Lastjourney Blog

Why do the Hindus Believe in Immersing the Ashes in the Holy River Ganga?

Varun

22 November, 2022

• What is the religious belief behind the immersion of ashes in the sacred water of the river Ganga?
• What is the scientific reason behind the immersion of ashes or human remains in the river Ganga?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

According to the religious beliefs of the Hindu culture, the holy river Ganga has great significance. Followers of this religion take a holy dip in the river Ganga on various occasions. The river plays an important role even after the demise of a person who follows the path of Hinduism. This is why Hindu families take the deceased bodies to the bank of the river Ganga before cremation and after the cremation, they immerse the ashes in the holy water of the Ganga.

Here you will get the whole information about the belief “the immersion of ashes in Ganga”.

What is the religious belief behind the immersion of ashes in the sacred water of the river Ganga?

Different people have different considerations regarding the immersion of human ashes in the Ganga. Some of those are widely believed and accepted.

• The first reason for offering the ashes to the river Ganga is, it helps the soul in leaving the physical body after demise and attain peace and salvation.
• The pious water of the river Ganga refrains the departed soul from returning to the prior life. The immersion process helps the spiritual essence in cutting off from the bonds so that it can take a rebirth.
• It is also believed that the holy water of the river Ganga has the divine strength to make deceased people get rid of their sins and misdeeds that they have done unintentionally in their lifespan.
• Immersion of human remains or ashes in the river Ganga prevents the family members from any kind of supernatural disturbances.
• People also consider the river Ganga as a gateway to heaven after the demise. The departed soul can rest in eternal peace in the heavenly abode of God.

Due to these beliefs people visit the river Ganga after the cremation of a deceased family member and offer the remains in the lap of Maa Ganga. Some people do this ritual after two or three days of the cremation while some believe that the right time of performing Asthi Visarjan is after the completion of the entire death rituals or after 13 days.

What is the scientific reason behind the immersion of ashes or human remains in the river Ganga?

Apart from religious beliefs many scientific reasons also coerce the Hindu followers to perform the ritual of Asthi Visarjan in the river Ganga. Here are some strong points that support this activity.

• The human bones contain two essential elements named calcium and phosphorus which are very helpful in the growth of plants and trees. These elements help in making the soil fertile and healthy for the cultivation of various crops. In India, rivers are the main source of irrigation since ancient times. Hence the immersed ashes in the river Ganga are beneficial for nature according to the scientific aspect.
• Another scientific reason behind the ritual of Asthi Visarjan is, it helps in releasing one of the five elements and that is Water. The other four elements are air, sky, earth and fire. After the immersion of ashes, the water element gets completely dissolved in nature and set the body free or liberated.

As the Hindu religion strongly believes in the connection of rituals with scientific reasons, not a single follower of Hinduism skips the Asthi visarjan activity.

How do funeral direction teams help the families of a deceased person in performing the Asthi visarjan ritual at religious places?

Several funeral direction organizations are offering help to the family of the departed person in conducting a dignified Asthi visarjan ceremony at places that have religious significance and the presence of the river Ganga like Varanasi, Haridwar, Pryaagraj, Ujjain and Gaya etc. Last Journey team also takes the wholesome responsibility of making arrangements related to this important death ritual.

The key services of our organization at these places for Asthi Visarjan

Our professionally skilled and adept team completes the tasks efficiently. We offer help in the form of the below-mentioned services to families who want to perform a dignified Asthi Visarjan ritual for their beloved ones.

1. Booking of the tickets for family members who want to take part in this ritual
2. Preparing the place before the family members reach there
3. We provide experienced priests or pandit Ji who guide the leading family person during the ritual
4. Provision of sacred pooja samagri at the place
5. We provide flowers for the ritual and we also do floral decoration of the place if the family expresses the wish.
6. Our team provides two or more members as a supervisor who takes care of everything and monitors the work.
7. Our technical team also helps in recording the entire ritual by providing the best quality camera setup.
8. Our team helps the family in finding the right place to stay during the ceremony.

What you should avoid in performing the Asthi Visarjan ritual for your loved one?

After knowing the great importance of this death one should perform it appropriately. Here are some points that you should keep in your mind while offering the last set of prayers to your beloved one.

1. One should avoid delaying the process of asthi visarjan after completing the 13 days death ceremony.
2. Perform it under the guidance of an experienced priest or pandit Ji in a prescribed manner.

You should also make yourself aware of the reasons behind this last ritual.

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