Jai Ganga Maiya

About the show

Ganga Maiya

Ganga is a living goddess born from the divine feet of Lord Vishnu, preserved in the kamandal of Brahma, sustained in his locks by Shiva and brought to earth by Bhagirath. Ganga liberated the souls of 60,000 sons of King Sagar. Ganga was released through Rishi Janu’s thighs and is the wife of King Shantu and the mother of Bhishma.

The Living Goddess

Ganga is the most revered river in the world and is unique in many ways. Not because of its amazing length or width or any other unusual features. There are other rivers in the world, which surpass the Ganga on many of these counts. However, no other river can match the reverence and affection that is shown to Ganga by the people of India and the world.

Ganga enriches the spiritual lives of millions of Indians for whom the river is Holy because river Ganga personifies Goddess Ganga who descends to earth to cleanse the sins of the mankind.

Residing in the kamandal of Lord Brahma, Bhagwati Ganga, like Saraswati and Laxmi, is one of the seven shaktis of supreme Goddess Mahamaya Adishakti.

The story goes far back when King Sagar, proud father of 60,001 sons, ruled India. The youth, so goes the legend, were so disrespectful to Kapil muni, a holy man, while trying to trace the missing horse used in Ashwamedh yagna, that he reduces them to ashes with a withering look.

On repeated repentance and requests by the sole surviving son of King Sagar, does Kapil muni finally relent? King Sagar’s sons would attain mukti only if their sinful remains are cleansed by the water of the goddess Ganga.

Generation after generation do penance to appease Brahma but without success and finally after much praying, pleading and tapasya by Bhagirath, the seventh generation of King Sagar Ganga reluctantly consents to descend to earth.

To contain it’s powerful fall, Lord Shiva steps in the way and lets the river tumble gently through his long hair onto the Himalayas. Ganga then flows across India to the edge of ocean, where she washes over the ashes and gives mukti to the sons of King Sagar, an event commemorated even today.

Ganga represents an innermost strain of pristine coolness, piety and purity. The river itself epitomises all the characteristics India is known for; mythical, serene, all pervading and assimilative.