Editing Ganges (section)

==Religious and cultural significance==
{{See also|Ganga in Hinduism}}

===Embodiment of sacredness===
[[File:IndianWomanFloatingLampsGanges.jpg|thumb|right|Chromolithograph, ''Indian woman floating lamps on the Ganges'', by William Simpson, 1867]]
The Ganges is a sacred river to Hindus along every fragment of its length. All along its course, Hindus bathe in its waters,<ref name=eck1982-p212>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|p=212}}</ref> paying homage to their ancestors and their gods by cupping the water in their hands, lifting it, and letting it fall back into the river; they offer flowers and rose petals and float shallow clay dishes filled with oil and lit with wicks (diyas).<ref name=eck1982-p212/> On the journey back home from the Ganges, they carry small quantities of river water with them for use in rituals; Ganga Jal, literally "the water of the Ganges".<ref name=eck1982-p212-213>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|pp=212–13}}</ref>

The Ganges is the embodiment of all [[sacred waters]] in [[Hindu mythology]].<ref name=eck1982-p214>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|p=214}}</ref> Local rivers are said to be ''like'' the Ganges and are sometimes called the local Ganges.<ref name=eck1982-p214/> The [[Godavari River]] of [[Maharashtra]] in Western India is called the Ganges of the South or the 'Dakshin Ganga'; the Godavari is the Ganges that was led by the sage [[Gautama Maharishi|Gautama]] to flow through Central India.<ref name=eck1982-p214/> The Ganges is invoked whenever water is used in Hindu ritual and is therefore present in all sacred waters.<ref name=eck1982-p214/> Despite this, nothing is more stirring for a Hindu than a dip in the actual river, which is thought to remit sins, especially at one of the famous [[Tirtha and Kshetra|tirthas]] such as [[Varanasi]], [[Gangothri|Gangotri]], [[Haridwar]], or the [[Triveni Sangam]] at [[Prayagraj]].<ref name=eck1982-p214/> The symbolic and religious importance of the Ganges is one of the few things that Hindus, even their skeptics, have agreed upon.<ref name=eck1982-p214-215>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|pp=214–15}}</ref> Jawaharlal Nehru, a religious iconoclast himself, asked for a handful of his ashes to be thrown into the Ganges.<ref name=eck1982-p214-215/> "The Ganga", he wrote in his will, "is the river of India, beloved of her people, round which are intertwined her racial memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of India's age-long culture and civilization, ever-changing, ever-flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga."<ref name=eck1982-p214-215/>

===''Avatarana'' – Descent of Ganges===
[[File:Ravi Varma-Descent of Ganga.jpg|thumb|upright|''Descent of Ganga'', painting by [[Raja Ravi Varma]] c. 1910]]

In late May or early June every year, Hindus celebrate the ''karunasiri'' and the rise of the Ganges from earth to heaven.<ref name=eck1998-p144>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|p=144}}</ref> The day of the celebration, ''Ganga Dashahara'', the ''Dashami'' (tenth day) of the [[waxing moon]] of the [[Hindu calendar]] month [[Jyestha|Jyeshtha]], brings throngs of bathers to the banks of the river.<ref name=eck1998-p144/> A dip in the Ganges on this day is said to rid the bather of ten sins (dasha = Sanskrit "ten"; hara = to destroy) or ten lifetimes of sins.<ref name=eck1998-p144/> Those who cannot journey to the river, however, can achieve the same results by bathing in any nearby body of water, which, for the true believer, takes on all the attributes of the Ganges.<ref name=eck1998-p144/>

The ''karunasiri'' is an old theme in Hinduism with a number of different versions of the story.<ref name=eck1998-p144/> In the [[Vedas|Vedic]] version, [[Indra]], the Lord of [[Svarga]] ([[Heaven]]) slays the celestial serpent, [[Vritra]], releasing the celestial liquid, ''[[soma (drink)|soma]]'', or the nectar of the gods which then plunges to the earth and waters it with sustenance.<ref name=eck1998-p144/>

