Indian Riverfronts: Functions, Religious Activities & Influence on the City

Indian Riverfronts: Functions, Religious Activities & Influence on the City

Abbas Bagwala, Ar. Sameer Sharma

Abstract

Indian culture has a completely distinct understanding of water & waterfronts. In Indian culture, water and religion are intertwined indivisibly, much like a complex fabric. In Indian culture and religious traditions, rivers hold a special significance. In Hinduism, rivers are valued as nurturing mothers and are thought to be pious. Water is considered to be an element of primordial substance from which the universe came into being. Due to the extreme tropical weather in India, sociocultural traditions have favored a strong afflux of culture & ritual practices on the riverfronts, such as bathing, lamp lighting, worshipping and other activities connected to religious rites. It is clear that India places a high value on water, holy waterfronts, waterfront components, and powerful sociocultural and religious contexts.

This paper aims to find out the relationship between Indian rivers, the city & the people of the city. To find out different functions a riverfront plays and different activities performed on them & what influence do they have on the city. The Kshipra River, Ujjain is taken as the example & its function & influence on the city of Ujjain is studied. Other than the religious aspects, other different functions of the riverfront in a city like port, farming, energy generation, etc. are also studied.