10

HE HOLY GANGA

Bol Ganga Maiya Ki Jai

'Among the rivers, I am the holy Ganga'. This is the dictum of
Gita in the words of Lord Krishna.
There is no doubt that this portion of the Indian Himalayas
owes much of its repute for sanctity to its beneficent characters,
as the source of mighty Ganges and disperser of water to the
thirsty plains below where water is prized because it gives life,
rears agriculture and generates electricity. We can very well
understand the fanciful legends which have grown up regarding
the origin and nature of the Indian rivers and especially of the
Ganges. The sources of the Ganges are the glaciers of the snowy
range though the longest of its feeder takes rise beyond the first
line of feeder, in the high ground between Bhot and the
northerly ranges in Tibet, and burst through gorges of marvellous
depth into the rocking hilly region of the Sub-Himalaya.
The Himalaya is the mountain lord. The father of lordly pair
of daughters, fairest of the fair, Ganga whose waters cleanse and
save, who roams at pleasure, fairest and free purging all sinners
to the sea.
Garhwal is the birth place of twin holy rivers Ganga and
Yamuna and Kumaon is the gathering place of all the waters of
the sacred river. Sir William Hunter has paid this glowing tribute