Goddess Ganga

The Goddess Ganga, representing the river Ganga (Ganges) is shown white in colour, wearing a white crown, sitting on the sea animal crocodile, holding in her right hand a water lily and in her left hand a lute.

Rig Veda mentions the name Ganga only twice but in the later Puranic period, Ganga assumes great importance as a Goddess. She is called Mandakini in the heaven and Bhagirathi in patal. Purans declare that the sight, the name and the touch of Ganga takes away all sins and that bathing in Ganga bestows blessings of the highest order. The cremation of a dead body on the banks of Ganga and the immersion of the remains of the dead in its water after cremation elsewhere is considered propitious. Gangajal, the water of Ganga, is very sacred, and is used for all pujas (religious ceremonies). Those who die within specified limits of Ganga, called Gangakshetra (the land of Ganga), are believed to go to the heavenly world and all their sins washed away.

The other sacred rivers for Hindus are, Yamuna, Saryu, Sindhu, Godavari, Kaveri, Narmada, Gomti, and Brahmaputra.

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