INDIA, March 31,2013 (Hindustan Times): An astrologer and social activist has turned the religious practice of offering water and milk in temples into a unique way of water conservation. Pandit Purushotam Gaur, known as Guruji, has developed water harvesting infrastructure in more than 300 temples in Rajasthan over the past 13 years.
Gaur is harvesting the millions of gallons of water offered by devotees in Hindu temples that earlier used to literally go down the drain. Gaur said that he had started his Jalabhishek campaign in 2000. “I used to notice that the water offered by devotees in temples is completely wasted as it goes into the drain. So, an idea to use it in recharging the increasingly depleting groundwater level struck me,” the 41-year old astrologer told IANS.
He started channelling water from temples (especially Siva temples) through several filter chambers before it drained into the ground and recharged the ground water level. As part of the project, several tanks and bore wells were constructed in each of the temple with the help of the people, Gaur added.
“I was delighted when several scientists and groundwater experts joined forces with me and came up with an institution called Shiksha Samiti. The institution has calculated that the city, with more than 3,000 temples, daily has at least 45 million liters of water poured on the deity of Lord Siva and other deities during the Hindu holy month of Shravan (July-August),” Guar explained. About 300 temples have been covered by the campaign.