Home » Travel » Women In India » GANGES: The River Mother

GANGES: The River Mother

© Meenakshi Subramaniam

The Ganges is variously called Ganga, Gangai, Mahishmati, Bhaageerathi. By whatever name the Hindus refer call it, the Ganges represents the ultimate clearnser of sins and soiled minds. It is the ingrained wish of every Hindu over the generations to make a pilgrimage to the riverside town of Varanasi (or Kasi) to bathe in the roaring waters there and ultimately be cremated on the banks of the Ganges.

The river has its origin in the Himalayas in the imposing Gangotri Glacier. From the Himalayas, it trickles down as a stream and gathers momentum and force on the way. The Yamuna joins it at Allahabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh and when it flows into Varanasi, it is a swollen, fecund liquid corridor. The river drains into the Bay of Bengal after traversing for nearly 1,560 kms.

Like all other nourishing, life-giving natural forces, the Ganges too is seen as a Mother Goddess in India. The mythological origin of the river is very interesting. King Bhageeratha was a dynamic scion of the Sagara dynasty. His kingdom was prosperous, his coffers full and the monsoons never failed him and his people.

But Bhageertha had one secret tragedy. His forefathers had been burnt to cinders by the terrible curse of the Sage Kapila. They had not been forgiven or given a decent and ritual farewell. Bhageeratha knew that the Goddess Ganga would be the one to grant salvation to the souls of his manes. He decided to bring her down to Earth. Ganga was appeased by the king's fervent prayers and decided to grant his request. "But King," enquired an amused Ganga, "my descent from Heaven will be so powerful that the whole Earth will be washed away. What can you do about that?"

Lord Shiva, the Destroyer intervened and consented to break Ganga's flow by taking her in his matted locks of hair. Thus did Ganga start flowing gently on the Earth and washed away the ashes of Bhageeratha's ancestors to give them salvation. This is the reason why Ganga is also considered as another wife of Lord Shiva.

One more popular myth that almost every Hindu child in India knows is the story of Bhishma, the Terrible. Bhishma is the most powerful and central character in the great Indian war-epic, the Mahabharata. He was the son of Goddess Ganga.

Legend has it that King Shantanu of the great Bharata dynasty, fell in love with a beautiful maiden that he saw on the Ganga's banks. He wooed her, but the maid, who was none other than the river goddess, agreed to marry the king on one condition: that he would not ask about or condemn anything that she would do after their marriage. If he did intervene in anything she did, she would immediately leave him forever. The king in his love and desire, agreed readily. After a year, a healthy son was born to the couple. The next day, the Queen carried the infant down to the river and drowned it in the swirling waters. Everyone in the palace, including the king, were horrified. But Shantanu, true to his promise, never spoke to his wife about the incident.

The copyright of the article GANGES: The River Mother in Women In India is owned by . Permission to republish GANGES: The River Mother in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.