28 Facts About Ganges

The Ganges continues into Bangladesh, its name changing to the Padma.

Main stem of the Ganges begins at the town of Devprayag, at the confluence of the Alaknanda, which is the source stream in hydrology on account of its greater length, and the Bhagirathi, which is considered the source stream in Hindu mythology.

Ganges is a lifeline to millions of people who live in its basin and depend on it for their daily needs.

Upper phase of the river Ganges begins at the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers in the town of Devprayag in the Garhwal division of the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

Along the way between Allahabad and Malda, West Bengal, the Ganges river passes the towns of Chunar, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Ara, Patna, Chapra, Hajipur, Mokama, Begusarai, Munger, Sahibganj, Rajmahal, Bhagalpur, Ballia, Buxar, Simaria, Sultanganj, and Farakka.

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Just before the border with Bangladesh the Farakka Barrage controls the flow of Ganges, diverting some of the water into a feeder canal linked to the Hooghly for the purpose of keeping it relatively silt-free.

The hydrology of the Ganges River is very complicated, especially in the Ganges Delta region.

Name Ganges is used for the river between the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers, in the Himalayas, and the first bifurcation of the river, near the Farakka Barrage and the India-Bangladesh Border.

Sometimes the source of the Ganges is considered to be at Haridwar, where its Himalayan headwater streams debouch onto the Gangetic Plain.

Over time the rivers in Ganges Delta have often changed course, sometimes altering the network of channels in significant ways.

One result of this shift to the Padma was that the Ganges now joined the Meghna and Brahmaputra rivers before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

Ganges did so several times in his work Indica: "India, again, possesses many rivers both large and navigable, which, having their sources in the mountains which stretch along the northern frontier, traverse the level country, and not a few of these, after uniting with each other, fall into the river called the Ganges.

Ganges is a sacred river to Hindus along every fragment of its length.

Ganges is the embodiment of all sacred waters in Hindu mythology.

The Ganges is invoked whenever water is used in Hindu ritual and is therefore present in all sacred waters.

The symbolic and religious importance of the Ganges is one of the few things that Hindus, even their skeptics, have agreed upon.

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

The Ganges descends is tamed in Shiva's locks, and arrives in the Himalayas.

Ganges's 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.

Indeed, the Ganges is so important in the rituals after death that the Mahabharata, in one of its popular slokas, says, "If only bone of a (deceased) person should touch the water of the Ganges, that person shall dwell honoured in heaven.

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

Regardless of all scientific understanding of its waters, the Ganges is always ritually and symbolically pure in Hindu culture.

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

Ganges is the distilled lifeblood of the Hindu tradition, of its divinities, holy books, and enlightenment.

Early in ancient Indian culture, the river Ganges was associated with fecundity, its redeeming waters, and its rich silt providing sustenance to all who lived along its banks.

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Three towns holy to Hinduism—Haridwar, Allahabad, and Varanasi—attract millions of pilgrims to its waters to take a dip in the Ganges, which is believed to cleanse oneself of sins and help attain salvation.

The rapids of the Ganges are popular for river rafting in the town of Rishikesh, attracting adventure seekers in the summer months.

Ganges basin is home to about 30 fish species that are listed as threatened with the primary issues being overfishing, pollution, water abstraction, siltation and invasive species.