In the [[Vaishnava]] version of the myth, the heavenly waters were then a river called ''Vishnupadi'' ([[Sanskrit]]: "from the foot of Vishnu").<ref name=eck1998-p144/> As Vishnu as the avatar [[Vamana]] completes his celebrated three strides —of earth, sky, and heaven— he stubs his toe on the vault of heaven, punches open a hole and releases the ''Vishnupadi'', which until now had been circling the cosmic egg.<ref name=eck1998-p144-145>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|pp=144–45}}</ref> Flowing out of the vault, she plummets down to Indra's heaven, where she is received by [[Dhruva]], once a steadfast worshipper of Vishnu, now fixed in the sky as the [[Pole star]].<ref name=eck1998-p144-145/> Next, she streams across the sky forming the [[Milky Way]] and arrives on the moon.<ref name=eck1998-p144-145/> She then flows down earthwards to [[Brahma]]'s realm, a divine lotus atop [[Mount Meru]], whose petals form the earthly continents.<ref name=eck1998-p144-145/> There, the divine waters break up, with one stream, the Bhagirathi, flowing down one petal into [[Names for India|Bharatavarsha]] (India) as the Ganges.<ref name=eck1998-p144-145/>

It is [[Shiva]], however, among the major deities of the Hindu pantheon, who appears in the most widely known version of the ''avatarana'' story.<ref name=eck1998-p145>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|p=145}}</ref> Told and retold in the ''[[Ramayana]]'', the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and several [[Puranas]], the story begins with a sage, [[Kapila]], whose intense meditation has been disturbed by the sixty thousand sons of King [[Sagara (Vedic king)|Sagara]]. Livid at being disturbed, Kapila sears them with his angry gaze, reduces them to ashes, and dispatches them to the netherworld. Only the waters of the Ganges, then in heaven, can bring the dead sons their salvation. A descendant of these sons, King [[Bhagiratha]], anxious to restore his ancestors, undertakes rigorous penance and is eventually granted the prize of Ganges's descent from heaven. However, since her turbulent force would also shatter the earth, Bhagiratha persuades Shiva in his abode on [[Mount Kailash]] to receive the Ganges in the coils of his tangled hair and break her fall. The Ganges descends, is tamed in Shiva's locks, and arrives in the Himalayas. She is then led by the waiting Bhagiratha down into the plains at Haridwar, across the plains first to the confluence with the Yamuna at Prayag and then to Varanasi, and eventually to Ganges Sagar (Ganges delta), where she meets the ocean, sinks to the netherworld, and saves the sons of Sagara.<ref name=eck1998-p145/> In honour of Bhagirath's pivotal role in the ''avatarana'', the source stream of the Ganges in the Himalayas is named Bhagirathi, (Sanskrit, "of Bhagiratha").<ref name=eck1998-p145/>

===Redemption of the Dead===
[[Image:HinduCremationVaranasi1903.jpg|thumb|upright|Preparations for cremations on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, 1903. The dead are being bathed, wrapped in cloth, and covered with wood. The photograph has a caption, "Who dies in the waters of the Ganges obtains heaven."]]
As the Ganges had descended from heaven to earth in the Hindu tradition, she is also considered the vehicle of ''ascent'', from earth to heaven.<ref name=eck1998-p145-146>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|pp=145–46}}</ref> As the ''Triloka-patha-gamini'', (Sanskrit: ''triloka'' = "three worlds", ''patha'' = "road", ''gamini'' = "one who travels") of the tradition, she flows in [[Svarga|heaven]], [[Prithvi|earth]], and the [[Patala|netherworld]], and, consequently, is a "tirtha" or crossing point of all beings, the living as well as the dead.<ref name=eck1998-p145-146/> It is for this reason that the story of the ''avatarana'' is told at ''[[Śrāddha|Shraddha]]'' ceremonies for the deceased in Hinduism, and Ganges water is used in [[Vedic rituals after death]].<ref name=eck1998-p145-146/> Among all hymns devoted to the Ganges, there are none more popular than the ones expressing the worshipper's wish to breathe his last surrounded by her waters.<ref name=eck1998-p145-146/> The ''Gangashtakam'' expresses this longing fervently:<ref name=eck1998-p145-146/><blockquote>O Mother!&nbsp;... Necklace adorning the worlds!<br />Banner rising to heaven!<br />I ask that I may leave of this body on your banks,<br />Drinking your water, rolling in your waves,<br />Remembering your name, bestowing my gaze upon you.<ref>Quoted in: {{Harvnb|Eck|1998|pp=145–46}}</ref></blockquote>
No place along her banks is more longed for at the moment of death by Hindus than Varanasi, the Great Cremation Ground, or ''[[Shmashana|Mahashmshana]]''.<ref name=eck1998-p145-146/> Those who are lucky enough to die in Varanasi, are cremated on the banks of the Ganges, and are granted instant salvation.<ref name=eck1982-p215>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|p=215}}</ref> If the death has occurred elsewhere, salvation can be achieved by immersing the ashes in the Ganges.<ref name=eck1982-p215/> If the ashes have been immersed in another body of water, a relative can still gain salvation for the deceased by journeying to the Ganges, if possible during the lunar "fortnight of the ancestors" in the Hindu calendar month of [[Ashwin]] (September or October), and performing the ''Shraddha'' rites.<ref name=eck1982-p215/>

