Around the world, over millennia, rivers have provided wondrous gifts – nourishment, mobility, irrigation, natural beauty.

In acknowledgement of those gifts, some cultures consider the rivers of their realms to be sacred – beseeching them with prayers, partaking of their waters for joyous and somber rituals.

Today, even as these rivers remain an object of devotion, some face dire threats – severe pollution, diminution of their flow, hydroelectric projects.

The Associated Press explored the challenges facing sacred rivers on several continents. In this month’s installment of The Shot, photographers on three continents traveled significant distances or, in one case, stayed put at home, to tell a river’s story, below its surface to the spiritual.

The Shot is a monthly series showcasing top photojournalism from staff photographers at The Associated Press. Each month, AP photographers will share the stories behind some of their iconic imagery.

Produced by AP News staff. The sponsor was not involved in the creation of this content.

THE COLUMBIA

The Columbia has sustained Indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest for millennia. The river’s salmon and the roots and berries that grow nearby are known as “first foods” because of the belief that they volunteered to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of humans. Today, the foods and the river are threatened by industrialization, climate change and pollution.

**A dog named Kaloua sits next to freshly caught salmon along the Columbia River on Monday, June 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)**
Model: Sony a7R IV | Lens: Sony 24-70mm | F-Stop: 2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/6400 | ISO: 100

**Medicinal plants used by members of the Yakama Nation grow near the Klickitat River, a tributary of the Columbia River, on Sunday, June 19, 2022, in Lyle, Wash. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)**
Model: Sony a7R IV | Lens: Sony 24-70mm | F-Stop: 2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/160 | ISO: 400

Bill Yallup Jr. stands at the banks of the Columbia River, where he and his son fish for salmon and trout, on Friday, June 17, 2022, in Bingen, Wash. Yallup's family came to Celilo Falls when he was an infant, and he lives along the river during the fish harvesting season. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Model: Sony a7R IV | Lens: Sony 24-70mm | F-Stop: 2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/3200 | ISO: 125

A dog named Kaloua lies beneath a rack of freshly caught salmon at an "in-lieu fishing site," lands set aside by Congress to compensate tribes whose villages were inundated by dams, on the Columbia River in Bonneville, Ore., on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
Model: Sony a7R IV | Lens: Sony 24-70mm | F-Stop: 2.8 | Shutter Speed: 1/80 | ISO: 250

Niranjan Shrestha

THE BAGMATI

Nepal’s most sacred river is also its most polluted. In the capital, Kathmandu, raw sewage is dumped directly into the Bagmati, and heaps of garbage are tossed in from the banks. Once sparkling and clear, the river’s waters are black and sludgy, undrinkable and unsuitable for even cleaning.

Hi My name is Niranjan Shrestha, AP photojournalist based in Nepal. For the Scared River series, I covered the journey of Nepal’s Bagmati river from its source into and out of the Kathmandu valley.

Throughout my childhood, I was told historical and mythical stories that often revolved around the river. As I began to shoot this project, I was saddened by the current state of the holy Bagmati river. I could not help but reminisce about my previous encounters with this river.

The journey to tell this story started at its source at Baagdwar, with a Tiger Sculpted stone sprout where crystal clear water flows. Here I used 70-200mm capture the brilliance of the water and the Sony A1 was a perfect light-weight companion for the trek.

As it flows downhill for a mile, it takes up more and more space, expanding into streams and waterfalls where hundreds of people visit to calm and refresh themselves with a splash. Along the way Bagmati’s waters feed into agricultural land, drinking sprouts and village cores until it reaches the densely populated city of Kathmandu - now often flowing dark in color, carrying domestic and industrial waste, and releasing a stench of rot.

In these same waters, I remember swimming and bathing while getting a warning scold by my mother that the currents would sweep me away. Today, we wear masks to filter the stench when driving past.

**A woman walks near drainage pipes that empty into the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)**
Model: Sony a1 | Lens: Sony 24-70mm | F-Stop: 10 | Shutter Speed: 1/250 | ISO: 320

A woman walks over drainage pipes that flow into the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. Mala Kharel, an executive member of a governmental committee set up to help clean up the river, said that over the years the campaign has succeeded in collecting about 80% of garbage along the riverbank. But the pickup efforts admittedly fall short, in part since frequent disruptions to trash collection services encourage more dumping than they can keep up with. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Model: Sony a1 | Lens: Sony 70-200mm | F-Stop: 6.3 | Shutter Speed: 1/5000 | ISO: 1600

I captured images over the changing seasons in various locations and in various part of the day, From dry to wet. From low water to high water. The pollution is evident.

I found the 24-105mm lens for this assignment to be most handy. The majority of photos were shot in the morning with varying natural light, using F stops from 2.8 up to F22 allowing sharpness, clarity and detail of the water conditions.

The Bagmati river holds an important space in our culture, especially for those of us born and brought up in Kathmandu before it experienced its unplanned influx of new residents. As my own grandmother would say at every spiritual ritual, and after mourning the death of a loved one, we bathe in the Bagmati river.

