The Ganges is not only a river in India it is the lifeline of Indian society, culture, heritage, and center of spiritual sustenance of Hindus. It is worshiped as the goddess(Maa Ganga) in India. Holy river the Ganges is declared the National River of India.
Its origin is Gangotri glacier (Gomukh 3,900meter) the western Himalayas as the Bhagirathi River in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. The Ganges flows towards south and east through North India to Bangladesh, where it falls into the Bay of Bengal. After Alaknanda meets and merges in Bhagirathi At Devprayag it is known as Ganges(Ganga).
The headwaters of the Alakananda are formed by snowmelt from such peaks as Nanda Devi, Trisul, Kamet Satopanth glacier above Badrinath. The Alaknanda also contains the water of the Dhauli, the Vishnu Ganga which meets at Joshimath or Vishnu Prayag, the Mandakini River at Nandprayag, the Pindar River at Karnaprayag, and the Mandakini River at Rudraprayag before meeting Bhagirathi.
The Ganga enters the plains at Haridwar. From here, it flows first to the south, then to the south-east and east before splitting into two distributaries, namely the Bhagirathi and the Hugli
The longest river of India flowing over 2,525 km of mountains, valleys, plains and the second greatest river in the world by water discharge. It is shared by Uttaranchal (110 km) and Uttar Pradesh (1,450 km), Bihar (445 km) and West Bengal (520 km). 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 (16 m), and the maximum depth is 100 feet (30 m).
The most important cities and spiritual centers are located on the bank of river The Ganges(such as Haridwar, Moradabad, Rampur, Kanpur, Patna, Varanasi, and Raj Shahi, Patliputra, Kannauj, Kara, Kashi, Allahabad, Murshidabad, Munger, Baharampur, and Kolkata). The Ganges Basin with its fertile soil is the backbone of the agricultural economies of India.
History of Ganga:
In the starting of Vedic Ages, the Indus and the Saraswati River were the main rivers, of BHARAT(India). But later, the three Vedas seem to give much more significance to the Ganges.
According to the old saying in ancient times there was a very famous king name Bhagiratha get into very hard worship(Tapasya) for many of decades constantly to bring The goddess river Ganga on earth from the heaven, to find the salvation of his ancestors who were cursed by a sage(Sant). After hard worship of Bhagiratha Devi Ganga get happy on him. Then the Ganges descended to the Earth through the lock of hair (Jata) of god Shiva to make whole earth pious, fertile and wash out the sins of humans. that's why The Ganges is also known as Bhagirathi. For Hindus in India, the Ganges is not just a river but a mother, a goddess, a tradition, a culture and much more.
In the Hindu religion, it is believed that life is incomplete without taking a bath in the river The Ganges. Hindu keeps the holy water of the river The Ganges in their homes. When someone dies this water put in his mouth so he will get heaven. Hindus also believe that the water from the Ganges cleanses a person`s soul of all past sins and that it can also cure the ill.
At last: JAI MAA GANGWAY.
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