It is religion, industry, farming and politics. To drink from it is auspicious. Ganges The Ganges (also known as Ganga or Gonga), is the biggest river in the Indian subcontinent in terms of water flow.

More than 2,000 years ago, a powerful king built a fort on the banks of India’s holiest river, on the fringes of what is now a vast industrial city. Some (rivers) remain pure while others collect dirt along the way. The river Ganges flows in a series of channels separated from each other called aits, most of which are well wooded. It has seen too many wars, countless kings, British colonials, independence and the rise of Hindu nationalism as a political movement.In India, the Ganges is far more than just a river. The rest comes from Himalayan tributaries that flow from the colossal chain of mountains.As the Ganges flows across the plains, its once clean and mineral-rich water begins collecting the toxic waste from the millions of people who depend on it, becoming one of the most polluted rivers in the world. It has seen empires rise and fall. It is religion, industry, farming and politics. To Hindus, the Ganges is “Ganga Ma” — Mother Ganges — and a center of spiritual life for more than a billion people. The Ganges often appears in Hindu mythology as a background location, for example, as a place where the famous figures Atri and The river is, along with two other sites, the location of the extraordinary Kumbha Mela ritual which dates back to at least the 7th century CE.

ALONG THE GANGES, India (AP) — More than 2,000 years ago, a powerful king built a fort on the banks of India ’s holiest river… He holds an MA in Political Philosophy and is the Publishing Director at AHE. His special interests include pottery, architecture, world mythology and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share in common. ALONG THE GANGES, India. Ganga frequently appears in The descent of the goddess aided by Shiva is another popular scene in art and an outstanding example is the 7th century CE granite relief panel at a cave-shrine at Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization. Hydroelectric dams along the river’s tributaries, needed to power India’s growing economy, have infuriated some Hindus, who say the sanctity of the river has been compromised.And over the past 40-some years, the Gangotri Glacier — source of almost half the Ganges’ water —has been receding at an increasingly frightening pace, now losing about 22 meters (yards) per year.

Pollution has left large sections of it dangerous to drink. Here, in one of the oldest inhabited The goddess is often depicted in Hindu art wearing a white saree and riding a crocodile. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide.Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week:Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. A crowd gathers for a prayer ceremony dedicated to the river Ganges in Varanasi, one of the Hinduism's holiest cities, India, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019. A Hindu who dies in the city, or is cremated alongside it, is also freed from that cycle of birth and death.

Also sign up for our community newspaper newsletters, and CaregiverSD. Mark is a history writer based in Italy. And Kanpur, where Yayati built his fort, is a city known for its leather tanneries and the relentless pollution they pump into the Ganges River.For more than 1,700 miles, from the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal, the Ganges flows across the plains like a timeline of India’s past, nourishing an extraordinary wealth of life.