Ganga As Divine Origin

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The present monograph entitled "Ganga as Divine Origin" authored by Dr. Kamal Shankar Srivastava, an attempt has been made to trace and to explain Ganga about not just a river, but the heavenly stream brought to the Earth by the persistent efforts of many princes of Sagar's family, generation after generation till at least one of them succeeded to coaxing her to come down not only to the Earth, but to proceed further to the netherworld to purity the ashes of his ancestors, so that they could be assured absolution from their sin if any and transportation to heaven, the waves of the stream acting as the steps of a staircase leading to the highest goal. It is in this context that Ganga is considered a soaring ladder to heaven for the sons of Sagar (Swarg Sopana Panktim).

The present work throws the light to Ganga as per cultural and archaeological perspective in an innovative manner. The present work consists of four chapters, i. Introduction, ii. Ganga, the myth and her origin, iii. The Ganga through the age of Empires in India and iv. Summing up. Apart from detailed bibliography and relevant illustrations (Forty-Four in Number).

Indeed Ganga's origin in Brahma's Kamandalu (waterpot), the present concept of knowledge of ritual and philosophic thought, from Kamandalu to Jata (Hair) of Lord Siva. Ganga's aqueous from reaches from Jata of Lord Siva to hill area of the earth via Gomukh to Gangotri mythologically of King Bhagiratha seems relevant.

Certainly, it proves to facinate the scholars and history-lovers of Indian art, culture and mythology.

Dr. Kamal Shankar Srivastava, IAS (Retd.) born in Varanasi (UP), India eminent scholar, Indologist, Museologist, Journalist, Art-historian and Academician turned Aministrator, Obtained Post-Graduate degrees (M.A.s) in 17 (Seventeen) different disciplines (i) Ancient India History, Culture and Archaeology (ii) History (iii) Museology (iv) English Literature (v) Mass Communication (vi) Public Administration (vii) Sociology (viii) Hindi Literature (ix) Sanskrit Literature (x) Philosophy (xi) Political Science (xii) Social work, (xiii) Economics, (xiv) Defence studies, and (xi) Linguistics, apart from Master of Business Administration (MBA-HRM) and Master of Laws (LL.M.). Awarded B.H.U. Gold Medal in 1981. In 1985, awarded Ph.D. degree in AIHC and Archaeology, Museology. In 2003, also awarded Doctor of Literature (D.Litt.) degree in History.

Author of 106 (One Hundred Six) published and under publications books concerning different fields of Indian History, Art, Religion and culture, Iconography Museology, Tourism, Journalism, Painting, Indology, Literature, Heritage and Law etc. Life fellow of numismatics society of India, Museums Association of India, Bihar Puravid Parishad, Patna, Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies, New Delhi, India Social Science Academy and Executive Member of Museum Association of India (New Delhi). Presented several papers and 148 (One Hundred Forty Eight) articles in the fields of Art, Indology, Museology, Law and Education. Attended two weeks training program on SAARC Countries in Bangladesh, Dhaka in 2012.

At present, he is engaged in authorship of various Indological publications, i.e. in field of history. Indian Art and Indian studies, after retirement from July 2016 as an IAS Officer (Jharkhand Cadre) apart from the former post of General Manager (Land Acquisition) on NHIDCL under Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. Government of India.

