Most holy and sacred the Ganges:
Ganges
The Ganges, the Ma Ganga- Mother Ganga is the holy river of India.
For more than a billion Hindus in India and abroad it is more than a River. For them it is the extension of the divine, Lord Shiva. It not only transports the prayers of believers visiting it but also provides livelihood to thousands and millions on its shores, vast industry, agriculture and wildlife.
The Ganges is related with India so firmly that it can truly be described as a window into the country’s culture, birth, ritual, religion, love, industry and even death. The river which flows through India and Bangladesh is 2525 km in length.
It originates from western Himalayas and empties into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges begins at the confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers at Devprayag. Later so many streams and four or more rivers merge into the holy Ganga.
The main cities on the bank of the river are Haridwar, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Rishikesh, Kolkata and Bijnor.
Religious and cultural significance :
The Ganga is a sacred river of Hindus in and abroad India. All along its course, people bathe in its water to wash their sins, paying homage to their ancestors and worshipping their gods by cupping water in their hands.
The water of this holy river is widely used in rituals in every Hindu home in India. People bring the ashes of their deceased beloved ones, after their cremation to deposit and pray.
Kumbh Mela :
Kumbh Mela is a gathering of the Hindu pilgrims at the Ganges river. Thousands and millions participates in this mela which took place in every 3rd, 6th and 12th years. The 12th year gathering is known as the purna kumbha Mela.
There is another grand gathering of millions of devotees which comes after 12 purna kumba melas or 144 years. This Maha kumbha mela is held in Prayag, Allahabad.
The Three town holy to Hindus – Haridwar, Prayag and Varanasi- attract thousands to take a dip in the Ganges.
During summer the rapids in the Ganges attract many adventure seekers from abroad to conduct river rafting.
A word on Pollution : The Ganges which washes away the sins of the devotees is under another threat and now bears the sin emerged as a result of industrialization.
he pollution level of Ganges is extremely high and affects the health of 400 million people who lives close to the river and millions of pilgrims visiting it. The Ganga Action Plan aims at cleaning the river is lagging behind now because of many reasons.
Detailed Note:
The Ganges (English pronunciation: /ˈɡændʒiːz/ GAN-jeez), also called the Ganga(Sanskrit: गङ्गा Hindi: गंगा Urdu: گنگا Ganga IPA: [ˈɡəŋɡaː] ( listen); Bengali: গঙ্গা Gônga), is the second largest river on the Indian subcontinent by discharge. Ganges river is named after a Hindu goddess called Ganga. Geographists to Historians and Mythologists regard Ganges as the heart of Indian culture, tradition and living.
Geography
The government declared that the Ganges river between Allahabad and Haldia is National-Waterway No.1. The river has many industrial towns like Patliputra, Kannauj, Kara, Allahabad, Murshidabad, Baharampur and Kolkata on its banks. The Ganges Basin drains 1,000,000-square-kilometre (390,000 sq mi) and supports one of the world's highest densities of humans. The average depth of the river is 52 feet (17 m), and the maximum depth, 100 feet (33 m).
Course
The river starts from a glacier called Gangotri Glacier, which is in the Garhwal region in Himalayas. The Ganges flows through north India, and ends at the Bay of Bengal in eastern India. Overall it flows 3,877 km making it one of the longest rivers in the world. Its watershed is 907,000 km² broad. The major rivers which flow into the Ganges are Brahmaputra River, Gomti, Kosi river, Gandak, Ghaghra river, Yamuna river and Son river.
The upper course of Ganges
The Ganges flows only 200 km through the Himalayas. The river touches plain land in the Rishikesh region near Haridwar inUttarakhand. Then it passes through the towns of Kanpur, Soron, Kannauj, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur, Mirzapur, Ballia, Buxar, Saidpur, and Chunar. At Allahabad, the river joins with Yamuna river. At Pakur, the river divides itself into two distributaries, viz.- the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly and the main stream. Bhāgirathi-Hooghly in the later course forms the Hooghly River. The main stream Ganges enters Bangladesh. Near the border with Bangladesh the Farakka Barrage controls the flow of the Ganges by diverting some of the water into a feeder canal which has link with the Hooghly river to keep it relatively silt-free.
Pollution of Ganges
There is a lot of pollution in the Ganges because everyone releases their waste into it. This causes a lot of sicknesses like cholera,hepatitis, typhoid, and amoebic dysentery. The presence of coliform bacteria in the waters has increased well above normal. This is a major cause of water pollution. These diseases cause about a third of the deaths inIndia every year. That is why the government has started a multi-crore project called the Ganga Action Plan (GAP).
History
During the early Vedic Age, the Indus and theSarasvati River were the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, not the Ganges. But the later three Vedas seem to give much more importance to the Ganges, as shown by its numerous references. Possibly the first European Traveler to mention the Ganges was Megasthenes (ca. 350 – 290 BCE). In Rome's Piazza Navona, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (fountain of the four rivers) was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and built in 1651. The art-work symbolizes four of the world's great rivers (the Ganges, the Nile, theDanube, and the Río de la Plata), which is to represent the four continents (Australia and Antarctica were unknown then).
Religious Significance
In Hinduism
Hindus regard the Ganges as not only a river but also a mother, a goddess, a tradition, a culture, and much more. In Hinduism it is considered holy to take a pilgrimage to the Ganges and take a dip. This leads to more illness: adding to the death toll. Many Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganga can purify a person's soul of all past sins, and some believe that it can also cure illnesses. So, many Hindu families keep Ganga water in their homes as they consider it to be very pure. The holy towns like Haridwar, Allahabad, Kanpur, and Varanasi attract thousands of pilgrims. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims arrive at these towns to bathe in the Ganges.
A small shrine at Gomukh, Gangotri glacier
Legend of Bhagirath
According to Hindu Puranas a king named Bhagiratha did Tapasya for many years to bring the River Ganges. Ganges was then residing in the Heavens. By the help of pure Ganga waters, Bhagirath wanted to release his ancestors of a curse. Therefore, the Ganges descended to the Earth to make the earth pious, fertile and wash out the sins of humans.
Economical Significance
The water of the Ganges is used extensively in agriculture in the fertile Gangetic plains. Chief crops cultivated in the area include rice, sugarcane, lentils, oil seeds, potatoes, and wheat. Along the banks of the river, the swamps and lakes provide a good growing area for crops such as legumes, chillies, mustard, sesame, sugarcane, and jute. Fishing is also done in the Ganga waters. Industries which require a large amount of water are set up on the banks of the river. The Ganges is popular for river rafting, which attract many adventurers in the summer months. Tourism is also a related acivity in the modern times.
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