River Ganga
Have you wondered to ask your forefathers why taking a dip in Ganga is so auspicious? You might have always heard Haridwar, Gayaji, Prayagraj. People often bring Gangajal back at homes in bottles to preserve and during some puja splash this sacred water. The other instance you might have heard about Ganga Jal is on the day of the eclipse. Several people take a dip in water to wash their sins or splash Ganga Jal to be free from their sins. River Ganga originates from the Himalayas from the Gangotri Glaciers in Uttarakhand. The river flows through sacred places and eventually meets the Bay of Bengal.
The River Ganga is considered as the sacred and the holiest river because it is blessed by the Trinity. River Ganga was originated from Lord Brahma’s Kamandal, washed the foot of Vishnu, and flowed through Jatta(Hairdo) of Lord Shiva. The story behind this goes as follows.
Once upon a time, Lord Vishnu took the avatar of a dwarf named Vamana to teach a lesson to the emperor Bali. Bali was a brave emperor so Lord Vishna asked for three feet of Land. Bali laughed and accepted his request. As Vamana was brahmin and King Bali has given his words he needs to give this to Brahmin. Unaware of the fact that dwarf Vamana is no one but Lord Vishnu(Narayan)He began to take steps. With one foot he occupied land on earth, the other foot he occupied heaven and the third foot was on the chest of the emperor. Lord Brahma was seeing this and thought of performing puja for Lord Vishnu so he takes his kamandalu and began performing puja. He washed the foot of Lord Vishnu with that water. After this, the water started flowing on Earth and Ganga was created.
The other story which goes with it is about king Bhagiratha. He wanted Ganga to flow on earth. He had heard about washing the sins after taking a holy dip in Ganga so he wanted it to flow on earth. The king’s ancestors had been reduced to ashes so he wanted to dip the ashes in the river and make them immortal. The king started penance and prayer to Gods, happy with his penance Ganga started flowing on earth. The flow of water was so huge that the entire earth could have submerged underwater so Lord Shiva decided to direct only a fraction of water from his Jata(Hairdo). That is why Lord Shiva is also known as Gangadhar. The river is also named as Bhagirathi after the king Bhagiratha
River Ganga has married to a King named Shantanu. She became the queen of Hastinapur. They were blessed with eight sons but river Ganga has immersed his seven sons in the river immediately after their birth to free them from their curse only the eight son survived named- Bhishma who was the respected warrior in Mahabharata.
River Ganga is considered as the national and the largest river. The river Ganga is a spiritual heritage that needs to be preserved. It has a lot of spiritual findings and a boon from the Trinity. It preserved our eco-diversity. Taking a dip in Haridwar, Gayaji, prayagraj is considered sacred and is our holy pilgrimage. Today the state of Ganga is dreadful. It is polluted and full of biological containments. People throw eatery and all waste into the river making it difficult to even wash your hands in that water. In order to revive our diversity Government has started the most ambitious projects Namami Ganga Programme for cleaning Ganga, an approved Flagship Programme incepted in June 2014.
Let’s hope this mission to be successful!
Har Har Gange!!!!!
Har har Gange!
Love this, such an interesting post. Beautiful images too and I love your background. Really eye-catching.
Thank you so much?