Story Of Ganga - How Was Ganga Created And Brought To Earth

Often called with many names such as Janvi, Bhagirathi, Alaknanda, Padma, Mandakini and Vishnupati is the goddess of the river Maganga. She is popularly known for her purity, divinity and holiness. In the Sanatana Hindu Dharma, River Ganga is considered a sacred river and is believed to be incarnated as Goddess Ganga. She is worshipped by Hindus who believe that bathing in the river releases all sins and it facilitates moksha and releases one from the cycle of birth and death. Ganga is the backbone of the Hindu culture that has been nourishing the Indian subcontinent for ages and is still known for its purifying attributes. The Ganga water is considered a sacred water and is supposed to retain its purity even after storing for several months. After Ganga's descent to earth, most of the temples, ashrams and cities are built and settled on its banks throughout its course from its origin to its mouth near Gangasagar. Pilgrims plunge the ashes of their kith and kin in the Ganga river which is considered to bring salvation to the spirits. River Ganga, also known as Ganges, has its boundaries in Asia and flows through India and Bangladesh. It rises from the Gangotri glacier at Gaumukh in the Himalayas and merges into the Bay of Bengal. The river is 2,500 km long and is regarded as the holiest river in Hinduism. As per Hindu Dharma, Ganga is the daughter of Lord Brahma. It is believed she was born from Brahma's Kamandal. According to the Vishnu Puran, Ganga was created from the sweat of Lord Vishnu's feet, thus the name Vishnupadeva. There are three primary stories behind the origination of Ganga. In the order of their occurrence, the first story of Ganga's origin is associated with Vishnu's Vamanavatar. This story is also associated with one of the names given to her, which is Vishnupadeva. Aspiring to be the master of Trilok, the Deity king named Bali once started a Yagya. To stop him from completing the Yagya, Lord Vishnu descends as Vaman, the son of Sage Kashyap. Despite being a Deity, King Bali is known as a generous ruler who never saw someone leave his royal gate empty-handed. Knowing this, Lord Vaman goes to his Yagyashala and asks the area of land that can be measured in his three steps. Everybody, including Bali, thinks the Brahmin boy is naive and doesn't know how much land he can measure in his three steps. But Lord Vaman proves all wrong by expanding his body and taking a Virat Swaroop. Vishnu, in his incarnation as Vaman, extended his left foot to the end of the universe and pierced a hole in its covering with the nail of his big toe. Through the hole, the pure water of the cosmic ocean entered into the universe as the Ganga. Having washed the lotus feet of the Lord, which are covered with reddish saffron, the water of the Ganga acquired a beautiful pink colour. To know the full story of Lord Vishnu's Vaman avatar, watch the video linked in the comments below. Because the Ganga directly touches the lotus feet of Vishnu before descending within this universe, it is known as Bhagvatpadi or Vishnupadi, which means emanating from the feet of Narayana. It finally settles in Brahmalok, the abode of Brahma, and starts to live in Brahma's before descending to the planet earth at the request of Bhagirath, which is the second story behind Ganga's creation. The second story is also the most popular story about Ganga's creation mentioned in the Balkand of Valmiki Ramayana, where Rishi Vishwamitra recites about Bhagirath and the fall of Ganga to earth. Once, King Sagar, also one of the ancestors of Shri Ram, performed Yashwamedh Yagya 99 times, and all 99 times, the Yagya was successful, as the horse he sent for Yagya around the world used to return to the kingdom of Ayodhya unchallenged every time. Due to the success of King Sagar, Indra was jealous of him, and when Sagar started the Yagya for the hundredth time and sent the horse, Indra kidnapped the horse and hid it in Kapil Muni's ashram. This time, when the horse did not come back, the king asked his 60,000 sons to go out and find the horse. To know the story of how King Sagar obtained 60,000 sons, watch the video linked in the comments below. The sons of Sagar started searching for the horse. They kept searching for it for a long time, but could not find the horse anywhere. At last, far away from Ayodhya, near the sea, they found the horse inside Kapil Muni's ashram. The sage was in deep meditation. The sons, thinking that Kapil Muni had captured their horse, attacked the sage. But due to his intense tapas, just by a gaze of the Muni, all 60,000 sons of King Sagar were burnt to ashes. Later, when the sons did not return even after so many days, King Sagar asked his grandson, Amsuman, to go and search for the horse and his 60,000 sons. Amsuman immediately started his journey to find out the horse. Later, he also found the horse inside Kapil Muni's ashram. The sage was meditating at that time also. He patiently waited for the sage to come out of his sadhana. After the sage opened his eyes, he was very happy to see Amsuman's patience and perseverance. He told Amsuman the entire story and gave him a chance to ask for a boon. Amsuman asked to release the horse and to savage his dead father and uncles. Kapil Muni immediately released the horse but told Amsuman that the salvation of his father and uncles is now only possible by the sacred waters of Ganga that was currently in heaven with Brahma. Amsuman came back to Ayodhya and narrated the entire story to King Sagar. King Sagar then made Amsuman the king of the kingdom and left everything to seek the descent of Ganga to earth for the salvation of his 60,000 sons. But he was not successful in his mission. After him, the son of Amsuman, Dilip, struggled to bring Ganga down to earth. He meditated for years in the Himalayas but could not succeed in his mission. After the death of Dilip, his son Bhagirath, who was aware of the mission of his father and grandfather, also started early in his efforts to descend Ganga to the earth. He meditated for several years and eventually Bhagirath succeeded in pleasing mother Ganga. His efforts in pleasing Ganga in bringing her down to the earth not only for the salvation of his ancestors but also for the benefit of the entire human race, generations after generations was a remarkable incident. Ganga was pleased with the meditation and prayers of Bhagirath. But her only concern was that earth was not yet ready to accept her huge forceful flow directly from heaven. Then Lord Shiva was requested to hold the flow of Ganga on his head and after he absorbs much of the force of its mighty flow in the matted locks of his hair, Ganga flowed through the head of Lord Shiva and came down to earth to wash away all the sins of the human race. As Ganga flows through the head of Lord Shiva, Lord Shiva is also called Gangadhar. Because of Bhagirath's efforts, Ganga descended to earth and hence the river is also known as Bhagirathi. The third and the final story of Ganga's creation is associated with Rishi Janhu, who later appears in the story of Ganga and Bhagirath. When Ganga descended on earth, she flowed gleefully and made lots of turbulence and noise. On the way, she accidentally washed away Sage Janu's hermitage. Sage Janu was annoyed by Ganga and drinks all of her water. Ganga along with Bhagirath and the other Devas pray to Rishi Janu to release her so she can proceed with her mission. Pleased with their prayers, Janhu releases Ganga through his ears. And thus, she is called Janvi, meaning Janhu's daughter. The goddess Ganga is often depicted in Hindu scriptures with her distinct look. Goddess Ganga is seen riding a Magar, meaning a crocodile, or sitting on it, which symbolizes the life-giving nature of water. She is represented as a fair-complexioned woman wearing a white saree and a white crown, which symbolizes her purity and celestial charisma. She holds a water lily in her right hand and a lute in her left hand. When shown with four hands, she carries a water pot, a lily, a rosary, and one hand in a protective mudra. Ganga frequently appears in sculptures near temple doors and on decorative relief panels along with her sister river, Goddess Yamuna.