Sacred
waters of Ganga are worshipped by millions
A Holy
River Called the Ganges
by Rosy Vohra
Ganges is not
just a river that flows through any landscape. The entire stretch of
this longest river of the Indian subcontinent has been a silent
witness to the rise and the fall of various mighty empires. The
sacred river has been rightly assigned as the river associated with
the history of Indian civilization particularly of that of the
northern India. Ganges has a powerful religious, historical, social
and mythological connotation in the minds of the natives of India
and those Indians spread world wide. It is the expression of
spirituality in its natural form.
Emerging from
the highs of the mighty Himalayas at an altitude of 7,756 meters as
the Bhagirithi it flushes the broad plains of North India along its
course. The journey of this 2,510 kilometer river that embarked upon
its long journey from the Gangotri glacier ends upon it's emersion
into the Bay of Bengal. Before its drainage, the river accumulates
the alluvial soil that it has been gathering through its entire
passageway and fans it out as vast delta popular as the Sunderbans,
a few kilometers from Calcutta, in West Bengal. The rich and the
fertile plains of the North India find their roots in the drainage
by the Ganges and its tributaries. In fact the entire Indo-Gangatic
belt is the lifeblood to world's highest density of populations.
River Ganga is
the epitome of purity, life and goodness to the people of India
since times immemorial. It finds its mention in the Vedas, the
Puranas and the great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. The river is considered holy by the Hindus and is
worshipped in the personified form as Ganga Maiya, or Mother Ganga.
Legends and much colorful folklore are associated with this river as
are many industries ranging from the agrarian to the booming textile
and leather industries flourishing galore near its banks.
Mythology says
that Ganges the celestial lady lived in the heaven but its services
were required to benefit the mankind. She was persuaded to come down
to earth through the efforts of the King Bhagirath. However the
strength of Ganges was powerful to an extent that it could have
flooded the entire landscape with its valor. But for kindness of
Lord Shiva who intervened on the occasion. He agreed to let the
divine lady to jump from the heavens straight into His hair to allow
for the controlled flow. This divine manifestation can be seen in
the form of various milky tributaries flowing from the point of
onset near the Gangotri glacier.
These twin
celestial tributaries are mainly the Alaknanda and the Bhagirithi.
Alaknanda is formed by the confluence of Dhuliganga at Vishnuprayag,
Mandakini at Nandprayag and Pindar at Karnaprayag before the unified
formulation at the Gangotri. Alaknanda then joins the Bhagirithi at
Devprayag in Uttarakhand. It is following this union that the name
river Ganga or the Ganges comes into existence. The river is
continuously fed by the melting winter ice from the glaciers at
Kamet and Ganga Devi from the onset of summers.
Till now the
direction of flow of the revered river Ganges from its course
through the Himalayan terrain is mainly south-westerly. The rolling
and energized waters of the river and its tributaries are the
playgrounds for adventure water sports as the river rafting. However
once it reaches Haridwar located at the foothills of the Shiwalik
ranges, the river Ganga becomes navigable and takes up a silent and
mature flow with little turbulences. Ganga is much respected here to
an extent that Haridwar is accorded the status of a pilgrimage of
great significance for the Hindus.
Major
ceremonies pertaining to the birth and death of people born under
this religion are performed at Haridwar on the banks of river Ganga.
The river holds exalted ethos in the Hindu mind. It is the heartiest
wish, conscious or subconscious of every Hindu to visit the town at
least once in his lifetime helps attain salvation. The ashes of
every Hindu posthumously are immersed into the lap of this venerated
river Goddess and traveled to the sea. In this way the mortal body
finally finds communion with the immortal.
The river
takes up a meandering course of about 500 kilometer enroute Kanpur
before coming together with the river Yamuna at Allahabad. The place
of confluence called the Sangam is also valued as holy by the
Hindus. Documentations in the ancient Hindu texts reveal the
presence of another river called the Saraswati at this point of
mergence. From Allahabad onwards the river is joined by rivers as
Kosi, Sone, Gandak and the Ghagrra as it passes through towns on its
banks as Mirzapur, Banares, Patna and Bhagalpur. From Bhagalpur the
river winders its course towards the Raj Mahal Hills and begins to
take up its course southwards. In these stretches the river forms
terrifying currents up till its interim destination at Malda in West
Bengal.
At Pakaur, the
river begins to form distributaries. Paramount amongst these is the
river Hoogly in Calcutta. It is referred to as river Padma upon its
entrance in Bangladesh.
About the
author: Rosy Vohra works for buy sell old books the
booksellers india
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