The River That Washes Off Sins: Facts About the Holy Ganges That Make Your Blood Cold

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The Ganges is a river formed by the confluence of the Bhagirati and Alaknanda rivers, which is why it is the longest river in India that also flows through Bangladesh. Since ancient times, it was the Ganges that played a huge role in Indian civilization for more than two millennia, supporting its population through the waters and fertile plains, among other things. Since time immemorial, the Ganges has been considered a sacred river in Hinduism, the dominant religion in India, and has been mentioned in all Indian literature since ancient times.

And yet, there are many different myths associated with this river, the main ones of which focus on how it originated and what it cost King Bhagirathi to bring it to earth. It is also worth noting the fact that the Ganges basin is considered one of the most populated river basins in the world, and the river supports the maximum number of people around the globe, while being considered one of the dirtiest rivers on planet Earth.

1. According to the myth, the Ganges was created from washing the feet of Vishnu

In ancient Indian texts, the asuras were described as powerful demigods. According to Indian myth, Bali Chakravarti was an asura king and an ardent devotee of the Supreme Deity Vishnu, who is one of the three most important gods in the Hindu religion along with Brahma and Shiva. Bali became incredibly powerful, and feeling threatened, Lord Indra, the king of heaven, turned to Vishnu for help in order to maintain his dominion over heaven. Bali prepared to perform a yagya (ritual). During such ceremonies, the kings often donated whatever they asked for to the Brahmins.

Vishnu descended to earth as a dwarf brahmin in the kingdom of Bali. Although he was warned of the true nature of this dwarf, Bali wanted to keep his word and give Brahman whatever he wanted, and that was three steps measured by his foot. Then the dwarf brahmin grew into a giant. In the first step, he measured the earth, and in the second, the sky. There was nothing left for the third step. The humble king offered his head, and the brahmin put his foot down and pushed Bali towards Patala Loka (lower world). After washing his feet, Vishnu collected the holy water in a pot, which was located in Brahmaloka, the highest Heavenly Kingdom. Because of this myth, the Ganges is also known as Vishnupadi, which means "descended from the lotus feet of Vishnu."

2. She came down to earth through the efforts of King Bhagirath

According to the myth, King Sagara had to perform a great ritual in order to gain immense power. This ritual included the sacrifice of a horse. Fearing his superiority, Indra stole the sacrificial animal and left it in the ashram of the sage Kapila. Not finding the horse, Sagara sent sixty thousand of his sons to find him. Finding him in the sage's abode, they made a noise that disturbed the sage's worship. Moreover, they accused him of stealing a horse. And then the angry sage Kapila burned them all to ashes. Without completing the ceremonial rites, they wandered like ghosts. In response to the request, the sage said that only if the Ganges flow over the ashes, they can go to heaven.

After several generations, King Bhagiratha, a descendant of King Sagara, performed repentance to Lord Brahma, which lasted several thousand years. Pleased with this, Brahma satisfied Bhagirathi's desire for the Ganges to flow on the earth and free his ancestors. However, the force of the fall of the mighty goddess Ganga would have been difficult to bear. Only God Shiva could prevent this destruction. Thus, after Bhagirathi's further penance towards Shiva, the Lord slowly released her from her locks so that she could fulfill her destiny. Bhagirathi's desire was fulfilled when the goddess Ganga set foot on earth in the form of the river of the same name. That is why, in memory of his labors, the main stream of the ancient river was named Bhagirathi.

3. The Ganges is mentioned in all ancient Indian literature

The Vedic era (about 1500 - 500 BC) was a period in the history of the Indian subcontinent, beginning towards the end of the Indus Valley civilization and before the second urbanization in the central Indo-Gangetic plain. It is named after the four Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism. The Indus Valley Civilization, one of the four great ancient civilizations, was founded on the Indus and Saraswati rivers. The Rig Veda, one of the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language, thus places more emphasis on the Indus and Saraswati, although the Ganges is also mentioned.

