Old Town, FL – A stretch of the Suwannee River in rural Florida has unexpectedly become a sacred site for Hindu families unable to travel to India for funeral ceremonies. What began with one woman’s grief has blossomed into a gathering place for those seeking to honor loved ones according to tradition, mirroring the practice of scattering ashes in the Ganges River.
Paresh Doshi impulsively purchased a run-down motel in old Town, Florida, unaware of the riverfront property’s potential. He initially kept the river a secret from his wife, Vasanti Doshi, who was skeptical of the purchase.”I told him, you cannot buy that property. and he said, you just have to come one time tomorrow,” Vasanti Doshi recalled.
Upon seeing the suwannee River, Vasanti Doshi was deeply moved. “What God does for us, we have no idea,” she said, visibly emotional.
Following her father’s death a few years later, Vasanti Doshi hosted a funeral ceremony for a dozen Indian families on the river, a practice met with surprise and then increasing participation from the community.Now, families travel from over 100 miles away to perform ceremonies on the Suwannee.
“They know it’s the Suwannee…They do think it is infused with the sacrality of the mother of all rivers, which is the River Ganges from India,” explained Vasudha Narayanan, who directs the study of Hindu traditions at the university of Florida.
Ceremonies often involve lighting a lamp and releasing a small paper boat carrying flower petals, symbolizing a sweeter journey for the soul.While Florida law doesn’t regulate the scattering of ashes, families sometimes choose to do so as well. Supna Doshi, Vasanti’s daughter, demonstrated the ritual, singing as a boat drifted down the river.
Vasanti Doshi now refers to the Suwannee River as “her Ganges,” transforming a neglected motel property into a place of profound spiritual importance for a growing community.
