GANGES
is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh.
journey
The 2,525-kilometre-long (1,569 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.
It flows south and east through the Gangetic plain of North India, receiving the right-bank tributary, the Yamuna, which also rises in the western Indian Himalayas, and several left-bank tributaries from Nepal that account for the bulk of its flow.
In West Bengal, India, a feeder canal taking off from its right bank diverts 50% of its flow southwards, artificially connecting it to the Hooghly River.
The Ganges continues into Bangladesh, its name changing to the Padma. It is then joined by the Jamuna, the lower stream of the Brahmaputra, and eventually the Meghna, forming the major estuary of the Ganges Delta, and emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
The Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna system is the second-largest river on earth by discharge.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The main stem of the Ganges begins at the town of Devprayag, at the confluence of the Alaknanda, which is the source stream in hydrology on account of its greater length, and the Bhagirathi, which is considered the source stream in Hindu mythology.
important historically, with many former provincial or imperial capitals such as Pataliputra, Kannauj, , Kashi, Kampilya,
The upper phase of the river Ganges begins at the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers in the town of Devprayag in the Garhwal division of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The Bhagirathi is considered to be the source in Hindu culture and mythology, although the Alaknanda is longer, and therefore, hydrologically the source stream.[21][22] The headwaters of the Alakananda are formed by snow melt from peaks such as Nanda Devi, Trisul, and Kamet. The Bhagirathi rises at the foot of Gangotri Glacier at Gomukh, at an elevation of 4,356 m (14,291 ft) and was mythologically referred to as residing in the matted locks of Shiva; symbolically Tapovan, which is a meadow of ethereal beauty at the feet of Mount Shivling, just 5 km (3.1 mi) away.[23][24]
Although many small streams comprise the headwaters of the Ganges, the six longest and their five confluences are considered sacred. The six headstreams are the Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, Nandakini, Pindar, Mandakini and Bhagirathi. Their confluences, known as the Panch Prayag, are all along the Alaknanda. They are, in downstream order, Vishnuprayag, where the Dhauliganga joins the Alaknanda; Nandprayag, where the Nandakini joins; Karnaprayag, where the Pindar joins; Rudraprayag, where the Mandakini joins; and finally, Devprayag, where the Bhagirathi joins the Alaknanda to form the Ganges.[21]
After flowing for 256.90 km (159.63 mi)[24] through its narrow Himalayan valley, the Ganges emerges from the mountains at Rishikesh, then debouches onto the Gangetic Plain at the pilgrimage town of Haridwar.[21] At Haridwar, a headworks diverts some of its water into the Ganges Canal, which irrigates the Doab region of Uttar Pradesh,[25] whereas the river, whose course has been roughly southwest until this point, now begins to flow southeast through the plains of northern India.
The Ganges is the embodiment of all sacred waters in Hindu mythology.[69] Local rivers are said to be like the Ganges and are sometimes called the local Ganges.[69] The Godavari River of Maharashtra in Western India is called the Ganges of the South or the 'Dakshin Ganga'; the Godavari is the Ganges that was led by the sage Gautama to flow through Central India.[69] The Ganges is invoked whenever water is used in Hindu ritual and is therefore present in all sacred waters.[69] Despite this, nothing is more stirring for a Hindu than a dip in the actual river, which is thought to remit sins, especially at one of the famous tirthas such as Varanasi, Gangotri, Haridwar, or the Triveni Sangam at Prayagraj.[69] The symbolic and religious importance of the Ganges is one of the few things that Hindus, even their skeptics, have agreed upon.[70] Jawaharlal Nehru, a religious iconoclast himself, asked for a handful of his ashes to be thrown into the Ganges.[70] "The Ganga", he wrote in his will, "is the river of India, beloved of her people, round which are intertwined her racial memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of India's age-long culture and civilization, ever-changing, ever-flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga."[70]
Avatarana – Descent of Ganges
Descent of Ganga, painting by Raja Ravi Varma c. 1910
