Badri Jal Abhiyan

A Public Art Initiative in Badrinath.

Asim Waqif and Vaibhav Dimri 2011

As part of Negotiating Routes: Ecologies of the Byways II.

A grant from Khoj International Artists’ Association.

The Context:

Badrinath at an altitude of 3415 meters in the higher reaches of Garhwal

Himalayas, is one of the 4 most revered shrines for pilgrimage for Hindus. The

shrine is open for only 6 months in a year as it is snowbound for the rest of the

year. The Alaknanda river, one of the 2 main branches of the upper-Ganga,

originates a few kilometers upstream, and a holy dip in the river is an essential

part of the pilgrimage. It is believed that one’s sins are washed away by bathing in

the holy waters of the Ganga. Ganga-jal (ganga-water) is considered to be the

purest and held to be very auspicious for a Hindu household. Pilgrims take water

back home and keep it with reverence.

The pilgimage to Badrinath has gone through an incredible transformation in

the last few decades. Since Adi Shankaracharya (who is believed to have) started

and popularised the chardham pilgrimages in the 8thcentury, till as late as the

middle of the 19th century, it was essentially a padh-yatra (a pilgrimage on foot).

The journey from Hardwar to the main pilgrim sites of Garhwal took between 2

and 4 months. It was a slow trek and the hardship on the trail and the infirmities

of weather forced pilgrims to deal and interact with the locals thus exposing each

group to new experiences. The physical nature of the journey was an essential part

of the experience and on reaching the destination the sense of accomplishment

and also relief must have been incredible.

Today the pilgrimage has moved into the fast lane, egged on by

‘development’ and ‘progress’. Most pilgrims stop only overnight before reaching

Badrinath from Hardwar. There are buses, taxis and even helicopters available to

the paying yatri. And although sometimes there are landslides and flash-floods, yet

the pilgrimage is infinitely more accessible than before and we see a situation

where an exclusive experience has been transformed into mass-tourism. This mass-

pilgrimage has created new situations and realities for the local people and

environment. One of the most visible effects has been the exponential increase in

non-biodegradable waste. Unfortunately very little has been done about the safe-

disposal of waste so far in Badrinath in spite of a proposed Badrinath Master Plan.

The forest of berries (badri) has now become a field of plastics and rags.

Packaging itself is a huge disposal-problem, especially in a place as

inhospitable as Badrinath because almost nothing is produced locally so every item

has to be transported, and packaging can be an important way of keeping items in

hygienic conditions. So whether you want biscuits, prasad, chai or a muffler you

will get some layers of plastic with it.

For our project we concentrated on a single commodity readily available in

Badrinath: Water. For in Badrikashrama the water is the purest and most holy.

Holy is related to belief which is in abundance among the yatris, purity is its

physical state. Dripping from ancient glaciers and flowing down mountain slopes,

the waters of the Alaknanda are full of minerals and herb-extracts. There are also

2 springs nearby that have clean and clear water. But, today, the pilgrim-tourist

consumes bottled water that is brought up from the plains, some of it even bottled

in NOIDA. On the other hand at Badrinath, the Ganga-jal that is considered holy,

the purest, this same water receives the pilgrim’s shit every morning, the grey-

water from washing of clothes, bodies and utensils, and some part of the garbage

too.

This dichotomy is where our project begins: The pilgrims come to Badrinath

because it is a holy spot and the waters of the Alaknanda are so pure that they will

wash away their sins; but the act of the pilgrimage kills the purity of that water

and poisons the hills.

Figure  1:  Last  year's  garbage  after  the  snow  had  thawed  in  Badrinath

 Figure  2:  Bottles  often  clog  the  drainage,  and  sometimes  you  can  see  hundreds  of  bottles  trapped  in  eddies  in  the  Alaknanda

The Process:

Research Phase: (April-May 2011)

The first part of the project involved extensive research of the people, the

place and its ecology. We interviewed various people like the CEO of the Temple

Committee, local NGOs, district administration, religious groups and many local

people. We tried to investigate what different stake-holders felt about the issues

we were trying to raise.

Although we did receive unexpected feedback at times, yet it was

heartening to know that most people were very positive about the essential idea of

the project. Some of the Temple Committee members went as far as to comment

that it might be possible to propose a ban on selling bottled water in the future

(similar to the ban on polythene packets that has been enforced over the last 2

years).

