14 Facts About Ganga

1.

Ganga has been a symbol of India's age-long culture and civilization, ever-changing, ever-flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga.

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2.

Ganga is then led by the waiting Bhagiratha down into the plains at Haridwar, across the plains first to the confluence with the Yamuna at Prayag and then to Varanasi, and eventually to Ganges Sagar, where she meets the ocean, sinks to the netherworld, and saves the sons of Sagara.

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3.

Ganga's soul arrives before Yama, the Lord of Death, to be judged for the afterworld.

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4.

Ganga is a consort to all three major male deities of Hinduism.

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5.

Ganga is the shakti or the moving, restless, rolling energy in the form of which the otherwise recluse and unapproachable Shiva appears on earth.

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6.

Ganga is the mother, the Ganga Mata of Hindu worship and culture, accepting all and forgiving all.

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7.

Ganga accepts Shiva's incandescent seed from the fire-god Agni, which is too hot for this world and cools it in her waters.

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8.

When Bhishma is mortally wounded in battle, Ganga comes out of the water in human form and weeps uncontrollably over his body.

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9.

Goddess Ganga with left hand resting on a dwarf attendant's head from the Rameshwar Temple, Ellora Caves, Maharashtra.

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10.

Goddess Ganga stands on her mount, the makara, with a kumbha, a full pot of water, in her hand, while an attendant holds a parasol over her.

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11.

The goddess Ganga is accompanied by a dwarf attendant, who carries a cosmetic bag, and on whom she sometimes leans, as if for support.

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12.

Furthermore, The river goddesses Ganga and Saraswati were both born from Brahma's pot, containing the celestial waters.

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13.

Typical relief of about the ninth century that once stood at the entrance of a temple, the river goddess Ganga is shown as a voluptuously endowed lady with a retinue.

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14.

The main objectives of the Namami Gange project is to improve the water quality by the abatement of pollution and rejuvenation of river Ganga by creating infrastructures like sewage treatment plants, river surface cleaning, biodiversity conservation, afforestation, and public awareness.

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