KarmaVaani
Smarta tradition
गंगाGanga
Bhagirathi · Jahnavi · Mandakini · Tripathaga
The holy river as a goddess, who came down from heaven to purify the earth.
- Abode
- The Himalaya; Shiva's matted locks
- Consort
- Shantanu (in the Mahabharata)
- Vahana
- Makara (crocodile-like river creature)
- Colour
- White
- Arms
- 2
Ganga is both the river and the goddess who flows in it. Brought down from heaven by the penance of King Bhagiratha and caught in Shiva's hair, she is said to wash away the sins of all who bathe in her. Pilgrims carry her water home in sealed pots; the dying are given a drop of it; ashes are offered to her at Varanasi and Haridwar.
Mantra
ॐ नमो गङ्गायै विश्वरूपिण्यै नारायण्यै नमो नमः
Om Namo Gangayai Vishvarupinyai Narayanyai Namo Namaha
Salutations to Ganga, who takes the form of the universe.
How Ganga is shown
A fair goddess standing or seated on a makara (river creature), holding a water pot, crowned, in white.
- Purna kumbha (full water pot)
- Abundance and the purifying waters.
- Lotus
- Purity rising from water.
- Makara
- The life of the river and its depths.
Stories
Bhagiratha's penance
The sixty thousand sons of King Sagara had been burned to ash by the sage Kapila. Only Ganga's waters could free them. Their descendant Bhagiratha spent lifetimes in penance until she agreed to descend, and she followed his chariot to the sea.
Related forms
शिव
Shiva