From the snow Ganges origin high in the Himalayas, this sacred river flows through the holy cities and the great plain of Northern India to the Bay of Bengal. The life giving water of the Ganges have assumed legendary powers in the form of the Hindu goddess Ganga, the source of creation and abound once. In fact the mysterious Ganga is the essence of the divine mother bringing increase and salvation, but also death and destruction. Indeed there is not a river anywhere in the world which has not something of beauty and mystery. According to Dr. A.L. Basham, no river is endowed with these qualities in such full measure as the Ganga. It is not in the best surprising that ancient Indian thought of the Ganga as sacred, a goddess in her own right, descending from the head of the great god Siva himself. The Ganga which is also called Alakananda or Dyundhuni or Dyunadi is mentioned in the Rgveda and in satapatha Brahmana. It is also mentioned in Patanjali Mahābhāṣya and also in the Brahmanda purana as well in Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa. Ganga is also known as Bhagirathi and Jahnavi. The Yogini tantra refers to it. The victory of the Ganga represents the furthest extent of the Kurü rule. The Ganga the most sacred river of the Hindus, is formed by the conjunction of two sister streams, named Bhagirathi and Alkanandā. The Bhagirathi rises from the Gangotri glacier at Gaumukh - an ice-cave, in the Uttarkashi district of modern Uttaranchal state. After cutting through the narrow gorges of lower Himalaya. Bhagirathi joins the Alkananda which emerges from satopanta glacier above Badrinath and the combined river assumes the name of Ganga. It enters the plains at Haridwar. The Ganga turns its directions from north west to southeast and then flows majestically in the east from about 1200 km, passing through the plains of Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal before discharging its water into the Bay of Bengal through the numerous mouths of its great delta of the many Himalayas tributaries of the Ganga which join it on its left bank, may be mentioned the names of Ramganga, Gomatī, Sarayū, Ghagharā, Rāpti Gandak, Koşī and Mahananda. According to the Markandeya Purāņa the Ganges is described as Tripathagāminī in having three courses. According to Harivamsa King Purrāna lived with Urvaśī for five years on the bank of the rivers Mandākānī which is another name of the Ganges. Ganga is the name of a river. This river is called Mandakini which descends from the sky with all the fairy of rushing water and which is borne by the God Śiva on one of his matted locks. Numerous Rgvedic descriptions of Saraswati river are later applied to Ganga. Sataswati's home is in heaven. She fills the realms of the earth, and wide trust, the firmament. The worshippers hopes that the river will descend from heaven and from the mountain hear his prayers. It is observed the signification of Ganga's descent from heaven and the prevalence of the theme is art and myth. In later literature. Ganga is described as the path of human a river flowing through the sky. We may recall her home among the stars in the realm of Viṣṇupāda, the path of Vişņu between Ursa major and the Pole star.

The divine origin of Ganga from Kamandal of Lord Brahma to the hair of Jață of Lord Siva and thus beyond high Himalayas in the vast reaches of the Tibetan plateau, likes Mount Kailasa. In the Indian tradition, it holds the same meaning as Saivitas for Hinduism. As such it seems less a place than a state of mind, constellated with the dream and aspirations of a thousand pilgrims who shall never make the journey except in their hearts. But Kailasa is a place, a shimmering mountain of twenty thousand feet. In some of the ancient writings - Hindu, Buddhist, even Chinese and Tibetan - Kailua is also the home of Ganga, which flows from its slopes, dividing into four streams, to grace the world of men.

Near the foot of Kailua lies Manasarovar, the Lake of the Mind (sarovar, in Sanskrit, signifying lake: manas, mind or thought), an other supposed source of Ganga. Like the great mountain, it has been a center of pilgrimage since the early centuries of the Christian era, famous among Hindus and among Buddhists of all the northern countries. Tibet, China, Japan. At fifteen thousand feet, the ice blue water covers an area of two hundred square miles, its regularly indented shore set in a cluster of mountains that rise abruptly from the endless expense of plains.

In the figukrative geography of the Puranas, Indian religious texts from the eight centuries of our era, we confront the image of Asia as a four-sided lotus, each petal containing one of thegreat regions: China to the east, Persia to the west, India to the south, and, to the north, the obscure realms of Turkestan.' And out of Manasarovar, the Lake of the Mind, went a river in each direction to water the land. Within India itself, the four great rivers of the north Ganga, Yamuna, the Indus, and the Brahmaputra - all take rise in the Himalayas and were thought of as flowing from Manasarovar, which is reality lies slightly to their north. But this was not known until the early nineteenth century.

**Contents and Sample Pages**