Ganga
Ganga Dussehra
The day the river of heaven agreed to touch the earth.
Tithi: Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami
In the simplest words
The day Ganga came down from heaven, riding Shiva's hair so her fall wouldn't break the earth. We bathe, and thank the river that is a mother.
The story & purpose
For his ancestors' deliverance King Bhagiratha performed tapasya across generations of effort, until Ganga consented to descend, and Shiva caught her plunging force in his locks so the earth would not shatter. On Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami she touched the soil at last.
The rest of the story
Dussehra here is dasha-hara, the destroyer of ten sins. A dip in her waters on this day, tradition holds, washes ten kinds of transgression: of act, of word, of thought. Effort that refuses to stop, the story reminds us, can bring even a river down from heaven.
What is done
Ganga snan
Bathing in the Ganga, or any water with Ganga remembered into it, facing the current.
Das-daan
Ten of anything given, whether fruits, diyas or garments, to match the day's number.
Ganga aarti
Evening lamps to the river; at home, a lamp floated in a bowl of water with her name.
Best timings
Snan at dawn; deepdan and aarti at dusk.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition; for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Haridwar's Har-ki-Pauri holds one of its greatest bathing days of the year today.
Ganga water's famed resistance to spoilage has been attributed by some studies to bacteriophages, the river carrying her own cleaners.
Kashi's ghats float thousands of leaf-boat lamps downstream tonight.
Mantras of this festival
गङ्गे च यमुने चैव गोदावरि सरस्वति । नर्मदे सिन्धु कावेरि जलेऽस्मिन् सन्निधिं कुरु ॥
Gange Cha Yamune — the seven rivers
Begin jaap →ॐ नमः शिवाय
Panchakshara — Om Namah Shivaya
Begin jaap →ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् । उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥
Mahamrityunjaya mantra
Begin jaap →