In late May or early June every year, Hindus celebrate the karunasiri and the rise of the Ganges from earth to heaven.[71] The day of the celebration, Ganga Dashahara, the Dashami (tenth day) of the waxing moon of the Hindu calendar month Jyeshtha, brings throngs of bathers to the banks of the river.[71] A dip in the Ganges on this day is said to rid the bather of ten sins (dasha = Sanskrit "ten"; hara = to destroy) or ten lifetimes of sins.[71] Those who cannot journey to the river, however, can achieve the same results by bathing in any nearby body of water, which, for the true believer, takes on all the attributes of the Ganges.[71]
The karunasiri is an old theme in Hinduism with a number of different versions of the story.[71] In the Vedic version, Indra, the Lord of Svarga (Heaven) slays the celestial serpent, Vritra, releasing the celestial liquid, soma, or the nectar of the gods which then plunges to the earth and waters it with sustenance.[71]
In the Vaishnava version of the myth, the heavenly waters were then a river called Vishnupadi (Sanskrit: "from the foot of Vishnu").[71] As Vishnu as the avatar Vamana completes his celebrated three strides —of earth, sky, and heaven— he stubs his toe on the vault of heaven, punches open a hole and releases the Vishnupadi, which until now had been circling the cosmic egg.[72] Flowing out of the vault, she plummets down to Indra's heaven, where she is received by Dhruva, once a steadfast worshipper of Vishnu, now fixed in the sky as the Pole star.[72] Next, she streams across the sky forming the Milky Way and arrives on the moon.[72] She then flows down earthwards to Brahma's realm, a divine lotus atop Mount Meru, whose petals form the earthly continents.[72] There, the divine waters break up, with one stream, the Bhagirathi, flowing down one petal into Bharatavarsha (India) as the Ganges.[72]
It is Shiva, however, among the major deities of the Hindu pantheon, who appears in the most widely known version of the avatarana story.[73] Told and retold in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and several Puranas, the story begins with a sage, Kapila, whose intense meditation has been disturbed by the sixty thousand sons of King Sagara. Livid at being disturbed, Kapila sears them with his angry gaze, reduces them to ashes, and dispatches them to the netherworld. Only the waters of the Ganges, then in heaven, can bring the dead sons their salvation. A descendant of these sons, King Bhagiratha, anxious to restore his ancestors, undertakes rigorous penance and is eventually granted the prize of Ganges's descent from heaven. However, since her turbulent force would also shatter the earth, Bhagiratha persuades Shiva in his abode on Mount Kailash to receive the Ganges in the coils of his tangled hair and break her fall. The Ganges descends, is tamed in Shiva's locks, and arrives in the Himalayas. She is then led by the waiting Bhagiratha down into the plains at Haridwar, across the plains first to the confluence with the Yamuna at Prayag and then to Varanasi, and eventually to Ganges Sagar (Ganges delta), where she meets the ocean, sinks to the netherworld, and saves the sons of Sagara.[73] In honour of Bhagirath's pivotal role in the avatarana, the source stream of the Ganges in the Himalayas is named Bhagirathi, (Sanskrit, "of Bhagiratha").
As the Ganges had descended from heaven to earth in the Hindu tradition, she is also considered the vehicle of ascent, from earth to heaven.[74] As the Triloka-patha-gamini, (Sanskrit: triloka = "three worlds", patha = "road", gamini = "one who travels") of the tradition, she flows in heaven, earth, and the netherworld, and, consequently, is a "tirtha" or crossing point of all beings, the living as well as the dead.[74] It is for this reason that the story of the avatarana is told at Shraddha ceremonies for the deceased in Hinduism, and Ganges water is used in Vedic rituals after death.[74] Among all hymns devoted to the Ganges, there are none more popular than the ones expressing the worshipper's wish to breathe his last surrounded by her waters.[74] The Gangashtakam expresses this longing fervently
the Ganges is so important in the rituals after death that the Mahabharata, in one of its popular ślokas, says, "If only (one) bone of a (deceased) person should touch the water of the Ganges, that person shall dwell honoured in heaven."[78] As if to illustrate this truism, the Kashi Khanda (Varanasi Chapter) of the Skanda Purana recounts the remarkable story of Vahika, a profligate and unrepentant sinner, who is killed by a tiger in the forest. His soul arrives before Yama, the Lord of Death, to be judged for the afterworld. Having no compensating virtue, Vahika's soul is at once dispatched to hell. While this is happening, his body on earth, however, is being picked at by vultures, one of whom flies away with a foot bone. Another bird comes after the vulture, and in fighting him off, the vulture accidentally drops the bone into the Ganges below. Blessed by this event, Vahika, on his way to hell, is rescued by a celestial chariot which takes him instead to heaven.[79]
The Purifying Ganges
Women and children at a bathing ghat on the Ganges in Banares (Varanasi), 1885.