On the other hand we had hoped to investigate the relationship between

tradition and ecology, and more specifically water. In this endeavour we were

mostly disappointed as not many people remembered traditional practice. It

appears that cultural amnesia has had a deep impact on traditional practice even

in remote areas. Perhaps this has to do with contemporary learning methods that

rely more on theoretical knowledge rather than the earlier apprenticeship

mechanisms of learning. Of course our research was not exhaustive, so more

detailed fieldwork needs to be done to understand traditional knowledge.

A lot of the initial fieldwork was aimed at establishing local support

structure and also at getting the different stakeholders on board. Badrinath has a

very convoluted politic between different groups, for example there are

jurisdiction issues between the Temple Committee and the District Administration,

but inspite of this we successfully got everyone’s support for our project.

It was evident that even uneducated people from remote villages were

aware of “global warming” and had something to say about its impact. But, not

surprisingly, they thought of it as a problem created by others and did not realise

how their own changing lifestyles had a part to play in ecological change.

 Figure  3:  Main  path  leading  towards  Badrinath  Temple  with  signs  for  the  springs  on  the  electric  pole.  

Re-evalution of Proposal based on research:

We soon realised that we would have to change our project based on the

research we had done. Instead of looking at it like a public-art project with an

installation and Piyau, we began to look at it more like a propaganda campaign

based on semiotics supported with a Piyau as an information center.

Our initial research had indicated stories and legends associated with the

various streams and water bodies in Badrinath. We decided to use these as the

basis for the semiotics. Essentially we tried to re-contemporise these legends as a

means to get into the itinerary of the pilgrims. We felt that the pilgrims

themselves were at their best behaviour when in Badrinath and if we could get

them to appreciate their relationship to water as also having a religious

significance then we might succeed in making them more responsibly.

At the same time we realised that a Piyau would be successful in Badrinath

only if we were able to provide warm water. Pilgrims are often barefoot before

entering the temple and the weather is very cold and spring water even colder.

We also took samples of water back to Delhi to evaluate its potability. We

found that the spring water was actually cleaner than the most common bottled

water available in Badrinath. One of the springs, Kurm Dhara, was especially good

for drinking, and a local legend claimed that it was very good for digestion. On this

basis we decided to make Kurm Dhara the centerpiece of our project.

Based on these parameters we designed information boards for all the

springs around badrinath and also made direction boards so that people could

easily find them. We also made signs for the various muncipal drinking water taps

around town as some of them were quite hidden inspite of being on the main

pilgrim routes. A large panel showing a map of Badrinath with the varous water

points was also designed. Another graphic showed the results of the potability

tests we had got done.

At the same time we felt that people associate hygenic water to bottled

water so we created a new brand of water, Kurm Amrit, naming it on one of

Badrinath’s springs, Kurm Dhara.

 Figure  4:  Muncipal  water  points  with  the  new  signage

The Physical Intervention: (5th – 15th June 2011) Our first step was to install all the signages we had developed back in Delhi.

First we put information boards for each of the five springs/streams of potable

water. Each of the boards recalled the legend associated with it and also gave

information on the quality of water. After this we installed direction boards on the

main path leading upto the temple so that pilgrims could easily find each

spring/stream. Finally we installed signages on the muncipal drinking water taps

and also added a chain and a glass for ease of the pilgrims.

In the mean time we had also set up the free drinking water point (Piyau) in

a verandah along the line of pilgrims that forms to enter the temple. This space

was graciously donated to us for the duration of the project by the Temple

Committee and we shared this space with a temple official. This worked greatly to

our advantage as we got a stamp of approval, being associated with the temple.

At the Piyau a group of rotating volunteers distributed the spring water and

also told people about the advantages of using locally available resouces as

compared to packaged commodities. The Piyau also had different boards with

information on them, like the water tests we had conducted, map of Badrinath

showing the various springs as well as muncipal taps, general information about

himalayan spring water, etc.

