holy, and one gains great religious merit
by seeing it, drinking from it, touching
it, or merely by thinking about it. It is
also considered the best place to per-
form certain rites for the dead.
Hindu devotion to and reverence for
the Ganges has established it as a place
of unique importance. The religious
importance of the Ganges is reflected in
the religious practices connected with it
and the many well-known pilgrimage
places (tirtha) that are found on its
banks, particularly the city of Benares.
The Ganges is considered the paradigm
for the sacred river. Other Indian sacred
rivers, such as the Godavari and the
Cauvery, are claimed to “be” the
Ganges—that is, one can gain the
same religious benefits from bathing
(snana) in them that one gains by
bathing in the Ganges.
Gangotri
Sacred site (tirtha) in the Himalayasat
the headwaters of the BhagirathiRiver,
one of the Himalayan tributaries of the
Ganges. Ritually speaking, Gangotri is
considered to be the source of the
Ganges, although the river’s actual
source is the glacier at Gaumukh,
another twelve miles upstream. Its high
altitude also means that it is only acces-
sible between late April and October,
after which it is closed for the winter
months. One ritual center in Gangotri
is the river itself, in which pilgrims
bathe (snana), braving the frigid
waters. The other center is the temple
to the goddess Ganga, first built about
250 years ago by the Gurkha monarch
Amar Singh Thapa and restored in the
late nineteenth century by the royal
house of Jaipur. By the side of the river
is a large stone slab, on which the sage
Bhagirathis said to have performed his
austerities to bring the Ganges down to
earth. As with all the places where the
Ganges makes some transition,
Gangotri is considered particularly
holy. Its sanctity is amplified because it
is difficult to get to and is only accessi-
ble during the summer months.Gangotri
Temple in Gangotri. Located in the Himalayas,
Gangotri is traditionally considered the source of the Ganges River.