held over the first 10 days of the month of Jyeshtha (in June),
celebrates Gangavataran - the descent of the Ganga to earth. The
Ganga, largest of India's rivers and the most sacred to Hindus,
holds a unique place in Indian consciousness. Regarded as a
celestial river originating in the heavens, she is worshipped as
the mother who washes away all the sins of mankind.
|The first ten days
of the month Jyeshtha, known as Dashahara, are dedicated to
honour the river Ganges. It is believed that if one offers
prayers on this day, one attains salvation from ten sins. The
festival's name Dussehra is derived from 'Dus' which connotes
ten and ' hara' which means defeat. Thus the name Ganga Dusshera.
During this festival ten days of the
month are devoted to the worship of Holy River Ganga venerated
by the Hindus as a mother as well
as a goddess, particularly by people
of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Bengal through which the river
flows. Devotees flock to Rishikesh,
Haridwar, Garh-Mukteshwar, Prayag, Varanasi to meditate and take
a holy dip. They take the river clay home to worship.
In the evening,
thousands of leaf boats laden with flames, flowers, and
sweetmeats are offered to the river and they flow with the
current to the sounds of the bells and bhajans, kirtans and
shlokas recited during the arati.
On this day, if a devotee is unable
to visit and bathe in the river Ganga, then Ganga jal (water)
kept in most Hindu homes is used for purification. A bath in the
river is said to purify the bather of all sins. The Ganga is
revered all over India even in places far from its course.
Legend of Ganga
According to the
legend, King Sagara of the Ikshvaku dynasty ruling at Ayodhya
had two queens, Keshani and Sumati, but neither had a child.
Sagara performed severe austerities before his wives could
produce sons. But whereas Keshani gave birth to a son called
Asmajas, Sumati bore 60,000 sons. Sagara performed the
Ashwamedha sacrifice to declare his suzerainty over the
neighboring kingdoms. According to the prevalent custom, the
sacrificial horse were let loose and allowed to wander into the
If the horse was caught, a battle ensued and the outcome decided
the winner. The 60,000 sons of Sagara were following the horse
when they saw him enter a cavern where sage Kapila was
meditating. Not seeing the horse in the cavern, they presumed
that Kapila had captured it. They did not kill Kapila as he was
a sage but they started disturbing his meditations. Annoyed at
being disturbed, Kapila with a curse burnt the 60,000 sons of
Time passed and later Bhagiratha, the great grandson of Sagara,
chanced to come across the bones of his dead ancestors. He
wanted to perform the shraddha of his ancestors but there was no
water available for the ceremony. Agastya having drunk all the
waters of the ocean, the country was passing through a severe
drought. Bhagiratha prayed to Brahma, the Creator, to end the
drought. Brahma asked him to pray to Vishnu to allow Ganga that
was sourcing from his toe, to come down to earth.
Vishnu when prayed to by Bhagiratha agreed, but asked him to
request Shiva, the third member of the Hindu trinity of Gods, to
allow the torrential rain to fall on his head before it came to
the earth as the river was very forceful and if she were allowed
to come down unchecked, her fall would split the earth. Shiva
agreed to take the gigantic weight of the cascading Ganga on the
matted hair piled high on his head. This ensnared and delayed
the progress of the river and flowed to the plains bestowing its
waters on the parched earth.