of this festival in Maharashtra, particu-
larly the processions to immerse the
images in the sea, became an important
theater to demonstrate and affirm
Hindu cultural and political identity.
Ganga
In Hindu mythology, the goddesswhose
material form is the GangesRiver. The
Ganges is sacred because the river is
considered to be a goddess who has the
power to take away the sins of those who
bathe (snana) in her. There are numer-
ous legends to explain her origin. The
best-known is the tale of King Bhagirath,
who by his asceticpractice succeeds in
bringing the Ganges down from heaven
to earth. Bhagirath is the great-great-
grandson of King Sagar, whose 60,000
sonshad been burned to ash by the sage
Kapila’s magic power after they had
erroneously accused Kapila of being a
thief. Kapila later tells Anshuman, King
Sagar’s grandson and sole surviving
descendant, that the only way to bring
peace to the souls of Sagar’s sons is to
bring the Ganges down from heaven to
earth. Anshuman strives unsuccessfully
to do this, as does his son Dilipafter
him. Dilip’s son Bhagirath takes their
efforts to heart and retires to the
Himalayas, where he performs asceti-
cismuntil the gods finally agree to send
the Ganges down to earth. Yet
Bhagiratha’s efforts are not yet over.
Next, he has to gain the favor of the god
Shiva, so that Shiva will agree to take the
shock of the falling river on his head.
Otherwise, its force will destroy the
earth. When all is finally in place, the
Ganges falls to earth onto the head of
Shiva. Bhagirath leads Ganga out of the
mountains to the sea, where she touches
his ancestors’ ashes and they finally find
peace. This myth highlights both the
salvific touch of the Ganga and her inti-
mate association with the last rites
(antyeshthi samskara) for the dead.
According to another story, the
Ganges comes down to earth because of
a curse pronounced during a family
quarrel between Vishnuand his wives
Ganga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. When
one day Ganga and Vishnu begin
exchanging lustful glances in public,
Saraswati gets angry and begins to beat
Ganga. As Lakshmi tries to stop her,
Saraswati let loose a string of curses:
that Vishnu will be born as a stone (the
shalagram), that Lakshmi will be born
as a plant (the tulsi plant), and that
Ganga will be born as a river and take
the sins of the world on her. In the strug-
gle, Saraswati is cursed to become a
river. Vishnu sweetens Ganga’s curse by
telling her that she will be considered
very holy on earth and have the power to
remove people’s sins. Vishnu also tells
her that she will fall from heaven onto
the head of the god Shivaand become
his consort.Ganga Dashahara
Festival celebrated on the tenth dayof
the bright or waxing half of the lunar
monthof Jyeshth (May–June), which
marks the day that the goddess Gangais
believed to have descended from heaven
to earthto become the GangesRiver.
The primary religious rite performed on
this day is bathing (snana) in sacred
rivers, particularly the Ganges.Ganga Dynasty
(11th–15th c.) Eastern Indian dynasty
that ruled the coastal strip on the Bay of
Bengal in the modern states of Orissa
and Andhra Pradesh. Although the
Ganga dynasty was never more than a
regional power, it left an artistic legacy
in a series of stunning temples in mod-
ern Orissa. The Ganga dynasty was
responsible for the temple to the god
Jagannathin the city of Puriand the
Sun Templeat Konarak, built by king
Narasimhadeva (r. 1238–1264). The
dynasty also built temples scattered
throughout the modern city of
Bhubaneshvar, including the temple to
the god Shivaas Tribhuvaneshvar, “the
Lord of the Triple World,” from which
the city takes its name.Ganga