Prayags to Ganga and On - The Story of Our River (Tributaries & Trails)

The Ganga makes a long journey from the snowy pinnacle before touching the plains. Most of the people when asked, "Where do Ganga start from?" The answer would be Gangothri or Gomukh. 

Interestingly, the river that starts from Gangothri or Gomukh is Bhagirathi. As this flow starts, there is Alaknanda - named after the hindu trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh; rising at the confluence and foot of the Satopanth and Bhagirath Kharak glaciers in Uttarakhand near the Indo-Tibet border. As it flows, it eventually meets Saraswathi at Manna. 

Saraswati River is a tributary of Alaknanda River joining at Keshav Prayag, near Mana village, Badrinath.  A natural stone bridge, named "Bhim Pul", lays across flowing Saraswati river, making a passage towards Vasudhara falls and Satopanth Lake. It is believed by locals that Bhim Pul is a rock bridge founded by Bhima of Mahabharatha, to help Draupadi to cross the rivulet. From Manna we see only Alaknanda and there is no Saraswati. 

Alaknanda just before reaching Bhadrinath temple.

** Interesting is this meeting happens before the Panch Prayag and is not part of it. But every prayag - including Triveni Sangamam is expected to be the meeting of three rivers - and there is the omnipresent Saraswathi. Sárasvatī is the feminine nominative singular form of the adjective sárasvat (the name of the keeper of the celestial waters), derived from ‘sáras’ + ‘vat’, meaning ‘having sáras-’. Sanskrit sáras- means ‘lake, pond’ (cf. the derivative sārasa- ‘lake bird = Sarus crane’).  *sar- ‘run, flow’  could have been a river that connected many lakes due to its abundant volumes of water-flow, or a general name for flowing river. A separate post for Sarawathi. 

The two head streams of Ganga are the Alaknanda and the Bhagirati. Though the former is longer and is regarded as the source stream in hydrology, Bhagirati, with its strong mythological connection, is regarded as the main source of the Ganga. 

Bhagirathi the source stream of Ganga emanating from Gangotri Glacier at Gaumukh (Cow face) at an elevation of 4,356 m

When Bhagirath’s penance brought Ganga down to earth, she flowed down from the heavens fiercely, threatening to finish all life on the earth. Lord Siva controlled her flow by trapping her in his matted tresses. Later he released her as seven streams which eventually meet and river Ganga flows becoming the elixir of life . The confluence of rivers Alaknanda and Bhagirathi at Devprayag, forms and flows as river Ganga or The Ganges from the point forward.

Confluence of rivers - Prayags are consecrated confluences of sacred rivers where cleansing before worship, Shraardha (the last rites for the departed soul) and worship of the river itself is performed with devotion.

Devprayag = Bhagirathi + Alaknanda ( 93kms from Haridwar)

Rudraprayag = Alaknanda + Mandakini (71 kms from Devprayag)

Karnaprayag = Pindar + Alaknanda ( 34 kms from Rudraprayag)

Nandaprayag = Mandakini + Alaknanda (21kms from Karnaprayag)

Vishnuprayag = Dhauli Ganga + Alaknanda (10kms from Joshimath)

At Vishnu Prayag, Dhauli Ganga originating from Niti Pass in the border regions between Garhwal and southwestern Tibet, flowing 50 km (30 mi) southwards meeting the Rishiganga on its left bank at Rini, in the vicinity of Tapovan in Chamoli district finally meets the Alaknanda. Sage Narada is believed to have performed penance when Lord Vishnu appeared before him to release him from his curse. An ancient temple for Lord Vishnu stands here.

To quench Parvathi’s thirst, while travelling from Kailash, Lord Siva struck his trident at the base of the Trishul Mountain and the River Nandakini emerged. Originating in the glaciers below Nanda Ghunti on the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, Nandakini joins Alaknanda at Nandaprayag. There is a temple for Gopalji.