There were four large glass jars at the front with water from different parts

of the Ganga (Benares, Hardwar, Alaknanda) as well as the local spring water. This

was a very effective visual tool in communicating the cleanliness of the spring

water. At the rear of the stall a large LCD screen showed an abastract video of the

waste that is dumped into the river at Badrinath. This video was accompanied by a

voiceover that talked about how the pilgrimage had changed over the years as also

the importance of water in Hinduism. The water was stored in a large copper

vessel and distributed through copper glasses (copper is traditionally thought to

cleanse water for drinking). We found that it was important to wash the glasses in

plain sight before handing the glass back to a new pilgrim.

Recycled bottles were filled with the water from Kurm Dhara and

distributed too. Any pilgrim with an empty bottle could refill his bottle from the

Piyau. We put labels on these bottles with the name Kurm Amrit indicating that it

was not for sale and that users should try and refill the bottles rather than buy

new ones.

 

 

 Figure  5:  Label  for  water  distributed  at  the  Piyau.  

 Figure  6:  The  Piyau  with  various  information  panels        

 Figure  7:  On  the  left:  marker  indicating  clean  potable  water;  On  the  right:  Information  panel  on  Kurm  Dhara  

 

 

 Figure  8:  Copper  vessel  for  storing  water;  Glass  jars  with  waters  from  different  parts  of  the  Ganga  

Post-project assessment:

  Often  it  is  difficult  to  come  to  a  quantifiable  assessment  of  public-­‐art  initiatives  like  

these,  but  it  is  still  important  to  ascertain  which  strategies  worked  and  why,  and  understand  

problems  so  as  to  be  able  to  develop  a  more  evolved  strategy  for  the  future.  

  One  thing  we  realised  early  on  was  that  the  limited  timeframe  for  the  project  could  

create  only  a  ripple  among  the  constantly  changing  population  that  streams  through  

Badrinath.  So  one  of  our  strategies  was  to  use  the  project  as  a  means  of  leaving  behind  

objects  and  ideas  that  could  continue  to  have  an  impact  even  after  we  had  left.  This  is  one  

of  the  reasons  that  we  decided  to  install  permanent  signage.  We  hope  that  the  water  bodies  

will  some  day  become  a  part  of  the  pilgrimage  itinerary.  At  the  same  time  we  were  able  to  

inspire  the  temple  committee  to  continue  distributing  water  to  pilgrims  on  their  own  

initiative  after  we  left.  To  help  them  we  donated  the  water  heating  and  distribution  setup  to  

the  temple.  

Because  of  all  the  activity  associated  with  the  project  our  team  inevitably  attracted  a  

lot  of  attention.  It  was  important  to  use  these  instances  to  initiate  discussions/conversations  

with  the  locals  and  pilgrims  about  heritage,  water  and  ecology.  Hopefully  this  would  have  

triggered  further  discussions  amongst  people.  

One  of  the  most  unexpected,  but  successful,  strategy  was  our  introduction  of  the  

brand  of  Kurm  Amrit  bottled  water.  Indeed  we  had  been  very  apprehensive  about  this  

strategy  initially  as  we  thought  it  added  to  the  commodification  of  a  natural  resource.  But  

the  bottles  worked  really  well.  Some  pilgrims  even  took  the  bottles  back  home  with  

reverence  as  a  special  kind  of  water.  

We  have  also  managed  to  initiate  discussions  about  future  projects  in  ecology  with  

local  groups.  One  project  we  discussed  with  the  Jal  Sansthan  was  the  redesign  of  the  

muncipal  water  taps  as  currently  they  are  poorly  situated  and  uncomfortable  to  use.  Also  a  

local  NGO  wants  us  to  suggest  ways  of  remodelling  traditional  architectural  practice  for  

contemporary  situation.  

So,  all  in  all,  we  feel  that  the  project  was  quite  successful  given  the  scope  and  

timeframe.  But  to  have  a  realistic  impact  on  the  ecological  situation  in  Badrinath,  there  

needs  to  be  a  sustained  effort  over  many  fronts  year  after  year.  

 Figure  9:  Installing  signage  

 Figure  10:  Direction  boards  indicating  the  various  water  bodies.  

 Figure  11:  Pilgrim  refilling  Kurm  Amrit  bottle  with  Kurm  Dhara  water.  

 Figure  12:  Volunteer  distributing  free  water  to  pilgrims