Slideshow: Take A Trip Down the Ganges With This Documentary Film Crew

Elemental is a documentary, currently in post-production, that follows three iconoclasts who are obsessed with nature and driven by a deep desire to change the status quo. One of them is Rajendra Singh, an Indian government official gone rogu

Rajendra Singh talks to the media before departing on a 40-day journey down the Ganges River. Known as the water Gandhi of India for revitalizing seven rivers in arid Rajasthan, he is now working to help save the Ganges from pollution, overuse, and th

The source of the Ganges, the Gaumukh Glacier is located high in the Himalayas near the Chinese border. With an estimated volume of more than 27 cubic kilometers (more than 7 million gallons), the glacier is one the largest in the Himalayas. Over the

The small town of Gangotri is situated roughly 12 miles downstream of the Gaumukh Glacier and is considered one of the most holy places along the Ganges.  Pilgrims make their way here to pay homage to the Goddess Ganga and bathe in the frigid gla

A waterfall cascades south of the town of Gangotri in the foothills of the Himalayas. Although the water looks clean and clear, it is already considered unsafe to drink with municipal sewage waste polluting the river from towns upstream. Until the tow

A woman offers prayers on the bathing ghats in the city of Haridwar. As one of the holiest cities along the river, Haridwar has millions of Hindu pilgrims pass through each year. Hindus believe the Ganges is a mother and goddess who washes away your s

Kids jump from a bridge over the Ganges near the town of Narora southeast of New Delhi. Full from the recent monsoon rains, the river will be fast-flowing for only a couple of months before returning to its normal and significantly reduced flow. With

Rajendra Singh looks on as untreated raw sewage and industrial wastewater empties directly into the Ganges in Kanpur, one of the largest and most polluting cities along the river. Ranked among the world's most polluted cities—for both air an

A boy swims in a flooded forest in rural Bihar, one of the many states through which the Ganges flows. Millions of farmers depend on the annual monsoon rains that flood the banks, bringing both irrigation and mineral-rich silt to their fields.  W

The cremation ghat (steps) in Varanasi–the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. For centuries, bodies have been cremated on these ghats, with the remains thrown into the river. Although more modern crematoriums have since been built,

A young boy prepares to take his fishing boat out near Patna in the state of Bihar.  Fishing provides economic livelihoods and food all along the southeastern stretch of the Ganges.  These livelihoods and food sources will increasingly be th

Rajendra takes a group of government officials and environmentalists on a boat tour along the Ganges in Allahabad. Getting local officials to take interest in the issues facing the Ganges is one of the major challenges to implementing solutions to pol

A fisherman hauls his catch just north of Kolkota, the largest city on the Ganges.  Traditional scenes like this, which would have looked much the same 500 years ago, could be threatened if the river stops providing a viable source of income and

Families come to bathe in the Ganges at dusk near the Howrah Bridge in Kolkota.  Despite India’s rapid push to modernize, traditions like bathing in the Ganges still hold great value. As the most sacred river in India, it holds a central pl