Ganges

Northern Indian river that has its source
in various small rivers in the Himalaya
Mountains. It comes onto the northern
Indian plain at the city of Haridwar,
flows east across the state of Uttar
Pradesh to the city of Allahabad, where
it unites with the Yamuna River, and
then flows east through the states of
Bihar and West Bengal before joining
the sea at Ganga Sagar. At 1,560 miles in
length, the Ganges is shorter than many
other major rivers, but for Hindus no
river carries greater religious significance. To pious Hindus the Ganges is
not merely a river, but the goddess
Ganga come down from heaven, and by
whose touch they are purified of all sin
and defilement. For the Ganges no
superlatives are spared—every drop is
sacred, every inch along its banks is
239
Ganges
Street fair in Ganga Sagar.
holy, and one gains great religious merit
by seeing it, drinking from it, touching
it, or merely by thinking about it. It is
also considered the best place to perform certain rites for the dead.
Hindu devotion to and reverence for
the Ganges has established it as a place
of unique importance. The religious
importance of the Ganges is reflected in
the religious practices connected with it
and the many well-known pilgrimage
places (tirtha) that are found on its
banks, particularly the city of Benares.
The Ganges is considered the paradigm
for the sacred river. Other Indian sacred
rivers, such as the Godavari and the
Cauvery, are claimed to “be” the
Ganges—that is, one can gain the
same religious benefits from bathing
(snana) in them that one gains by
bathing in the Ganges.