Product Code Database
Ganga (, ) is the personification of the river Ganges, who is worshipped by as the goddess of purification and forgiveness. Known by many names, Ganga is often depicted as a fair, beautiful woman, riding a divine crocodile-like creature called the makara.
Some of the earliest mentions of Ganga are found in the Rigveda, where she is mentioned as the holiest of the rivers. Her stories mainly appear in post-Vedic texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Puranas.
The Ramayana describes her to be the firstborn of Himavat, the personification of the Himalayas, and the sister of the mother goddess Parvati. However, other texts mention her origin from the preserver deity, Vishnu. Legends focus on her descent to earth, which occurred because of a royal-sage Bhagiratha, aided by the god Shiva.
In the epic Mahabharata, Ganga is the mother of the warrior Bhishma in a union with the Kuru Kingdom king Shantanu.
In Hinduism, Ganga is seen as a mother to humanity. Pilgrims immerse the Antyesti in the river Ganga, which is considered by them to bring the souls (purified spirits) closer to moksha, the liberation from the cycle of life and death. Festivals like Ganga Dussehra and Ganga Jayanti are celebrated in her honour at several sacred places, which lie along the banks of the Ganges, including Gangotri, Haridwar, Prayagraj, Varanasi and Kali Ghat in Kolkata. Alongside Gautama Buddha, Ganga is worshipped during the Loy Krathong festival in Thailand.
Since the Vedic period, the Ganges river has been considered the holiest of all rivers by Hindus. Ganga is also personified as a goddess and worshipped as Goddess Ganga. She holds an important place in the Hindu deities. Ganga is represented as a fair-complexioned woman, wearing a white crown and sitting on a crocodile. She holds a water lily in her right hand and a flute in her left. When shown with four hands she carries a water-pot, a lily, and a rosary, and has one hand in a protective mode. The Rig Veda mentions Ganga but more of her is said in the Puranas.
Ganga is depicted Chaturbhuja and mounted on a crocodile or enthroned surrounded by crocodiles. In one of the iconography in Maha Virat-rupa, she holds a jar of amrita, rosary, Lotus flower and varada mudra. She may be depicted in other ways holding only a kalasha (or 2 replacing lotus) and lotus, while other 2 hands in varada and Abhayamudra.
Another depiction popular especially in Bengal shows her holding shankha, chakra (discus), lotus flower and abhaya mudra, with the kalasha releasing her holy water.
In Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Ganga is often depicted with her divine mount, the makara – an animal with the head of a crocodile and tail of a dolphin.
The Ramayana narrates a different version of the myth. Ganga is described as the eldest child of Himavat, son of Brahma and the king of the Himalayas, and his wife Queen Menavati, the daughter of Mount Meru. Her younger sister is Parvati, who latter marries Shiva. When Ganga attained youth, the devas took her to Svarga, where she took a form of a river and flowed.
The story about Ganga's descent on earth through the efforts of Bhagiratha, a descendant of King Sagara, is narrated in the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and various Puranas. Wanting to show his sovereignty, King Sagara performed a ritual known as ashvamedha, where a horse was left to wander for one year. However, Indra stole the horse to prevent the ritual from being successful. Learning that the horse had disappeared, King Sagara sent his sixty thousand sons to look for it. They eventually found the horse at the of Sage Kapila, in the netherworld. Thinking that Sage Kapila had stolen the horse, the sons interrupted him while he was in a deep meditation. This infuriated Kapila, and with his ascetic's gaze, he burned all the sixty thousand sons to ashes.
King Sagara sent his grandson, Amshuman, to ask the sage Kapila what could be done to bring deliverance to their souls. Sage Kapila advised that only the water of the Ganges, which flowed from Svarga, could liberate them. Bhagiratha, Amshuman's grandson, undertook severe ascetic practices, and won the favour of Brahma and Shiva. Brahma allowed Ganga to descend on earth, while Shiva broke Ganga's fall in the coils of his hair, so that her force would not shatter the earth. When Ganga descended, Bhagiratha led her to the sea. From there, the river reached the Patala, and liberated the sixty thousand sons of King Sagara.
Because of Bhagiratha's efforts, the river is also known as Bhagirathi River. She is also known as Tripathaga because she flows in the three worlds, heaven, earth, and the netherworld. Another epithet that Ganga is known by is Jahnavi, because she flooded the ashram of Sage Jahnu while being led by Bhagiratha. Her waters extinguished the ritual fire there, which angered the sage Jahnu, so he drank up all of Ganga's waters. Sage Jahnu later released the water out of his left ear after Bhagiratha explained his mission for Ganga's descent. Due to this incident, Ganga is known as Jahnavi, which means daughter of Sage Jahnu.
In Sri Lanka, Ganga with other Hindu deities assumes a Buddhist persona. Her sculpture is seen in Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara.
In Balinese Hinduism, she is worshipped together with the Dewi Danu. Her waters are considered holy in Bali. Her maternal association with Bhishma is known in Bali. Religious sites associated with her in Bali are Tirta Gangga, Pura Taman Mumbul Sangeh, and Kongco Pura Taman Gandasari.
Ganga Talao in Mauritius is considered by the Mauritian Hindus equivalent to Ganga. In 1972, the then Prime Minister of Mauritius, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam brought Holy water from the Ganga's source – Gomukh in India and mixed it with the water of the Ganga Talao and renamed it as Ganga Talao.
Ganga is invoked with Hindu deities Shiva, Bhumi, Surya and Chandra in Thailand's royal Triyampawai ceremony. She is worshipped together with goddess Phra Mae Thorani within Thai Budhhism and goddess Phosop in Tai folk religion. The four sacred pools of Suphan Buri Province have waters from the Ganga and the Yamuna rivers and are used for rituals.
Ganga has been revered in Cambodia since the Khmer empire. In Shiva's iconographical form Uma-Gangapatisvarar (), Shiva is depicted with Ganga and his wife Uma (Parvati). Ganga's images are located in Bakong, Lintel in Thommanon and exhibit in International Council of Museums.
|
|
