Ganga

About Ganga

Ganga rides a makara — a crocodile-like river creature — and carries a brimming water pot, her form crowned and white as foam. She fell from heaven when King Bhagiratha's penance pulled her down to revive his ashen ancestors. To spare the earth her weight, Shiva caught the torrent in his matted hair, which is why the Ganga Gayatri calls her Rudrapatni, Rudra's consort. She flows along three paths — heaven, earth, and the underworld — earning the name Tripathaga. Valmiki's Ganga Ashtakam asks the simplest boon of all: to die on her bank at Varanasi, her name on the lips.