India is a land where water is worshipped as divinity. Since Vedic times, rivers, lakes, tanks, ponds, kunds and springs have been revered as sacred and are considered as abodes of Gods and Goddesses, sources of purification, healing and moksha. Known by different names across the country as Teertham, Sarovar, Kunda, Talab, Kere, Kulam, Pushkarini, Baori and Johad, these waterbodies form the heart of our ecological and cultural heritage.
Sacred rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu, Kaveri and Brahmaputra are worshipped as Mothers. Sacred lakes like Pushkar, Manasarovar, Bindu Sagar, and temple tanks of Kanchipuram, Madurai, Rameswaram, Tirupati and Kumbakonam are centers of pilgrimage, festivals and community life. These waterbodies were created by our ancestors with great ecological wisdom for rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge, flood control and biodiversity conservation. They support fishes, turtles, lotus, birds and medicinal plants, and act as micro-ecosystems.
Many sacred groves are located on the banks of rivers and ponds, protecting both land and water. Traditional practices of not polluting water, not fishing in sacred ponds, and celebrating festivals like Theppam, Ganga Aarti and Chhat Puja ensured their protection for centuries. However, today many sacred waterbodies are facing severe threats due to encroachment, pollution, sewage disposal, plastic waste, urbanization and climate change.
Reviving sacred waterbodies is therefore both an ecological and cultural necessity. Programmes like Namami Gange, Amrit Sarovar and Jal Shakti Abhiyan aim to restore them. The CPREEC EIACP Centre on Conservation of Ecological Heritage and Sacred Sites of India, a Centre of Excellence under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India, has been documenting and creating awareness on sacred waterbodies for more than three decades.
For more information please visit https://ecoheritage.cpreec.org/