Hindus consider the waters of the Ganges to be both pure and purifying.[80] Regardless of all scientific understanding of its waters, the Ganges is always ritually and symbolically pure in Hindu culture.[80] Nothing reclaims order from disorder more than the waters of the Ganga.[81] Moving water, as in a river, is considered purifying in Hindu culture because it is thought to both absorb impurities and take them away.[81] The swiftly moving Ganga, especially in its upper reaches, where a bather has to grasp an anchored chain to not be carried away, is especially purifying.[81] What the Ganges removes, however, is not necessarily physical dirt, but symbolic dirt; it wipes away the sins of the bather, not just of the present, but of a lifetime.[81]
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ganga
Personification of the Ganges River
Goddess of Forgiveness and Purification
Ganga (Sanskrit: गङ्गा, IAST: Gaṅgā) is the personification of the river Ganges, who is worshipped by Hindus as the goddess of purification and forgiveness. Known by many names, Ganga is often depicted as a fair, beautiful woman, riding a divine crocodile-like creature called the makara.
Some of the earliest mentions of Ganga are found in the Rigveda, where she is mentioned as the holiest of the rivers. Her stories mainly appear in post-Vedic texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Puranas.
The Ramayana describes her to be the firstborn of Himavat, the personification of the Himalayas, and the sister of the mother goddess Parvati. However, other texts mention her origin from the preserver deity, Vishnu. Legends focus on her descent to earth, which occurred because of a royal-sage Bhagiratha, aided by the god Shiva.
In the epic Mahabharata, Ganga is the mother of the warrior Bhishma in a union with the Kuru king Shantanu.
In Hinduism, Ganga is seen as a mother to humanity. Pilgrims immerse the ashes of their kin in the river Ganga, which is considered by them to bring the souls (purified spirits) closer to moksha, the liberation from the cycle of life and death. Festivals like Ganga Dussehra and Ganga Jayanti are celebrated in her honour at several sacred places, which lie along the banks of the Ganges, including Gangotri, Haridwar, Prayagraj, Varanasi and Kali Ghat in Kolkata. Alongside Gautama Buddha, Ganga is worshipped during the Loy Krathong festival in Thailand.
Vedic scriptures
Ganga is mentioned in the Rigveda, the earliest and theoretically the holiest of the Hindu scriptures. Ganga is mentioned in the Nadistuti (Rigveda 10.75), which lists the rivers from east to west. In RV 6.45.31, the word Ganga is also mentioned, but it is not clear if the reference is to the river. RVRV 3.58.6 says that "your ancient home, your auspicious friendship, O Heroes, your wealth is on the banks of the Jahanvi". This verse could refer to the Ganga. In RV 1.116.18–19, the Jahanvi and the Ganges river dolphin occur in two adjacent verses.
Iconography
Ganga stone statue, 8th century AD, Ellora. Currently at National Museum, New Delhi, India.
Ganga is described as the melodious, the fortunate, the cow that gives much milk, the eternally pure, the delightful, the body that is full of fish, affords delight to the eye and leaps over mountains in sport, the bedding that bestows water and happiness, and the friend or benefactor of all that lives.[5]
Since the Vedic period, the Ganges river has been considered the holiest of all rivers by Hindus. Ganga is also personified as a goddess and worshipped as Goddess Ganga. She holds an important place in the Hindu pantheon. Ganga is represented as a fair-complexioned woman, wearing a white crown and sitting on a crocodile. She holds a water lily in her right hand and a flute in her left. When shown with four hands she carries a water-pot, a lily, and a rosary, and has one hand in a protective mode. The Rigveda mentions Ganga but more of her is said in the Puranas.
Ganga is depicted four-armed and mounted on a crocodile or enthroned surrounded by crocodiles. In one of the iconography in Maha Virat-rupa, she holds a jar of amrita, rosary, lotus and varada mudra. She may be depicted in other ways holding only a kalasha (or 2 replacing lotus) and lotus, while other 2 hands in varada and abhaya mudra.
Another depiction popular especially in Bengal shows her holding shankha, chakra (discus), lotus and abhaya mudra, with the kalasha releasing her holy water.
In Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Ganga is often depicted with her divine mount, the makara – an animal with the head of a crocodile and tail of a dolphin.