Hindus also perform ''[[Pinda (riceball)|pinda]] pradana'', a rite for the dead, in which balls of rice and sesame seed are offered to the Ganges while the names of the deceased relatives are recited.<ref name=eck1982-p215-216>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|pp=215–16}}</ref> Every sesame seed in every ball thus offered, according to one story, assures a thousand years of heavenly salvation for each relative.<ref name=eck1982-p215-216/> Indeed, the Ganges is so important in the rituals after death that the ''Mahabharata'', in one of its popular ''ślokas'', says, "If only (one) bone of a (deceased) person should touch the water of the Ganges, that person shall dwell honoured in heaven."<ref>Quoted in: {{Harvnb|Eck|1982|p=216}}</ref> As if to illustrate this truism, the ''Kashi Khanda'' (Varanasi Chapter) of the [[Skanda Purana]] recounts the remarkable story of ''Vahika'', a profligate and unrepentant sinner, who is killed by a tiger in the forest. His soul arrives before [[Yama (Hinduism)|Yama]], the Lord of Death, to be judged for the afterworld. Having no compensating virtue, Vahika's soul is at once dispatched to [[Naraka (Hinduism)|hell]]. While this is happening, his body on earth, however, is being picked at by vultures, one of whom flies away with a foot bone. Another bird comes after the vulture, and in fighting him off, the vulture accidentally drops the bone into the Ganges below. Blessed by this event, Vahika, on his way to hell, is rescued by a celestial chariot which takes him instead to heaven.<ref name=eck1982-p216>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|p=216}}</ref>

===The Purifying Ganges===
[[Image:BathingGhatBanares1885.jpg|right|thumb|Women and children at a bathing [[ghat]] on the Ganges in Banares (Varanasi), 1885.]]
Hindus consider the waters of the Ganges to be both pure and purifying.<ref name=eck1982-p216-217>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|pp=216–217}}</ref> Regardless of all scientific understanding of its waters, the Ganges is always ritually and symbolically pure in Hindu culture.<ref name=eck1982-p216-217/> Nothing reclaims order from disorder more than the waters of the Ganga.<ref name=eck1982-p217>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|pp=217}}</ref> Moving water, as in a river, is considered purifying in Hindu culture because it is thought to both absorb impurities and take them away.<ref name=eck1982-p217/> The swiftly moving Ganga, especially in its upper reaches, where a bather has to grasp an anchored chain to not be carried away, is especially purifying.<ref name=eck1982-p217/> What the Ganges removes, however, is not necessarily physical dirt, but symbolic dirt; it wipes away the sins of the bather, not just of the present, but of a lifetime.<ref name=eck1982-p217/>

