David L. Haberman, River of Love in an Age of Pollution: The Yamuna River in Northern India: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

River of Love in an Age of Pollution is an intriguing book that utilizes the author’s expertise in medieval religious texts, and contemporary festivals of river worship, as well as his research into the ecology of the Yamuna River and contemporary movements committed to recovering the health of the river. In a world in which environmental issues and issues of water scarcity in particular are now recognized as critical, it is a relevant study. Having undertaken extensive research on the religious culture of Braj, a region just one hundred miles south of Delhi on the Yamuna River where worship of the Yamuna is prominent, the author is well qualified to undertake such a study. His Journey Through the Twelve Forests: An Encounter with Krishna (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994) was winner of the American Academy of Religion’s Award for Excellence in the historical category. Readers will find River of Love no less engaging as it moves smoothly between discussions of religious poetry extolling the virtues of Yamuna and the reflection ofthat sentiment in contemporary worship, and from scientific data concerning the toxicology of the river to first person accounts of his own engagement with the river with his family, including his son Nathan only four years old during their visit of 1999.