Will River Aire be the UK's Ganga?

Author:
Publication: Hinduism Today
Date: January / February / March 2003

Bradford's Hindu cultural society submitted a proposal in mid-2002 to the Bradford City Council to allow a small stretch of the River Aire at Apperley Bridge to be used for the scattering of ashes after a traditional Hindu funeral. A spokesman for the cultural society says, "Most of our community still travel to India for the purpose. But using the River Aire would allow those who can't afford it to also scatter ashes." Jane Glaister, director of arts, heritage and leisure for Bradford says, "We have been approached by the local Hindu and Sikh communities, and we are talking to the environmental agency." A spokesperson for the City Council said officials had "been receiving a number of calls from concerned residents of the area." Community relations are strained in Bradford, which last year experienced riots of Muslim youth. According the river relatively divine status poses no special theological difficulty for Hindus and would likely be done by pouring Ganga water in the Aire, as with a sacred lake in Mauritius some years ago.
 

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