1573 – 1707)

On March 1573, Akbar, the great Mughal king conquered Surat and it came under the hands of the Mughal Sultanate. The Mughals ruled it for 160 years, which is divided into three sections:

The first of about 85 years (1573 – 1658) when under the emperor Akbar, Jahangir and Shahjahhan enjoyed peace and raise to be one of the first cities of India.The second of 49 years of Aurangzeb’s region (1658 – 1707) when the city’s prosperity was checked by the Maratha raids and by the growing importance of Bombay.The third, about 27 years of increasing disorders, when the Surat governors were subjected to the court of Delhi.

Dutch came to Surat in 1595and they fought with Portuguese and spoiled the relation with the Mughal Sultanate in 1608 A.D Surat under Aurangzeb (1658– 1707) Surat under Alampanah (1707 – 1759) British period (19th century)



13th Century, 16th century, 1573 17th century, 1707-1759Fort was built in 1540 by Khwaja Safar to protect Surat from Portuguese.

Fort was built on one acre land in Chowk bazar on the bank of Tapi River. It is the oldest building of Surat. They had made moat around fort to protect it and a bridge was created to cross moat.

Surrounding wall was 16.25 m high and 4.06 m thick.

Inner wall were covering inner most part of the city fabric known as SHEHAR PANA and the outer fort wall was covering surrounding developing areas “PARAS” known as “AALAM PANA”.

Following are few maps showing development of Surat city:

This inner wall has gates which were opening on river bank for trading in 18th century which were known as BANDAR.

Drawing courtesy: Ar. Alpa Pandya


13th Century


These gates were later on used for human interference instead of trading in 19th century and people started identifying these BANDARS as OVARA in Gujarati.

These ovaras are very much important for the religious view. They have very significant temples which we don’t find anywhere in the city: Satyanarayana temple, Tapi mata temple and many more.

The figures show 17th century and 19th century development. Red spots shows the ancient developed area and the below one shows its development for the betterment and the river edge respond to the ovaras.

And in the end of the 19th century, bridge was constructed and two separate areas were connected. In ancient time, Chowk fort was used as the “maidan” for the loading and unloading the goods. Right now it is used as the notary area for legal process.


17th Century

19th Century

2


5). Talking about Ovaras:i) Navadi Ovara:

Navadi ovara is the most active ovara amongst all ovaras. The ovara majorly is used for: Shitala Mata’s Pooja, Tapi Mata’s Pooja, Shiv Pooja, Rituals After Death, Satyanarayana Pooja, Dasha Maa Pooja, Ganesh Visarjan, Durga Visarjan, Chhadi Nom, Vad Savitri Vrat (Karwa Chowth), Shiva Linga Visarjan during “Shravan Mas” throughout the year. It is also used for parking on working days. The ovara is also used for gathering activity during evening for the youngsters.

There are main two temples: Jalaram temple and Sai temple.

Plan showing Navadi ovara.

Source: Self study (Navadi Ovara plan and section)


Ovara

Slope used as parking

Plaza used as parking

Jalaram Temple

1

2

3

4


ii) Raja ovara: This ovara is the most important ovara amongst all. It has a temple of Tapi Mata on its edge: the only temple which has the real and ancient idol of Tapi Mata. It was also being used as the loading and unloading place.

Source: Self study

Plan showing Raja ovara.

iii) Ghanta ovara:



It is considered to be the most ancient of all ovaras. Actually, it was built for the loading and unloading of goods coming from different regions. If we see its image of the ovara, there is a “ghanta (bell)” hanging on its entrance. It was being used as the indication of any ship coming or going. Now, there are few temples on its edge: Mahadeva temple, Satyanarayana temple and Tapi Mata’s temple. Importance of this ovara: the only ovara having important temples and that also the only temple in the city. That’s why few poojas happen here which has special values.

Plan showing Ghanta ovara.

6). Issues related to post rituals and during rituals:

Pollution, Chaos, Traffic problems.

Due to different religious activities and occasions, there are many problems of traffic, chaos and pollution. If we take example of Ganesh Visarjan, there are 25000 idols of god is being visarjit in the river. This cause the traffic and pollution in river. Before 2-3 years, the idols of Ganesha were only



being sunk in the river but now the idols of Dasha Maa are also being visarjit in to the river. The idols if Dasha Maa is also reach upto 7000.

This harms the ecology of river also. After every visarjan the water contamination ratio becomes 2 times strong and many species die due to this event.

Following are the images showing GANESHA VISARJAN and DASHA MAA VISARJAN.

Source: Self study

Is it we are looking for????? We must understand that these kinds of actions harm the environment as well as the local public.

Another aspect of the religious activities is the noise pollution. In the days of Ganesh, creation of unwanted noise makes people uncomfortable.

Sometimes, the idols of Ganesha or Dasha maa, lies on the river banks. This also harms the image and feelings of people. We must not do such actions which create a lot of troubles for the city.

Actually there are some of the activists who try to stop these events by movements but in India, it seems to be impossible because of too much religious view and less awareness towards ecological imbalance.

As per one survey, after ganesha visarjan, the ecological imbalance takes 8-9 months to recover and again the ganesha visarjan is on the way. So

few species are vanishing. Space Culture and Urban Design (M.Arch.-I: Sem.-I) 14


Another aspect is Chaos and traffic. During these visarjans, the traffic needs to be re routed so the whole system gets disturbed. Whole core area is disturbed during these events.

7). Conclusion:River and religion:

After studying the above content, there are few points which are noticeable:

River as “mother”, River as the “door to swarg”, River as the most significant

feature out of all natural features,

River provides the plaza for the “pooja” or “rituals” to be performed,



River is attached with people as the most dominating feature for religion,

Following are few activities which are related to river and are very much significant to people:

Bathing, To worship river, To feed birds and animals on the banks of the river, To perform “yagna” and rituals after death, To burn the dead bodies, To “visarjit” things related to god or our belongings of our ancestors as it is

considered to be the “door of swarg”,

Another important aspect is tree. Tree plays an important role in religious activities. The shade is considered to be important in terms of sacredness.

There are few Pipal trees where people put the idols or photos of various gods and worship them throughout year on different occasions.

Pipal trees are considered as the “avatar” of Vishnu as per Hindu mythology. As per discussion with the people, I found that if the wish kept by them completes, they keep the idol or photos of god under the tree and worship them on different occasions.At Chowpati, there is a tree of “pipal” where the idol of “Sai” is placed and on

the Sai jayanti, many people worship the god in natural form as well as the tree as “Vishnu god”.



At Ghanta ovara, people sunk the Shivalinga made up of clay during Shravan Mas. References: “Surat Sonani murat” book, Surat: Presented by: Ar. Alpa

Pandya, Photography: Self study, Maps and plans: Self study, History from Wikipedia.


river and religious activities

Documents

e s e s

acc e e e s

e e f s

e s e ee

s e e c e e ec es

ce s f e f e s e

e s c es e f e s c e

ce c ec e s e e