Ganges
India's sacred waterway
The Ganges is a major river flowing through northern India and Bangladesh, sacred in Hinduism.
Hindus bathe in its waters for spiritual purification and scatter ashes of the dead along its banks.
The river originates in the Himalayas and empties into the Bay of Bengal.
Pilgrims travel from across India to the Ganges.
Sacred Hindu city, Ganges
- yatraSouth Asian religious journey
- devoteesPassionate adherents
- ritualsCeremonial repeated practices
- aartiHindu light ceremony
darshan · puja · dip · cremation · immersion · ashes · prayers · offerings
Symbol denoting variation
- SundarbansVast Indo-Bangladeshi mangrove delta
- tributariesStreams joining larger rivers
- confluenceMeeting point of streams
- BrahmaputraTrans-Himalayan river system
floodplain · sediment · meander · watershed · downstream · upstream · source · glacier
Sacred spiritual purity
- purityUncontaminated quality
- divinitySacred nature or nougat-like sweet
- sanctityQuality of being inviolable
- reverenceProfound admiring respect
blessings · worship · veneration · spirituality · devotion · faith · consecration · sacredness
Liquid refuse in drains
- effluentDischarged liquid waste
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
- industrial wasteByproducts from manufacturing processes
- toxinsHarmful biological substances
plastics · dumping · cleanup · conservation · treatment plants · heavy metals · untreated · tanneries
Varanasi
Sacred Hindu city, Ganges
aarti · darshan · puja · dip · cremation · immersion · ashes · prayers · offerings · pilgrims
delta
Symbol denoting variation
- SundarbansVast Indo-Bangladeshi mangrove delta
- tributariesStreams joining larger rivers
- confluenceMeeting point of streams
Brahmaputra · floodplain · sediment · meander · watershed · downstream · upstream · source · glacier · Himalayas
holiness
Sacred spiritual purity
- purityUncontaminated quality
- divinitySacred nature or nougat-like sweet
- sanctityQuality of being inviolable
reverence · blessings · worship · veneration · spirituality · devotion · faith · consecration · sacredness · purification
sewage
Liquid refuse in drains
- effluentDischarged liquid waste
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
- industrial wasteByproducts from manufacturing processes
toxins · plastics · dumping · cleanup · conservation · treatment plants · heavy metals · untreated · tanneries · factories
Shiva
Hindu god of dissolution
matted hair · Vishnu · Brahma · Mahabharata · Ramayana · Vedas · Sanskrit · goddess · celestial · creation
- riversMississippi, Amazon, river, rivers, Nile
- Hindu HeritageVedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita
- Asian RiversIndus, Brahmaputra, Krishna, Mahi, Ajay
- Asian WatersYangtze, Mekong, Indus, Yellow River, Brahmaputra
- British IndiaBritish Raj, East India Company, viceroy, Raj, governor-general
- GangesVaranasi, Benares, sacred river, river goddess, tributaries
GangesJordan River
Middle Eastern waterway ending saltily
Nile · Tiber · Thames · Mississippi
- Ganges RiverMajor South Asian waterway
- Ganges DeltaLargest tidal wetland system