Ganga (goddess)

Ganga
Personification of the Ganges River Goddess of Forgiveness and Purification
19th century Kalighat painting of goddess Ganga
Other names	Bhagirathi Shivapriya Jahnavi Nikita Mandakini
Affiliation	Devi River goddess Yogini
Mantra	Om Sri Gangaya Namaha
Weapon	Kalasha
Mount	Makara
Festivals	Ganga Dussehra Ganga Jayanti Navaratri Loy Krathong
Personal information
Parents	Himavan (father) and Maināvati (mother)
Siblings	Parvati, Mainaka
Consort	Shantanu
Children	Bhishma

Ganga (Sanskrit: गङ्गा, IAST: Gaṅgā) is the personification of the river Ganges, who is worshipped by Hindus as the goddess of purification and forgiveness. Known by many names, Ganga is often depicted as a fair, beautiful woman, riding a divine crocodile-like creature called the makara.

Some of the earliest mentions of Ganga are found in the Rigveda, where she is mentioned as the holiest of the rivers. Her stories mainly appear in post-Vedic texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Puranas.

The Ramayana describes her to be the firstborn of Himavat, the personification of the Himalayas, and the sister of the mother goddess Parvati. However, other texts mention her origin from the preserver deity, Vishnu. Legends focus on her descent to earth, which occurred because of a royal-sage Bhagiratha, aided by the god Shiva. In the epic Mahabharata, Ganga is the mother of the warrior Bhishma in a union with the Kuru king Shantanu.

In Hinduism, Ganga is seen as a mother to humanity. Pilgrims immerse the ashes of their kin in the river Ganga, which is considered by them to bring the souls (purified spirits) closer to moksha, the liberation from the cycle of life and death. Festivals like Ganga Dussehra and Ganga Jayanti are celebrated in her honour at several sacred places, which lie along the banks of the Ganges, including Gangotri, Haridwar, Prayagraj, Varanasi and Kali Ghat in Kolkata. Alongside Gautama Buddha, Ganga is worshipped during the Loy Krathong festival in Thailand.