The decline of the Indus Valley civilization at the beginning of the second millennium BC marks the point at which the entire Indian community of that time moved into the Ganges basin, leaving the habitat near the Indus. That is why the three Vedas emphasize the special importance of this river. The very history of this place, which the Hindus believed was created by Bhagiratha, was described in several major manuscripts of ancient times, namely in the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Purana. In the epic of Mahabrat, it is indicated that the main goddess of the Ganges is the wife of Shantanu, who is the mother of the famous warrior Bhishma. In ancient Indian literature, there are many other stories associated with the goddess Ganges.

4. The Ganges is formed by the confluence of the two rivers Bhagirathi and Alaknanda

The sacred river has two sources of streams, Bhagirathi and Alaknanda. The first is formed at the foot of the Gangotri glacier, in Gomukh (Uttarakhand state, India). And the second - Alaknanda is formed as a result of snow melting of such peaks as Nanda Devi, Trisul and Kamet. The term Panch Prayag (five confluences) is often used to refer to the five sacred river confluences with Alaknanda in Uttarakhand. Further downstream are Vishnuprayag, where the Dhauliganga River flows into Alaknanda; Nandprayag, where the Nandakini River flows into; Karnaprayag, where the Pindar River flows into; Rudraprayag, where the Mandakini River is located; and, finally, Devprayag, where the Bhagirathi river collides with Alaknandu, thereby creating a single and unique Ganges.

From Uttarakhand, this river takes its way to the southeast, towards the People's Republic of Bangladesh, after which its waters wash the Bay of Bengal. The river waters of the Ganges, as well as the Brahmaputra and other, smaller river representatives, end up in the Bay of Bengal, where they create the Sundarbana delta, which today is considered the largest in the world with an area of about sixty thousand square meters. km (23,000 sq. miles).

5. Ganges - the longest river in India

With a length of 2,525 kilometers, the sacred Ganges is the longest river in India. It is followed by Godavari, which is 1,465 kilometers (910 mi) long. In terms of flow, the Ganges is the seventeenth largest river in the world with an average annual flow of about 16,650 m3 / s, more than double the annual flow of the much longer Indus. It is also worth noting that the river Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna share a common flow. As a result, the average water consumption per year is about 38,000 m3 / s. Note that this figure is fourth in the world, second only to such large rivers as the Amazon, Orinoco and Congo. The Ganges basin alone, with the exception of its delta and waters that belong to Meghna and Brahmaputra, is approximately 1,080,000 km2 (420,000 sq mi). It is distributed among four nations. India has 861,000 km2 (332,000 sq. M, 80%); 140,000 km2 (54,000 sq. M, 13%) is located in Nepal; 46,000 km2 (18,000 sq. M, 4%) is located in Bangladesh; while China has 33,000 km2 (13,000 sq. m, 3%).

6. The Ganges provides food for over 400 million Indians

For more than two millennia, the fertile Ganges Plain has supported the populations of various great peoples of India, from the Mauryan Empire to the Mughal Empire. All of them had their own demographic and political centers on the Gangetic Plain. Today, the waters of the Ganges and its tributaries irrigate the fields of millions of acres of crops grown along its shores. These farms provide food for more than four hundred million people, which is almost a third of India's population. Thus, the importance of the Ganges to India cannot be overemphasized. Farmers grow a wide range of crops on the fertile soil of this holy river for many: for example, here you can find not only the classic sugarcane and rice for this area, but also such rarer crops as lentils, potatoes and even wheat.

Smaller aquatic formations such as the swamps that surround the Ganges provide the necessary soil that boasts of its fertility. So, local craftsmen grow not only sesame seeds with jute, but also legumes, mustard, which India is famous for, and even hot chili peppers. It is thanks to the ability to freely conduct agriculture that the Ganges basin is considered one of the most densely populated places in the world, which are located on the territory of world rivers.

