How a non-existent ritual is choking Kerala’s third-largest river

A non-existent custom is polluting the Pamba River in Kerala — the lifeblood of the state’s spiritual and cultural identity for centuries. Devotees, after having darshan at Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, are throwing away their used clothes and beaded malas into the river as an offering, which subsequently stealthily mutated into a “ritual”.