Hindu Ashrams/Organizations
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Hindu Ashrams/Organizations
Ganga Dusshera Festival
Gangapujan Dashahara or Dussehra
This is literally the "birthday or descent of mother Ganges - Ganga Ma".
Throughout india this festival lasts ten days beginning on the Amavasya
(dark moon night) and going through to the dasami tithi (tenth phase of the
Moon, the day before Pandava Nirjal Ekadasi)
"Festivals connected with rivers are essentially bathing
festivals. Ganga Dussehra is celebrated on the tenth day of Jyeshtha. River
Ganga is worshipped as a mother as well as a Goddess, particularly by people
of Uttara Pradesh, Bihar, and Bengal through which the river flows. 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.
Initially, river Ganga flowed in the heavens. She was brought down to earth
by the severe penances of the sage Bhagiratha and that is why she is also
called Bhagirathi. According to the story, of the descent of the Ganga, once
a number of demons were harassing the hermits by disturbing them in their
ascetic duties. During the day, they would be chased into the ocean. But in
the darkness of the night, they would emerge from the ocean and start
harassing the hermits again. In desperation the hermits appealed to Rishi
Agastya. Agastya, known for his gastronomic powers, drank all the water of
the ocean. Though this was done in good faith, it resulted in depriving the
world of the water needed for sustenance and the earth became parched and
dry. Bhagiratha brought this drought to and end.
According to the legend, King Sagara of the Ikshvaku
dynasty ruling at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh 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 neighbouring kingdoms. According to the
prevalent custom, the sacrificial horse was let loose and allowed to wander
into the neighbouring kingdoms. 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 Sagara. 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, the
Preserver, to allow the heavenly Ganga, issuing from His big 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 which, in meandering through the labyrinth
of his hair, lost its force and then gently descended to the Himalayas from
whence it flowed to the plains bestowing its waters on the parched earth.
And that is why the anthropomorphic image of Ganga is shown in the matted
hair of Shiva who is also called Gangadhara. Being born in the Himalayas,
Ganga is considered the elder sister of Parvati, who is also a daughter of
the Himalayas.
According to the Agni Purana and Padma Purana, the Ganga descended to the
earth on Ganga Dussehra day and a bath in the holy river on this day is said
to purify one of all sins. To die on the banks of the Ganga is considered
most auspicious. If that is not possible, then the immersion of the ashes
after cremation in the river Ganga is a must, as it then releases one from
the cycles of birth and re-birth.
the seven ways of worshipping the Ganga are: by calling out her name, 'Oh
Ganga'; having darshan of her; by toughing her waters; by worshipping and
bathing; by standing in the waters of the river; and by carrying clay dug
out of the river. Ganga in her anthropomorphic form is shown as a beautiful
young woman standing on a crocodile and holding a waterpot in her hands. Her
image, with that of the Goddess Yamuna, another sacred river deity, is often
depicted on the doors of temples and palaces. In Gujarat, there is a legend
according to which Ganga came down to the earth on Rishi Panchami, the fifth
day of Bhadra (September) at Tarnetar. There is a sacred tank where people
congregate for a holy bath on that day (pages 82-82.) (see Tarnetar festival
106-107, 120-121. not so relevant to us - nice pictures of the fair and
bathing ghats though.) (Shakti M. Gupta. 1991. Festivals, Fairs and Fasts of
India. Clarion Books)
The Ganges Festival
The first ten days of the month Jyeshth, known as Dashahara, are dedicated to honour the river Ganges, or Mother Ganges. The Ganges is believed to flow in the three worlds: in heaven it is called Mandakini, on earth the Ganges (or Ganga), and in the nether region the Bhagirathi. Thus the Ganga is known as “Tripathaga”, or the “Three Path River”. People believe that by bathing in the Ganga sins are washed away. The principle centres for the worship of the Ganga are Gangotri, the source of the river; Haridwar, where she comes down to the plains; Allahabad, where she joins the Yamuna; Varanasi, the holy city; and Sagara Island in her estuary where she finally flows into the Bay of Bengal.
Ganga is supposed to be the daughter of the Himalayas
and the goddess Mena. According to the Puranas, the heavenly Ganga flows
from Vishnu's toe. Ganga sometimes assumed a human form. In one such
appearance, she married King Shantanu and was the mother of Bhishma,
grandsire to the warring Pandava and Kaurava clans (see Mahabharata).
Long ago there was a king named Sagar. Once he performed the horse
sacrifice known as Ashvamedh. After much wandering one day the king’s horse
reached the ashram of Kapil Muni. Then seven thousand of the king’s boys
also reached there in search of the horse. They had wickedly imagined that
Kapil Muni had deliberately kidnapped the horse, and they decided to destroy
the muni. Kapil Muni got angry and cursed them. There upon they all were
burnt and reduced to ashes.
Since neither the horse nor his soldiers returned King Sagar became
anxious. He sent his grandson Anshuman to search for them. Kapil Muni told
Anshuman the whole story. Anshuman asked, “How can the sin of the king’s
boys be destroyed?”
Kapil Muni answered, “They will be saved if the water of the Ganga will
flow over this land.”
Anshuman tried but did not succeed in bringing down the Ganga on earth. Then his son Dilip also tried, but without success. Finally his son Bhagirath after performing terrible austerities managed to bring down the Ganga to this earth. Mother Ganga was pleased with Bhagirath, but asked him to obtain also the good pleasure of Shankar (Lord Shiva). Shankar agreed to take the burden of bringing the Ganga on earth. Thus on the tenth day of the bright half of Jyeshth, Mother Ganga began to flow from heaven to the matted hair of Shankar, and from the hair of Shankar she began to flow on this earth. In this way the children of Sagar were saved. For this reason the Ganges is also known as the Bhagirathi. END.
If you are so fortunate as to be in a place in Bharat Bhumi where the sacred Ganges flows or one of the mystical magical places where She appears contrary to material science, such as Mana Sarovara, Manasi Ganga (Bhubaneshwar), Madhwa Sarova (Udupi), etc., then you will be able to go down to her waters and pay your obeisances, say your prayers and take that water upon your head. Then please say a prayer to invoke the blessings of the Lord upon all of us not so fortunate as to be there with you.
For most of us reading this that will not physically be possible, although certainly through Manasa puja - meditation one may still perform that worship.
Whether you are in Gangotri (the place where she manifests first in this realm) or if you are at (H)Rishikesha or Haridwar, Benares (Varanarsi), Allahabad (Prayag) or in Mayapur, West Bengal, or as I am here writing this remembering those wonderful places the purifying association of Mother Ganga remains the same.
Scientists' still cannot understand how unlike ordinary water, when you take a bottle of that and keep it for YEARS, it never becomes green and slimmy. It always remains in its pure condition.
My memories of early morning (03:30am) dips at Haridwar (Vishnupadi) still leave me as near breathless as entering into her icey waters as we did in January (winter in the Norther Hemisphere) 1980. In the evening the floatila of thousands of leaf boats laden with flames, flowers, and sweetmeats, bobbing gently as they flow with the current to the resounding sounds of the bells and arati songs, and disappearing flickering into the distance. A sight worth seeing.