A basket of garbage is stuck along the path of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, May 26, 2022. Madhukar Upadhya, a watershed expert who studies the river closely, says, "So much damage has already been done to it, that it can perhaps be cleaned to some degree but not restored to its past glory." (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Model: Sony a1 | Lens: Sony 24-70mm | F-Stop: 4 | Shutter Speed: 1/320 | ISO: 800

Rodrigo Abd

THE TRUFUL TRUFUL

For the Mapuche, Chile’s largest Indigenous group, a pristine river like the Truful Truful, flowing from a lava field under an Andean volcano, is the home of a spiritual force to revere, not a natural resource to exploit. Thus, many Mapuche communities across the country’s water-rich south are fighting hydroelectric plants that they see as desecrating nature.

I understand much more when I have an intense life experience.

The Mapuches, Chile’s largest Indigenous group, taught me how sacred rivers are for their communities, but also for the entire world.

Telling their life stories, the deep conflict that exists between many Mapuche communities with hydroelectric projects that they say alter the course of the rivers and pollute their waters, was an extraordinary experience for me as a photojournalist.

Millaray Huichalaf, a Mapuche machi, or healer and spiritual guide, poses for a portrait in the Pilmaiquen River silhouetted by lights from the construction site of a hydroelectric plant in Carimallin, southern Chile, on Monday, June 27, 2022. Huichalaf has led a sometimes-violent battle against hydroelectric plants on the Pilmaiquen, which flows through rolling pastures from a lake in the Andean foothills. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Model: Sony a1 | Lens: Sony 24mm | F-Stop: 1.4 | Shutter Speed: 1/5 | ISO: 6400

The rivers not only irrigate their fields, feed their families, but also provide the water they use daily to hydrate and cook their meals.

The slopes of the rivers grow native plants that are used as natural medicines to cure all types of diseases. Ancient wisdom passes from generation to generation and natural treatments are carried out in indigenous villages near rivers, far from urban centers.

Ruben Onate takes pictures sitting next to the largest waterfall of the Truful Truful River, near Melipeuco, southern Chile, on Thursday, June 30, 2022. Mapuche people believe in the falling water's distinctive "energy power" for healing purposes, either in riverside ceremonies or by taking large soda bottles full of it back home. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Model: Sony a1 | Lens: Sony 35mm | F-Stop: 16 | Shutter Speed: 1/8 | ISO: 50

Mapuche people walk through a ceremonial compound by a cemetery on a cliff to the Pilmaiquen River, where they dip themselves in the water as part of a purification ritual marking the culmination of We Tripantu, the Mapuche new year, in Carimallin, southern Chile, on Sunday, June 26, 2022. In the Mapuche worldview, rivers along with most natural elements are home to spirits they revere. The Pilmaiquen is also believed to help carry the souls of those buried in the cemetery on to their next incarnation. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Model: Sony a1 | Lens: Sony 35mm | F-Stop: 1.4 | Shutter Speed: 1/25 | ISO: 6400

In the Mapuche worldview, the souls of the deceased are transported underground from the cemeteries to the rivers, and it is there where their waters transport the spirits throughout the entire territory.

For this reason, they believe they live with their ancestors, with their deceased loved ones and who live through the natural world of trees, flowers, earth, stones and much more.

To tell such an intimate story, using the silent mode of Sony cameras was very helpful. I was able to discreetly photograph and document the ceremonies of the communities without disturbing or altering the activities of the subjects.

Mapuche leader and mediator Andres Antivil Alvarez, who works to ensure non-Natives understand how nature matters to his people, greets his horse Chayane in Rengalil, southern Chile, on Saturday, July 9, 2022. "The world is not loot. Everything that's outside is also inside ourselves," Alvarez says. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Model: Sony a1 | Lens: Sony 50mm | F-Stop: 1.2 | Shutter Speed: 1/2000 | ISO: 100

Women take part in a purification ritual in the culmination of the multiday celebration of We Tripantu, the Mapuche New Year, on the banks of the Pilmaiquen River in Carimallin, southern Chile, on Sunday, June 26, 2022. The rite is a "symbolic way to renew energy," according to Millaray Huichalaf, a machi, or healer and spiritual guide. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Model: Sony a1 | Lens: Sony 35mm | F-Stop: 3.2 | Shutter Speed: 1/250 | ISO: 500

Mapuche people take a ceremonial dip in Lake Rupanko during a purification ritual marking We Tripantu, the Mapuche new year, in the Corayen community of Los Rios, southern Chile, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. We Tripantu is one of the most sacred holidays for the Mapuche, Chile's largest Indigenous group. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Model: Sony a1 | Lens: Sony 24mm | F-Stop: 1.4 | Shutter Speed: 1/25 | ISO: 4000

The Sacred Rivers project was produced by AP’s religion team, which receives funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. via a collaboration with The Conversation US.

Spotlight is the blog of AP Images, the world’s largest collection of historical and contemporary photos.

Produced by AP News staff. The sponsor was not involved in the creation of this content.

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