Gangavataran in Puranas & Sculptures

Celebrated every year in the Jyeshtha month, this year we celebrate the day Ganga descended on the Earth on 9th June 2022, on the tenth day of the lunar cycle (Shukla Paksha). The story is a favorite among sculptors and Bharatanatyam dancers. This day is significant to millions around the country, and it's history is ancient.

Ganga's descent onto the earth, with Shiva to receive her to divert her flow. Bhagirathi is standing with hands folded after his several years of tapas. Image Source: Wikipedia

Mother Ganga, according to Sanatanis, descended down from the mountains to Brahmakund, in Haridwar, on the tenth day of Jyeshtha Shukla Paksha from Lord Brahma's kamandal (water pot). Haridwar, the ancient city where she dropped from Shiva's hair, is a spiritual center for millions of people. Ganga came to earth to release Bhagiratha's forefathers' spirits from a curse. Sage Kapila's anger towards Bhagiratha's forefathers prevented them from reaching heaven. Bhagiratha prayed to Brahma and Shiva for many years in search of the force that might rescue the 60,000 princes of his ancestors from the curse. Bhagiratha arrived to Sage Kapila's ashram, where his forefathers' ashes were still there. The princes' souls were redeemed when Ganga poured over the ashes.

The curse of Bhagiratha's clan in the Shiva Puranas:

Sagara was born with a poison, but he grew to be a very able and virtuous king, who re-instated the piety of kshatriyas in a fallen kingdom. His father, Bahu's kingdom was taken over by several Rakshasaas, and along with his queen he was exiled to the forest, along with his jealous co-wife. Her jealousy pushed her to poison the pregnant queen. Thus, the queen took hermitage, and birthed noble Sagara. Sagara had sixty thousand sons, whom he sent out when his sacrificial horses went missing. They turned the earth upside down, until they reached Sage Kapila's ashram, who was in a deep meditation. As the sage's eyes opened, the fire from his eyes burnt all but four of his sons.

The burning souls were tortured as a result, and they were never able to attain their heavenly bodies. Bhagiratha was the fourth generation since Sagara who finally released his ancestors. Ganga was summoned to earth by his tapas, who required her water in order to execute the final rituals for his forefathers' ashes. Her descent would be so powerful that it would demolish the earth and send her to the netherworld. So, he performed tapas Shiva, who walked in and took her fall into his jata, diverting the water till it is safe to flow down. His hair are considered to symbolize the Himalayan mountains' trees. Cutting down trees unleashes the water's power, resulting in erosion, floods, and catastrophes.

The Gangavatarana, the final of the "108 Karanas" or abstract dance moves outlined in Bharata Muni's Natya Shastra, is used to tell this story in bharatnatyam. In the puranas it is written as "A foot with the toes and the sole turned upwards, hands exhibiting Tripataka with the fingers pointing downwards, and the head being Sannata". Dance sculptures are ornamental additions to temples that portray key parts of Hindu worship—ritual, change, and meditation—in a visual manner. Many temples around the country added sculptures of this karana through the centuries.

Many devotees swim in the holy Ganga river as part of the yearly event. Bathing on the Ganges River is considered very auspicious during the Hindu festival of Ganga Dussehra. The Ganga Dussehra festival is meant to wash away all of a person's sins. Some of the traditions on this day include chanting "Om Namah Shivayai Narayanayai Dussehraai Gangai Namah" after taking a plunge in the Ganges and performing havan. On Ganga Dussehra, the number of articles offered and the number of objects utilized in devotion should total 10. Followers of Manusmriti believe that by doing so, they are released from 10 various forms of sin, according to the Manusmriti: three bodily sins, four verbal crimes, and three mental sins. The festival of Ganga Dussehra marks the arrival of the goddess who washes us of our sins and liberates us from sorrow.