A popular paean to the Ganga is the ''Ganga Lahiri'' composed by a 17th-century poet Jagannatha who, legend has it, was turned out of his Hindu [[Brahmin]] caste for carrying on an affair with a Muslim woman. Having attempted futilely to be rehabilitated within the Hindu fold, the poet finally appeals to Ganga, the hope of the hopeless, and the comforter of last resort. Along with his beloved, Jagannatha sits at the top of the flight of steps leading to the water at the famous ''Panchganga'' [[Ghat]] in Varanasi. As he recites each verse of the poem, the water of the Ganges rises one step until in the end it envelops the lovers and carries them away.<ref name=eck1982-p217/> "I come to you as a child to his mother", begins the ''Ganga Lahiri''.<ref name=eck1982-p218>Quoted in {{Harvnb|Eck|1982|p=218}}</ref> <blockquote> I come as an orphan to you, moist with love.<br />I come without refuge to you, giver of sacred rest.<br />I come a fallen man to you, uplifter of all.<br />I come undone by disease to you, the perfect physician.<br />I come, my heart dry with thirst, to you, ocean of sweet wine.<br />Do with me whatever you will.<ref name=eck1982-p218/></blockquote>

===Consort, Shakti, and Mother===
Ganga is a consort to all three major male deities of Hinduism.<ref name=eck1982-p219>{{Harvnb|Eck|1982|p=219}}</ref> As Brahma's partner she always travels with him in the form of water in his [[kamandalu]] (water-pot).<ref name=eck1982-p219/> She is also [[Vishnu]]'s consort.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> Not only does she emanate from his foot as ''Vishnupadi'' in the ''avatarana'' story, but is also, with [[Sarasvati]] and [[Lakshmi]], one of his co-wives.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> In one popular story, envious of being outdone by each other, the co-wives begin to quarrel. While Lakshmi attempts to mediate the quarrel, Ganga and Sarasvati, heap misfortune on each other. They curse each other to become rivers, and to carry within them, by washing, the sins of their human worshippers. Soon their husband, Vishnu, arrives and decides to calm the situation by separating the goddesses. He orders Sarasvati to marry Brahma, Ganga to marry Shiva, and Lakshmi, as the blameless conciliator, to remain as his own wife. Ganga and Sarasvati, however, are so distraught at this dispensation, and wail so loudly, that Vishnu is forced to take back his words. Consequently, in their lives as rivers they are still thought to be with him.<ref name=eck1998-p146>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|p=146}}</ref>

[[Image:Gangadhara.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Shiva]], as ''Gangadhara'', bearing the Descent of the [[Ganges river|Ganges]], as the goddess [[Parvati]], the sage [[Bhagiratha]], and the bull [[Nandi (bull)|Nandi]] look on (circa 1740).]]
It is [[Shiva]]'s relationship with Ganga, that is the best-known in Ganges mythology.<ref name=eck1998-p147>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|p=147}}</ref> Her descent, the ''avatarana'' is not a one-time event, but a continuously occurring one in which she is forever falling from heaven into his locks and being forever tamed.<ref name=eck1998-p147/> Shiva, is depicted in Hindu iconography as ''Gangadhara'', the "Bearer of the Ganga", with Ganga, shown as spout of water, rising from his hair.<ref name=eck1998-p147/> The Shiva-Ganga relationship is both perpetual and intimate.<ref name=eck1998-p147/>  Shiva is sometimes called ''Uma-Ganga-Patiswara'' ("Husband and Lord of Uma (Parvati) and Ganga"), and Ganga often arouses the jealousy of Shiva's better-known consort.<ref name=eck1998-p147/>

Ganga is the ''[[shakti]]'' or the moving, restless, rolling energy in the form of which the otherwise reclusive and unapproachable Shiva appears on earth.<ref name="eck1982-p219"/> As water, this moving energy can be felt, tasted, and absorbed.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> The war-god [[Murugan|Skanda]] addresses the sage [[Agastya]] in the ''Kashi Khand'' of the ''[[Skanda Purana]]'' in these words:<ref name=eck1982-p219/> <blockquote>One should not be amazed&nbsp;... that this Ganges is really Power, for is she not the Supreme Shakti of the Eternal Shiva, taken in the form of water?<br />This Ganges, filled with the sweet wine of compassion, was sent out for the salvation of the world by Shiva, the Lord of the Lords.<br />Good people should not think this Triple-Pathed River to be like the thousand other earthly rivers, filled with water.<ref name=eck1982-p219/></blockquote>

