glaciers on the southern slopes of the HIMALAYAS,
some 10,300 feet above sea level, but its tradi-
tional source is the glacial site Gangotri. Its major
flow begins where the Alaknand and Bhagirathi
rivers meet at a site called Devprayag. It is joined
by the YAMUNA River at ALLAHABAD (known tra-
ditionally as Prayag) in Uttar Pradesh and then
flows eastward through Bihar, traversing the holy
city of BENARES (Varanasi), the city of Patna, and
Calcutta (Kolkata) before entering the Bay of
Bengal.
Although the Ganges has long been the most
sacred of Indian rivers, it is mentioned unambigu-
ously only twice in the RIG VEDA, the oldest extantMorning bathing on the steps to the Ganges River in Benares (Varanasi) (Constance A. Jones)
Ganges 163 J