Legend
Birth
Varying myths of Ganga's birth is found in Hindu scriptures. According to the Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu, in his incarnation as Vamana, extended his left foot to the end of the universe, and pierced a hole in its covering with the nail of his big toe. Through the hole, the pure water of the causal ocean entered this universe as the Ganges river. Having washed the lotus feet of the lord, which are covered with reddish saffron, the water of the Ganga acquired a very beautiful pink colour. Because the Ganges directly touches the lotus feet of Vishnu (Narayana) before descending within this universe, it is known as Bhagavat-Padi or Vishnupadi, which means emanating from the feet of Bhagavan (God). It finally settles in Brahmaloka or Brahmapura, the abode of the Brahma, before descending to the planet earth at the request of Bhagiratha, and held safely by Shiva on his head, to prevent the destruction of Bhumi Devi (the earth goddess). Then, Ganga was released from Shiva's hair to meet the needs of the country.
The Ramayana narrates a different version of the myth. Ganga is described as the eldest child of Himavat, son of Brahma and the king of the Himalayas, and his wife Queen Menavati, the daughter of Meru. Her younger sister is Parvati, who latter marries Shiva. When Ganga attained youth, the devas took her to Svarga, where she took a form of a river and flowed.
Transformation into a river
A legend in the Devi Bhagavata Purana describes Ganga as originally being one of the three wives of Vishnu, together with Lakshmi and Saraswati/
In the midst of a conversation, Saraswati observed Ganga playfully glancing at Vishnu. Frustrated, Saraswati launched a furious tirade against Ganga, accusing her of stealing Vishnu's love away from her. When Ganga appealed to her husband to help her, he chose to remain neutral, not wishing to participate in a quarrel between his three wives, whom he loved equally. When Lakshmi attempted to soothe Saraswati's anger by reasoning with her, the jealous goddess grew angry with her as well, accusing her of disloyalty towards her. She cursed Lakshmi to be born as the Tulasi plant upon the earth. Ganga, now enraged that Lakshmi had been cursed because she had defended her, cursed Saraswati that she would be incarnated as a river on earth. Saraswati issued the same curse against Ganga, informing her that sinful men would cleanse themselves of their sins with her water. To prevent further conflict among the goddesses, Vishnu declares Lakshmi as his only wife and sends Saraswati to Brahma and Ganga to Shiva.
Descent upon the earth
Descent of Ganga, painting by Raja Ravi Varma c. 1910
The Mahabharata narrates that there was once a war between the devas and the asuras. The leader of the asuras, Vritra, was killed by Indra, and so his followers hid in the sea, causing the devas to be unable to find them. The devas requested Sage Agastya to help. He used his divine powers and swallowed the ocean to reveal where the asuras were hiding. The devas defeated the remaining asuras, and asked Sage Agastya to restore the water. However, the sage was unable to release the water, despite trying several times. This caused drought conditions upon the earth, but Vishnu assured that the ocean would be filled by the flow of Ganga on the planet.
The story about Ganga's descent on earth through the efforts of Bhagiratha, a descendant of King Sagara, is narrated in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and various Puranas.[14] Wanting to show his sovereignty, King Sagara performed a ritual known as ashvamedha, where a horse was left to wander for one year. However, Indra stole the horse to prevent the ritual from being successful. Learning that the horse had disappeared, King Sagara sent his sixty thousand sons to look for it.[14] They eventually found the horse at the ashrama of Sage Kapila, in the netherworld. Thinking that Sage Kapila had stolen the horse, the sons interrupted him while he was in a deep meditation. This infuriated Kapila, and with his ascetic's gaze, he burned all the sixty thousand sons to ashes.[15]
King Sagara sent his grandson, Amshuman, to ask the sage Kapila what could be done to bring deliverance to their souls. Sage Kapila advised that only the water of the Ganges, which flowed from Svarga, could liberate them.[15] Bhagiratha, Amshuman's grandson, undertook severe ascetic practices, and won the favour of Brahma and Shiva. Brahma allowed Ganga to descend on earth, while Shiva broke Ganga's fall in the coils of his hair, so that her force would not shatter the earth.[15] When Ganga descended, Bhagiratha led her to the sea. From there, the river reached the netherworld, and liberated the sixty thousand sons of King Sagara.[13]
Because of Bhagiratha's efforts, the river is also known as Bhagirathi. She is also known as Tripathaga because she flows in the three worlds, heaven, earth, and the netherworld.[14] Another epithet that Ganga is known by is Jahnavi, because she flooded the ashram of Sage Jahnu while being led by Bhagiratha. Her waters extinguished the ritual fire there, which angered the sage Jahnu, so he drank up all of Ganga's waters. Sage Jahnu later released the water out of his left ear after Bhagiratha explained his mission for Ganga's descent. Due to this incident, Ganga is known as Jahnavi, which means daughter of Sage Jahnu.[13]
Marriage and children
In the Mahabharata, Ganga is the wife of Shantanu as well as the mother of the eight Vasus, including Bhishma.[16][17] Ganga and Shantanu were cursed by Brahma to be born on earth. Shantanu met Ganga on the banks of the Ganges and asked her to marry him. She accepted the proposal on the condition that Shantanu would not question any of her actions.
