Holy  River Ganga

flowing river-

Ganga River was down to the earth from the heaven by his prayer of Bhagiratha. The king Bhagiratha was grand son of Sagra. The river holy water flowed over the ashes of the princes and purified their souls. They were all Sagra sons were cursed them and turned them into ashes by sage of Aghwameddh Yoga.

The river flows from an ice –cave in the Himalayas know as Go-mukh, not far from Gangotri. After flowing for about 1560 miles through utter Pradesh, Bihar and west Bengal, it falls in to the Bay of Bengal at Ganga Sagar.

Great centers of learning grew up on the banks of the Ganga. Kasi was a great educational center. Famous scholars like Shankaracharya, Ramanuja and Vallbhacharya visited this place. It was here that saint Tulasidas wrote his famous ``Ramacharitamanas’’. The Nalanda university in Bihar attracted students from all parts of India as well as from outside. The Chinese travelers Hiuen Tsang spent ten years at this university.

Many great events of history took place on the banks of the Ganga, and changed the fate of India from time to time. The ancient city of Kanauj was the capital of Emperor Harsh Vardhana’s empire. It is also remembered for Jaichand Rathor whose charming daughter was carried off by Prithviraj Chowan of Delhi. It is unfortunate that this incident led to a bitter quarrel between the two royal families. It brought about the destruction of their kingdoms and marked the beginning of a foreign rule in India under Muhammad Ghori.

The story of the Ganga is really the story of India’s civilization. It is the story of her wealth and power, her sorrows and sufferings. Many rivers of other countries like the Nile, the Amazon, the Mississippi, the Yangtze and even the Danube are longer than the Ganga. But no river anywhere is as beloved of her people as the Ganga.

To crores of Hindus it is `Ganga Maiya’- mother Ganga. It is believed that a dip in it washes off all one’s sins. It’s after is considered to be so pure that countless Hindus keep Gangajal at home in battles. They use it at all their religious ceremonies, from birth to death.