The Ganga is also the mother, the ''Ganga Mata'' (''mata''="mother") of Hindu worship and culture, accepting all and forgiving all.<ref name=eck1982-p218/> Unlike other goddesses, she has no destructive or fearsome aspect, destructive though she might be as a river in nature.<ref name=eck1982-p218/> She is also a mother to other gods.<ref name=eck1998-p149>{{Harvnb|Eck|1998|p=149}}</ref> She accepts Shiva's incandescent seed from the fire-god [[Agni]], which is too hot for this world and cools it in her waters.<ref name=eck1998-p149/> This union produces Skanda, or Kartikeya, the god of war.<ref name=eck1998-p149/> In the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', she is married to [[Shantanu]], and the mother of heroic warrior-patriarch, [[Bhishma]].<ref name=eck1998-p149/> When Bhishma is mortally wounded in battle, Ganga comes out of the water in human form and weeps uncontrollably over his body.<ref name=eck1998-p149/>

The Ganges is the distilled lifeblood of the Hindu tradition, of its divinities, holy books, and enlightenment.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> As such, her worship does not require the usual rites of invocation (''avahana'') at the beginning and dismissal (''visarjana'') at the end, required in the worship of other gods.<ref name=eck1982-p219/> Her divinity is immediate and everlasting.<ref name=eck1982-p219/>

===Ganges in classical Indian iconography===
{{Gallery
|width = 130
|align = center
|File:GangaBeshnagarBhopalStateCloseUp.jpg|alt1=|Photograph (1875) of goddess Ganga (Gupta period, 5th or 6th century CE) from [[Vidisha#Historic Places and Monuments|Besnagar]], Madhya Pradesh, now in [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]].
|File:GangaElloraRameshwarCaveCloseUp.jpg|alt2=|Goddess Ganga with left hand resting on a dwarf attendant's head from the [[Ellora Caves#Other Hindu caves|Rameshwar Temple]], [[Ellora Caves]], Maharashtra (6th century)
|File:GangaTerracottaAhichchhatra.JPG|alt3=|The goddess Ganga stands on her mount, the ''[[makara (Hindu mythology)|makara]]'', with a ''[[kumbha]]'', a full pot of water, in her hand, while an attendant holds a parasol over her. Terracotta, [[Ahichatra]], Uttar Pradesh, [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]], 5th century, now in [[National Museum, New Delhi]]
|File:GoddessGangaInTribhangaWithRetinue.JPG|alt4=|The goddess Ganga (right) in [[tribhanga]] pose with retinue. [[Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty|Pratihara]], 10th century, now in [[National Museum, New Delhi]]
}}

Early in ancient Indian culture, the river Ganges was associated with fecundity, its redeeming waters, and its rich silt providing sustenance to all who lived along its banks.<ref>{{Harvnb|Blurton|1993|p=100}}</ref> A counterpoise to the dazzling heat of the Indian summer, the Ganges came to be imbued with magical qualities and to be revered in anthropomorphic form.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wangu|2003|p=90}}</ref> By the 5th century CE, an elaborate mythology surrounded the Ganges, now a goddess in her own right, and a symbol for all rivers of India.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wangu|2003|p=90}}, {{Harvnb|Pal|1997|p=43}}</ref> Hindu temples all over India had statues and reliefs of the goddess carved at their entrances, symbolically washing the sins of arriving worshippers and guarding the gods within.<ref name=pal-1997-p43>{{Harvnb|Pal|1997|p=43}}</ref> As protector of the [[sanctum sanctorum]], the goddess soon came to be depicted with several characteristic accessories: the ''[[Makara (Hindu mythology)|makara]]'' (a crocodile-like undersea monster, often shown with an elephant-like trunk), the ''[[kumbha]]'' (an overfull vase), various overhead parasol-like coverings, and a gradually increasing retinue of humans.<ref name=darian2001-p114>{{Harvnb|Darian|2001|p=114}}</ref>

