Gen Z’s kanwariyas: barefoot and bereft
On Haridwar’s holy but littered ghats, people in their 20s– almost all men– arrived in millions. Some had spent a month’s wage to get there; almost all could not afford a room for the night. Those who spoke to Ishita Mishra leaned heavily towards the BJP and believed their parents knew best. Less than a month after the youth protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, at this Hindu religious gathering,…
On August 9, a wall of saffron formed at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar as men and boys, ranging from teenagers to their late 60s, began the Kanwar Yatra. These barefoot devotees, dressed in T-shirts with Hindu god imagery and carrying speakers for remixed bhajans, waded into the Ganges. By afternoon, they had turned into a river, traveling hundreds of kilometers to offer Gangajal at Hindu temples.
Among the 50 million who participated, 21-year-old Rajat Singh from Jammu walked 600 kilometers in 26 days, documenting his journey on social media and gaining thousands of new followers.
Many kanwariyas, like Singh, felt compelled to participate to support their families. Aniket, a 24-year-old Dalit linesman from Muzaffarnagar, took unpaid leave to carry Gangajal for the fifth year. He spent a substantial portion of his monthly income on the pilgrimage, sleeping in dormitories and repairing his kanwar. Despite not knowing the history or purpose of the Kanwar Yatra, many saw the government's support and new amenities as privileges, even as they shared concerns about the future and jobs with their protest-minded peers.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
