Welcome to Riverbanks Encounter

Welcome to the Riverbanks Encounter blog. The primary purpose of this site is to serve as a resource for information on Hinduism, as gathered from a series of interviews with Hindus from all walks of life. All interviews were conducted in the summer of 1994 in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the assistance of Hindi-English translators.

The goal of the interviews was to gain insight into everyday practices and beliefs of the people we encountered in the cities of Haridwar, Allahabad, New Delhi, Varanasi, and Mussoorie.

The interviews are grouped by the cities in which they occured. All photos included in these pages were taken by the interviewers. Names of the persons interviewed have been omitted in respect of their privacy.


Haridwar interviews:

• Anandamayi Ashram Sadhu
• Anandamayi Ashram Devotee
• The Story of Anandamayi Ma
• A Teaching on Paramathma
• An American Devotee
  
• Astrology and Palmistry
  
• Syncretism and Sacred Food
  
• The Story of Guru Nanak

Allahabad interviews:

• The Founding of a Temple
• Priestly Duties
• The Worship of Hanuman
• Hindu Morality
• Offerings and Prayers
• Thoughts on the Hindu Religion
• Truth, the Mind and the Vedas
• Items used in Ritual and Worship
• The Significance of the Ganga

New Delhi interviews:

• Astrology and Vaishnavism
• Poverty and Community

Varanasi interviews:

• The Aghor Tradition
• The Story of Kina Ram
• Shakti Upasana
• Ashram Life
• The Burning Ghats
• The Worship of Durga
• Sin, Salvation, and the Gods
• From Hindu to Christian

Mussoorie interviews:

• Reflections of a Rishikesh Ritual