Central to the goddess's visual identification is the ''makara'', which is also her ''[[vahana]]'', or mount. An ancient symbol in India, it pre-dates all appearances of the goddess Ganga in art.<ref name=darian2001-p114/> The ''makara'' has a dual symbolism. On the one hand, it represents the life-affirming waters and plants of its environment; on the other, it represents fear, both fear of the unknown which it elicits by lurking in those waters, and real fear which it instils by appearing in sight.<ref name=darian2001-p114/> The earliest extant unambiguous pairing of the ''makara'' with Ganga is at the [[Udayagiri Caves]] in Central India (circa 400 CE). Here, in the [[Udaygiri Caves#Description|Cave V]], flanking the main figure of Vishnu shown in his boar incarnation, two river goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna appear atop their respective mounts, ''makara'' and ''[[kurma]]'' (a turtle or tortoise).<ref name=darian2001-p114/>

The ''makara'' is often accompanied by a ''[[gana]]'', a small boy or child, near its mouth, as, for example, shown in the Gupta period relief from [[Vidisha#Historic Places and Monuments|Besnagar]], Central India, in the left-most frame above.<ref name=darian-2001-p118>{{Harvnb|Darian|2001|p=118}}</ref> The ''gana'' represents both posterity and development (''udbhava'').<ref name=darian-2001-p118/> The pairing of the fearsome, life-destroying ''makara'' with the youthful, life-affirming ''gana'' speaks to two aspects of the Ganges herself. Although she has provided sustenance to millions, she has also brought hardship, injury, and death by causing major floods along her banks.<ref>{{Harvnb|Darian|2001|pp=119–20}}</ref> The goddess Ganga is also accompanied by a dwarf attendant, who carries a cosmetic bag, and on whom she sometimes leans, as if for support.<ref name=pal-1997-p43/> (See, for example, frames 1, 2, and 4 above.)

The ''purna kumbha'' or full pot of water is the second most discernible element of the Ganga iconography.<ref name=darian-2001-p125>{{Harvnb|Darian|2001|p=125}}</ref> Appearing first also in the relief in the Udayagiri Caves (5th century), it gradually appeared more frequently as the theme of the goddess matured.<ref name=darian-2001-p125/> By the 7th century it had become an established feature, as seen, for example, in the [[Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh#Dashavatara temple|Dashavatara temple]], Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh (7th century), the [[Badoli Temples|Trimurti temple]], [[Badoli]], [[Chittor Fort|Chittorgarh]], Rajasthan, and at the [[Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh#Tourist attractions|Lakshmaneshwar temple]], [[Kharod]], [[Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh]],<ref name=darian-2001-p125/> (9th or 10th century), and seen very clearly in frame 3 above and less clearly in the remaining frames. Worshipped even today, the full pot is emblematic of the formless [[Brahman]], as well as of woman, of the womb, and of birth.<ref name=darian-2001-p126>{{Harvnb|Darian|2001|p=126}}</ref> Furthermore, The river goddesses Ganga and Saraswati were both born from Brahma's pot, containing the celestial waters.<ref name=darian-2001-p126/>

In her earliest depictions at temple entrances, the goddess Ganga appeared standing beneath the overhanging branch of a tree, as seen as well in the Udayagiri caves.<ref name=darian-2001-p130>{{Harvnb|Darian|2001|p=130}}</ref> However, soon the tree cover had evolved into a ''[[Chatra (umbrella)|chatra]]'' or parasol held by an attendant, for example, in the 7th-century Dasavatara temple at Deogarh.<ref name=darian-2001-p130/> (The parasol can be clearly seen in frame 3 above; its stem can be seen in frame 4, but the rest has broken off.) The cover undergoes another transformation in the temple at Kharod, Bilaspur (9th or 10th century), where the parasol is lotus-shaped,<ref name=darian-2001-p130/> and yet another at the Trimurti temple at Badoli where the parasol has been replaced entirely by a lotus.<ref name=darian-2001-p130/>

