Saints and Sweepers Dine Together, Break Caste Barriers

Today at GIWA’s Kumbh Mela Camp, GIWA Founder, Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, led a historic event during which faith leaders and the sanitation workers who have performed the most difficult tasks at the Kumbh joined hands and hearts in a ceremony that honored the sweepers. Then the saints, volunteers and students dined side by side in a large feast that broke caste barriers and opened hearts. On this momentous occasion Swami Chidanand Saraswati said, “ We need to realize that all  are our brothers and sisters, and the caretakers of our land. The rivers that give us life  do not ask for anyone’s identification. They do not ask what caste you are or what lineage you are from. Rather everyone is welcome. Equally welcome. Everyone bathes together with no borders or boundaries.” On the day before, GIWA helped lead a procession that included the sweepers and many of India’s foremost faith leaders during the auspicious occasion of Maghi Poornima, a sacred full moon Snan. Together, they joined hands to take a sacred dip in the River Ganga, emphasizing that honored tradition it is not just about purifying our bodies, rather it is about purifying our souls, purifying the thoughts of the people of India and around the world, purifying our societal evils and all of that divides us.