GUNGA

On Saturday July 8th we went to the Ganges River...

I try to organize my thoughts enough to write about it but there are so many things that flood my mind it becomes difficult to articulate and reflect on the experience. So will write a short series on the Ganges to help you to understand and me to process the importance of this river to the Indian people, in particular the Hindu's. I suppose the best place to start is the beginning…

In the picture to the right Gunga is descending onto Shiva's head from the realm of the gods to the high forests which is the region of the Himalayan foothills, you can tell by the pine trees.

There are many myths surrounding the source of the Ganges (Gunga). There are three or four main stories and many less known localized versions of these stories. One such story that is told in the south goes like this:

In pictures of the goddess Gunga you will often see her in the middle of the river, which she embodies, and the Himalayan mountains in the background, which is where the river comes from.

The goddess Gunga wanted to bring water to the people. But Shiva told her that if she were to fall to the earth she would destroy humanity. (Shiva is one of the main gods of Hinduism and he is most worshiped in the region where I am now, near the Himalayas, the source of the Ganges river). Shiva suggested that she fall on his head instead of falling directly to the earth. This is why you will sometimes hear that Gunga, or the Ganges, flows from Shiva’s head. And for the sake of humanity this is what she did.

In the picture to the right you see the goddess Gunga imbedded in Shiva's hair, this is considered the source of the Ganges river.

In pictures of Shiva you will see a spring of some kind flowing from the top of his head and in some cases you will see the goddess Gunga imbedded in his hair. It is believed that she lives in that high place. There is a very close connection between Gunga and Shiva, since she flows out of his head so, often they are pictured together.

The source of the Ganges is a high place - Shiva’s hair, and it is also a high place - the Himalayas.

That is one of the myths about the origin of the Ganges, one of possibly hundreds. I have imbedded links to a few others where the word Gunga appears.