Disney On the Ganges

Though Disney may have sold its nostalgic utopia, the town of Celebration, last year, the will to create scale Edens and religious theme parks can’t be kept down, to witness recent examples such as The Holyland Experience, The Creation Museum, and Jim Bakker-land. But the entrepreneurial/holy spirit isn’t limited to America, as visitors to India may soon see in Ganga Dham, the forthcoming mythological Disneyland-on-the-Ganges, which will substitute the entire pantheon of Hindu Gods for Disney’s plush-costumed Mickey Mouse. Ganga Dham will feature hi-tech rides with the gods, recreations of great moments in Hindu mythology, a mythology museum, a live Ram Lila show, and a petting zoo. But one thing it won’t be about is prayer, because, as the park founder Shiv Sagar explains, “‘We have enough temples in India.'”