Shantanu agreed and they married. They lived together peacefully and had eight sons who were the incarnation of the eight Vasus. They too had been cursed and had asked Ganga to end their life when they were born to her on earth. Due to their request, Ganga began drowning each son upon birth while Shantanu watched without questioning. However, when she was about to drown their eighth son, Bhishma, Shantanu stopped her.Ganga later leaves with Bhishma but gives him back to Shantanu when he is ten years old
Shantanu meets Ganga and asks for her hand in marriage.
Shantanu trying to stop Ganga from drowning their eighth child
Ganga presenting her son Devavrata (the future Bhishma) to his father, Shantanu
Significance
The Ganga is also called the Ganga Mata (Mother), and is revered in Hindu worship and culture, venerated for her forgiveness of sins and capacity to cleanse mankind. Unlike various other goddesses, she has no destructive or fearsome aspect, destructive though she might be as a river in nature.She is also a mother to other gods.
Festivals
Pilgrims at Haridwar on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra
Ganga Jayanti
On this day, Ganga is regarded to have been reborn. According to legend, the goddess is regarded to have accidentally destroyed the hut of Sage Jahnu during her descent upon the earth. In retort, the sage drank the entirety of the river's water. At the request of Bhagiratha and Ganga herself, he released the river from his ear, and she earned the epithet Jahnavi. Ganga Jayanti falls on the seventh day of the month of Vaishakha's first fortnight.
Navaratri
Ganga is worshipped during Navaratri as all the forms of Adishakti during the duration of the festivities.
Loy Krathong
Thais use the Krathong to thank the Goddess of Water known as Phra Mae Khongkha and who represents the Hindu goddess Ganga.
Triyampawai ceremony
The worship dedicated to Ganga is of great importance in the Triyampawai ceremony. An image of her in the form of a Nang kradan (นางกระดาน) along with a Phra Mae Thorani, Surya and Chandra are invited at the beginning of the festival for three days which is considered to symbolise the beginning of the Triyampawai festival.
Beyond the Indian subcontinent and Hinduism
Goddess Ganga, Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara
Goddess Ganga, Patan Durbar Square
Shiva breaks Ganga's fall in the coils of his hair, lintel in Thommanon.
Statue of Goddess Ganga at Ganga Talao in Mauritius
Ganga is respected in Nepal as a guardian water goddess, worshipped together with another river goddess Yamuna. Her sculptures are found in Patan Durbar Square[26][27] and Gokarneshwar Mahadev temple is a municipality in Kathmandu District in the Bagmati Province.
In Sri Lanka, Ganga with other Hindu deities assumes a Buddhist persona. Her sculpture is seen in Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara.
In Balinese Hinduism, she is worshipped together with the goddess Danu. Her waters are considered holy in Bali. Her maternal association with Bhishma is known in Bali. Religious sites associated with her in Bali are Tirta Gangga, Pura Taman Mumbul Sangeh, and Kongco Pura Taman Gandasari.
Ganga Talao in Mauritius is considered by the Mauritian Hindus equivalent to Ganga. In 1972, the then Prime Minister of Mauritius, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam brought Holy water from the Ganga's source – Gomukh in India and mixed it with the water of the Grand Bassin and renamed it as Ganga Talao.[citation needed]
Ganga is invoked with Hindu deities Shiva, Bhumi, Surya and Chandra in Thailand's royal Triyampawai ceremony. She is worshipped together with goddess Phra Mae Thorani within Thai Budhhism and goddess Phosop in Tai folk religion. The four sacred pools of Suphan Buri Province have waters from the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers and are used for rituals.
Ganga has been revered in Cambodia since the Khmer empire. In Shiva's iconographical form Uma-Gangapatisvarar (Khmer: ព្រះឧមាគង្គាបតិស្វរ), Shiva is depicted with Ganga and his wife Uma (Parvati). Ganga's images are located in Bakong, Lintel in Thommanon and exhibit in International Council of Museums.
__________________________________________________________________________________