7. Ganges has a high proportion of antibacterial agents

In addition to agriculture, people living near the Ganges depend on the river for fishing, transportation, hydropower and drinking water. The river provides water for about forty percent of India's population in eleven states, serving, according to some estimates, a population that is growing all the time and today numbers over 500 million people. The Ganges also serves tourist and recreational purposes. Places by the river nearby Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand annually attract millions of people around the world for pilgrimage, which brings millions of dollars in revenue to the state.

It is worth noting the healing properties of the waters, which contains an inexhaustible source of useful viruses. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria and can be a useful alternative to antibiotics. They are essentially harmless to humans because they are highly strain specific. In addition, they often target bacteria that cause fatal diseases. The Ganges contains more bacteriophages than any other river in the world, making its water self-purifying and healing. It was first discovered by British bacteriologist Ernest Hankin in 1896 while studying the mysterious antibacterial properties of the Ganges.

8. Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganges washes away human sins

Since time immemorial, the Ganges has been considered sacred and the most holy of all rivers in Hinduism. She is personified as the goddess Ganges and is believed to bring good luck, induce absolution and ease moksha (liberation from the cycle of life and death) by bathing in the river. The goddess Ganga is often depicted in Indian culture with four arms and her wahana (chariot), Makara, an animal with a crocodile head and a dolphin's tail mounted on it. There are many sacred sites along the Ganges River including Gangotri, Haridwar, Allahabad, Varanasi and Kali Ghat.

Kumbha Mela is a massive Hindu pilgrimage of faith, which is celebrated at several points at once: for example, this includes Prayag, Nashik, Ujjain and, of course, Haridwar. However, only two pilgrimage points are associated with this sacred river. One of them is located with Haridwar, and the other is where the waters of the Ganges meet with the Yamuna in Alla Chabad. According to the latest data collected for the period of 2013, approximately 120 million people visited Kumbh Mela. It is also noted that a local record was set - over 30 million people per day. Today, this point is considered the largest place in the world where religious pilgrims from all parts of the world can come.

9. River dolphins of the Ganges

Scientists believe that over 350 species of river creatures have found their shelter in the waters of the Ganges. According to scientific research in 2007 and 2009, 143 species of fish were identified. Among the most notable are carps (barberries), siluriforms (catfish) and perciforms (perches). The named species, respectively, account for half, 23% and 14% of the total number of river creatures in these waters. Besides fish, the Ganges contains several species of crocodiles, including the gharial and the robber crocodile. The Ganges is also well known not only to scientists, but also to tourists thanks to such a faunal representative as the river dolphin.

It is known to live mainly in the quietest places of the Ganges and Brahmaputra. And more recently, the Indian government decided to elevate this creature to the rank of the National Aquatic Animal. Speaking about other living things, let's not forget that the Ganges River also has a record number of bird species, which are considered unique throughout India. Alas, today, due to massive poaching, shooting, as well as pollution of the river, construction of dams and other human activities, many birds, along with the river dolphin, are on the verge of extinction.

10. Pollution of the Ganges

The pollution of the Ganges is one of the main problems that India must solve. When the Indian government realized the severity of the problem in the 1970s, stretches of more than six hundred kilometers along the Ganges were already recognized as de facto ecologically dead zones. The pollution of the Ganges is due to several reasons, including human waste and the results of industrial complexes. Ongoing agriculture with extensive use of chemical pesticides and insecticides, flowing directly into the waters from improperly formed agricultural runoff, has become the reason why the waters of the Ganges become more and more polluted over time and become unusable. However, it is not only industry that harms the overall water quality indicators in this river.

Bathing and washing dirty things also lead to the fact that river inhabitants, as well as small crustaceans and other representatives of flora and fauna, are gradually becoming extinct. For example, tumors develop in zooplanktons that feed tiny fish. In turn, these smaller fish are consumed by larger predators, forming a closed food chain. Scientists count about ten species of living life form that, having lived in the Ganges for decades, are now on the verge of extinction. Since becoming Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has confirmed that he will work to clean up the river. An estimated US $ 460 million (Rs 2,958 crore) had been spent on various river clean-up activities by July 2016.

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