330 millions - yes, millions - Gods inhabit the Hindu pantheon. Ganga, the Ganges, is one goddess, worshipped by Hindus, who believe that bathing in the river causes the remission of sins and facilitates liberation from the cycle of life and death. Pilgrims travel long distances to immerse the ashes of their kin in the waters of the Ganga in Varanasi and Haridwar, so that their loved ones will pass on to heaven. Water is one of the elements worshipped by Hindus whose rituals make a liberal use of fire as well as air and earth. Observing these rituals, one is struck by the fact that most of them...