Sacred science behind Ganga Dussehra

Ancient blessed stories always allured the devotees to gain spiritualism and live a blissful life. Ganga Dussehra is a holy parv (festival) celebrated with full devotion and enthusiasm to liberate mental sins of living and purify the mind. The significance of Ganga Dussehra is great for people of earth.

It is documented in religious literature that there is a famed and touchy story behind the festival of Ganga Dussehra. The sage Kapil Muni cursed King Sagara’s 60,000 children and reduced them to ashes for deceptively blaming him of stealing their sacrificial horse. After several Generations, King Bhagiratha performed intense penance to bring Ganga on earth to purify sins of his ancestors. Goddess Ganga was pleased by deep devotion and meditation of king Bhagiratha and decided to descend on earth.

Goddess Ganga agreed to descend, but worried about her torrential flow and force which may lead to sinking of many places on Earth. To protect devotees and people of earth, Maa Ganga advised Bhagiratha to pray Lord Shiva to slowdown the velocity of Ganga’s pure water. King Bhagiratha performed Tapasya,( prayer and puja) for lord Shiva with immense devotion who can be seated on the top the Himalayas to absorb Ganga's pouring fall. Lord Shiva pleased with King Bhagiratha and agreed to reduce the fast-moving rush of Ganga water in his matted hair to gently flow on earth. The enchanted devotion of King Bhagiratha to bring Holy Ganga from heaven to earth is the religious celebration of Ganga Dussehra. It signifies the strong connections between humans, divinities, and natural species on earth.

Ganga Dussehra falls on the 10th day of Shukla Paksha of Hindi Jyeshta month when Goddess Ganga descended from heaven to earth. The number 10 is important during the Pooja of Ganga Dussehra such as offering flowers, sweets like khoya ladoo, and fruits.  Devotees dip in the Ganga River to cleanse their mind and body. Since ancient times, the river has escorted human life, agriculture, pilgrimage routes and spiritual sanity all over north India. Holy cities like Varanasi, Haridwar, Prayagraj and Rishikesh people take holy dip in full devotion to commemorate Ganga Dussehra festival. Devotees unable to reach Ganga bank may take bath at home using Gangajal mixed in water and do Pooja procedures for Maa Ganga. At this festival, devotees chant mantras and perform aarti of Goddess Ganga which give them eternal happiness. There is a tradition to donate food, clothes, water and essentials to the deprived humans to get immense satisfaction and gain emotional proximity to God.

In Hindus, It is a religiously entrenched belief that humans pray to Goddess Ganga to seek their blessings when offering Pooja and “deep daan” at the bank of Ganga River. Devotees think that enchanting Ganga mantra may purify their mind, body, and soul and wash out sins of their actions or thoughts.

Final spiritual threads: Ganga Dussehra is one of the cherished festivals celebrated in India. Devotees pray with heart for Goddess Ganga to extricate their sins and generate strong bonding with divine forces. Devotees perform puja with procedure and voyage to riverbanks to offer “deep daan” on Ganga River to express their deep devotion.

Important note:

Above article is based on environmental input and displays personal views of the writer. Information provided in the article is for general awareness.  Any resemblance is just a coincidence. Writer is not responsible for any disagreement.