As the iconography evolved, sculptors, especially in central India, were producing animated scenes of the goddess, replete with an entourage and suggestive of a queen en route to a river to bathe.<ref>{{Harvnb|Los Angeles County Museum of Art|Pal|1988|p=33}}</ref> A relief similar to the depiction in frame 4 above, is described in {{Harvnb|Pal|1997|p=43}} as follows: <blockquote> A typical relief of about the ninth century that once stood at the entrance of a temple, the river goddess Ganga is shown as a voluptuously endowed lady with a retinue. Following the iconographic prescription, she stands gracefully on her composite ''makara'' mount and holds a water pot. The dwarf attendant carries her cosmetic bag, and a&nbsp;... female holds the stem of a giant lotus leaf that serves as her mistress's parasol. The fourth figure is a male guardian. Often in such reliefs, the ''makara''{{'s}} tail is extended with great flourish into a scrolling design symbolizing both vegetation and water.<ref name=pal-1997-p43/></blockquote>

===Kumbh Mela===
[[File:Kumbh Mela2001.JPG|thumb|A procession of [[Akhara]]s marching over a makeshift bridge over the Ganges River. Kumbh Mela at [[Prayagraj]], 2001.]]
{{main|Kumbh Mela}}
Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu [[pilgrimage]] in which Hindus gather at the Ganges River. The normal Kumbh [[Mela]] is celebrated every 3 years, the ''Ardh'' (half) Kumbh is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and [[Prayagraj]],<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828666,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025060100/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828666,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 October 2007 |title=The Urn Festival |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=8 February 1960 |access-date=10 May 2013}} {{subscription required}}</ref> the ''Purna'' (complete) Kumbh takes place every twelve years<ref name=hydro/> at four places ([[Triveni Sangam]] (Prayagraj), Haridwar, [[Ujjain]], and [[Nashik]]). The ''Maha'' (great) Kumbh Mela which comes after 12 'Purna Kumbh Melas', or 144 years, is held at Prayagraj.<ref name=hydro>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JI65-MygMm0C&pg=PA165 |title=The Basis of Civilization: Water Science? |publisher= International Association of Hydrological Science |page=165 |isbn= 978-1901502572 |year=2004 |editor=J. C. Rodda |editor2=Lucio Ubertini}}</ref>

The major event of the festival is [[Ritual purification|ritual bathing]] at the banks of the river. Other activities include religious discussions, devotional singing, mass feeding of holy men and women and the poor, and religious assemblies where doctrines are debated and standardized. Kumbh Mela is the most sacred of all the pilgrimages.<ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-UwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA25 | magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] | title=A Million Hindus Wash Away Their Sins | date=1 May 1950 | volume=18 | pages=25–29 | access-date=27 October 2020 | archive-date=28 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328172555/https://books.google.com/books?id=-UwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.guardian.co.tt/columnist/2012-10-25/kumbh-mela-most-sacred-hindu-pilgrimages | title=Kumbh Mela, most sacred of Hindu pilgrimages | work=The Guardian | date=25 October 2012 | access-date=10 May 2013 | author=Maharaj | archive-date=8 August 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808035132/http://www.guardian.co.tt/columnist/2012-10-25/kumbh-mela-most-sacred-hindu-pilgrimages | url-status=live }}</ref> Thousands of holy men and women attend, and the auspiciousness of the festival is in part attributable to this. The [[sadhu]]s are seen clad in saffron sheets with ashes and powder dabbed on their skin per the requirements of ancient traditions. Some called ''[[Dashanami Sampradaya#Naga Sadhus|naga sanyasis]]'', may not wear any clothes.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/The-17-shringars-of-Naga-sadhus/articleshow/18421671.cms | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222063810/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-02-09/allahabad/37007389_1_naga-sadhu-shringar-shahi-snan | url-status=live | archive-date=22 February 2013 | title=The 17 'shringars' of Naga sadhus | work=[[The Times of India]] |location = Allahabad | date=9 February 2013 | access-date=10 May 2013 | author=Mani, Rajiv}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSWDL6AMKrc| title = Kumbha Mela Video: Amazing and Magical Celebration of Life| website = [[YouTube]]| date = 27 March 2021| access-date = 2 June 2021| archive-date = 10 August 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220810040847/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSWDL6AMKrc| url-status = live}}</ref>