Sacred Waters

National Geographic magazine has a special issue this month, April, about Water. This issue is really very interesting and a must read. There are many amazing pictures and of course many mind blowing articles about the scarcity of water humans are facing. This post is dedicated to one of these articles, Sacred Waters. I didn’t think of this before but it seems water is an essential factor in all religions, as far as I know. Both the pictures and the captions are from this article.

 

To be baptized is to be born into a new life in Christ, according to the Greek Orthodox Church. Seven-month-old Stellios Theodore Gikas is dipped three times during a ceremony at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey.
	Muslims perform wudu, the washing ritual before prayers, at Istanbul’s Beyazit Mosque. "Cleanliness is half of faith," * Muhammad told followers.
A Hasidic Jew in Ukraine immerses himself before Rosh Hashanah in a quarry pool that serves as a mikvah, a body of water used for spiritual cleansing.
	The sacred waterfall at the Tsubaki Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture, Japan, washes away impurities in the Shinto ritual known as misogi shuho, which celebrates the communion among worshipper, waterfall, and the creative life force of the universe.
In April, on the day of the full moon, thousands of Hindus wade into the sacred spring at the Pura Tirta Empul temple on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Legend says that Indra, the lord of heaven in Hindu mythology, created the springs, which are believed to have healing properties.
	India’s holiest river, the Ganges, is scribbled with light from floating oil lamps during the Ganga Dussehra festival in Haridwar. Hindus near death often bathe in the river; some are later cremated beside it and have their ashes scattered on its waters.

See more pictures here

 

Also, here is a video about this article.

 

* قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم (الطهور شطر الإيمان) أي نصفه . وهو حديث صحيح رواه مسلم