#river ganga

[yato-dharmastato-jayah]

Gangadhar Shiva, receiving and holding the river Goddess Ganga in his hair.

[Artist: Amol Pawar]

[mj1982mjha]

INCREDIBLY INCREDIBLE INDIAN

A man sleeping carefree on stone plank on the bank of the holy river Ganges in VARANASI, INDIA. The river is flowing above the danger mark but this boatman is in no hurry to be careful.

[don-lichterman]

Organic farming, afforestation efforts improve Ganga health in Uttarakhand | News

Organic farming, afforestation efforts improve Ganga health in Uttarakhand | News

May 22, 2022, 11:50AM ISTSource: ANI Traversing thousands of miles through distinctive terrains and geographies, River Ganga is not just a sacred but a lifeline to millions of Indians who live along its course. Thus ensuring its sanctity and untainted fluidity becomes an unstated responsibility of all citizens. And in order to achieve this objective, the government has been tirelessly…

[solankimeera71]

Akshaya Tritiya 2022: People celebrate with fervour, take holy dip in Ganga

The celebration of Akshaya Tritiya 2022 is in its full fervour across the country on Tuesday. Starting the day with a holy dip on this occasion, people took a holy dip at the sacred rivers.

In Varanasi, people worshipped Lord Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi and paid obeisance to the deities after taking a holy dip.

One of the devotees present at the venue said, "It is considered very auspicious to take a holy dip in River Ganga today. I am glad to be here with my family. I hope God wipes away the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Similar visuals were seen in Prayagraj wherein people were seen taking a holy dip in River Ganga to mark the occasion. Read More

[arjuna-vallabha]

Ganga, by Shammi Bannu Sharma, Rajasthan

[mehshikah]

Folk Goddesses of Bengal

বনবিবি (rom. Bonbibi)

In the sparse region that confines the largest mangrove forest on Earth is the Sundarbans. The delta of the mighty Ganga, Brahmaputra and the sisterly Meghna is the region of co-existence between man and the wild. Bonbibi is the protectress of the forest, the wild, the bees, the birds, and the people. She represents the bounty of the forest, and her foe the tiger king Dakhin Rai, the hazards of the same. Her fierce battle with the evil Dakhin Rai has been inspirations for many. She doesn't differentiate between who pray to her, the hindu, muslim, christian. Just as the forest doesn't differentiate between who it welcomes, or who it discards. The forest, and the rivers form the livelihood for the forest dwellers, who pray to the mistress of bees, tigers and the creatures of the forest before embarking of their daily hunt for bread. However, the goddess has one condition, for she is the mother of all of the forest,

"Take what you require, not more not less. Don't harm the forest, and no harm must come to you."

A simple norm by which those who enter the delta, must abide by. A simple norm, which we all must abide by.

(picture credit to the owners)

[fiddlyfoxglove]

Varanasi, India

[mapsontheweb]

A map showing the population density within 20km of the River Ganga.

by @researchremora

[nickdewolfarchive]

Varanasi, India 1972

Bathers, Ganges River

Photograph by Nick DeWolf https://www.flickr.com/photos/dboo/14731760433

[whimsical0umarani]

JANKI SETU

📍 LOCATION: Janki Bridge, Munn Ki Reti, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand

[the-brown-man]

Ganga (Ganges), India - 2006

[shogomiyairi]

Ganga

[teanicolae]

in the depths of my being, She dances me to her call:

“come to me. I want all of you, my child. no part of you is too dark, too gritty, too cruel for me. I claim all of you.”

Māiyā! your waves carry your call and roll it against my chest. i seek you with my breath, eyes, hands, and knees. my lungs seek you like they seek air.

Ya Devī! soothing her tears,

Kṛṣṇa told Pāñcālī

that just as you, Śrī Gaṅgā, hold and wash all pollutions yet are ever-pristine,

so does the fallen empress remain untainted by her shame.

aches bathed in your luster,

i plead:

take all of me, Devī.

leave nothing of me behind.

establish me in knowing

that despite my wrongs, fears and corruptions, i, too,

your fragment in the microcosm,

remain unmarred.

may the holy flow of your untamed waters

sweeten the harshness i bear towards myself and the world

soften the rigid corners straining my being

loosen the knots hindering you from coursing within me.

Śrī Mātre Namaḥ.

photos: before & after bathing in the waters of Śrī Gaṅgā in the auspicious Gangotri. Śabda Yātra.  the blessing of blessings.

[nomadbuzz]

Snaking through. India 2023.

[mehshikah]

देवि सुरेश्वरि भगवति गंगे त्रिभुवनतारिणि तरल तरंगे |

शंकर मौलिविहारिणि विमले मम मति रास्तां तव पद कमले ||

गंगा (rom. Ganga)

In the hills of Uttarakhand, she is not one river, she is all the streams from the one source of life. Each confluence is holy, but the one that births Ganga is at Devprayag. The confluence of the vivacious Bhagirathi, descending from the Gangotri Glacier, and the pacific Alaknanda, whose journey begins from the lotus feet of Shree Hari himself. Most devout of her believers, that once a king turned sage, penanced to all the gods to allow Her to descend down on the Earth, to free his ancestors from sin. The river cuts through the Himalayas and descends through the heart of a country to meet the Bay at the holy Gangasagar. Through her journey, she takes many forms. To the humble Himalayas, she is the playful daughter, who wishes to journey forth clasping the hands of her sisters. In the plains, she is the all-forgiving mother, who sustains them in life and carries them gently to moksha after life. After all, the oldest living city of the world, found itself on the tips of the cosmic Trishul, by her banks. Her farewell forges the largest mangrove delta in the world in two countries, the Sundarbans. Before, alike millions who seek her current for comfort, she sinks deep into the sea.

Today, the all-giving mother suffers from such love we pour into her. Unfortunately, it is this devotion that earned her a spot in the Most Polluted Rivers in the World. One on end, thousands take to her banks for devotion, their lamps lit and chants emanating from their hearts. One the other, we continue to harm.

Isn't it life after all, to hurt those who care for us the most?

p.c: pinterest

[mimiminimal]

An illustration to a Ragamala series: Varari Ragini.  Awadh or Murshidabad, provincial Mughal, North India, late 18th. century.  Opaque pigments heightened with gold on paper / 17.4 x 13.7cm.

Shiva sitting on a deer pelt, surrounded by mountains, an attendant holding a lotus to his side, the river Ganga spouting from his hair knot.