The Pindar or Karnaganga has its source in the Pindari Glacier and it unites with Alaknanda at Karnaprayag. This place is named after Karna, the tragic hero of Mahabharata, who meditated here. The main temple is dedicated to Uma, Himavan’s daughter.

At Rudraprayag Mandakini comming from Kedarnath, meets Alaknanda. 

Finally it is at Devaprayag, here The Ganga is born at the confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi.

Devprayag is a town and a nagar panchayat in Tehri Garhwal District in the state of Uttarakhand, India, and is the final one of the Panch Prayag.

She then pierces through Sukhi near Rishikesh, and comes to Haridwar. It is at Rishikesh that the Ganga leaves the mountain ranges in Shivalik and flows onto the plains in northern India. At both these places, Ganga is worshiped, with a pledge not to pollute her. She is diverted into Upper Ganga Canal, and continues flowing South East leaving Uttarkand to UP. 

At UP in Allahabad, she meets Yamunotri - again at the Thriveni Sangamam - joining the imaginary or underlying Saraswathi. The longest tributary of Ganga is the Yamuna. The distance from Yamunothri to Allahabad is more than the distance from Tibet via Nepal to Brahmaghat. 

She touches Bihar, where she meets Karnali river comming from Tibet through Nepal at Revelganj. Karnali joins the Sharda river at Brahmaghat and together they form Ghaghara river, thus becoming the largest by volume and the second longest left bank tributary of the Ganges. One of the major river joining Sharda river is Gori Ganga. Gori Ganga's principal source is the Milam Glacier, just northeast of Nanda Devi along with the Glaciers of the Ralam River, and the Pyunshani and Uttari & Dakshini Balati Glaciers that lie on the western face of the Panchachuli Peaks. There are many other rivers joining Goriganga enroute, which joins the Kali River  also known as Sharadha rive or Mahakali river at Jauljibi. Kali or Sharadha river originates at Kalapani at an elevation of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) in the Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand, India. It flows along Nepal's western border with India

"Ghaghara, also called Karnali, is a perennial trans-boundary river originating on the Tibetan Plateau near Lake Manasarovar. The Karnali cuts through the Himalayas in Nepal and joins the Sharda River at Brahmaghat in India. Together they form the Ghaghara River, a major left bank tributary of the Ganges. - Brahmaghat."

She then flows through Jharkand to finally reach West Bengal. 

At Farakka, it forms the barrage and further ahead before eventually meeting the sea. Ganga bifurcates into Hoogly, Padma and Jamuna . Hoogly becomes Bhagirathi and winds southwards into Bay of Bengal.  There is the Sundarbans  delta, famous for it's Bengal Royal Tigers.  Jamuna, the largest distributary of Brahmaputra meets Padma at Shivalaya. Padma turns south-eastwards to Bangladesh.

Started my journey exploring Ganga taking a dip and evoking her blessings at Haridwar. Waiting to see her join the Bay of Bengal - Via Hoogly and her other travels enroute. 

अपने इश्क को ढूढ़ते रहे हम कश्मीर से कन्याकुमारी तक
लेकिन जिंदगी हमारी लिन थी गंगा के किनारे.....

Like our life, Ganga too is not only polluted but also is shrinking. Right from the glacier, where the streams are getting narrower to people constructing more of barrages and Canals, changing routes. But like life, the flow goes on. May be that is the story of Saraswathi too....for another post, another day. 

"Birth, sickness, ageing and death flow ever onward, a river without ford or bridge....Have you prepared yourself a boat? " - Dampa Sangye (died 1117)

*Tributaries  

 • left Ramganga, Garra, Gomti, Ghaghara, Gandak, Burhi Gandak, Koshi, Mahananda Brahmaputra

 • right Yamuna, Tamsa (also called Tons), Karamnasa, Sone, Punpun, Falgu, Kiul, Chandan, Ajoy, Damodar, Rupnarayan