Fairs and Festivals related to Ganga River: India is a land of festivals and fairs. In fact, the festival is celebrated every day of the year. More festivals are celebrated in India than in the whole world. Each festival is associated with a different occasion, some welcome the seasons of the year, the harvest season, the rainy season, or the full moon. Others celebrate religious occasions, the birthdays of divine beings/divine beings and saints, or the beginning of the new year.
Fairs and Festivals related to Ganga River
Most of these festivals are celebrated equally in most parts of India. However, it may be that they are called by different names or celebrated differently in different parts of the country. Some such festivals are also associated with the river Ganges, which are celebrated all over India, these are mentioned below.
However, this segment is still being expanded further. There are many more such important fairs and festivals related to Ganga River which are celebrated by different castes in India and this section will also be promoted further to provide more information regarding these
Also Read: The identity of India Maa Ganga River
In India, the river Ganges has been seen to be associated not only with the Hindu religion but also with culture and civilization. For this reason, many of our fasts, festivals, fairs, etc. are associated with this river.
India is a land of festivals, celebrations, festivals. Every day here is associated with some of the other fairs, festivals, and events. These festivals bring vigor, energy, and innovation to the life of a person. All these festive occasions have been a part of our lives since the Vedic times. The mention of Brat-Parvas etc. is also found in the Anant Upanishads and Puran literature of the Vedic period, as well as many stories related to them, which make these holy occasions meaningful.
It is a part of the auspicious culture of Indian life, where every tree, animal, element, nature, stone, and river is known in some way or the other. Worship is performed on the occasion. The glory, spirituality, planets, and constellations of such occasions are deeply related to astrology folklife. They have a deep influence and greatness in Indian life from villages to cities.
Fairs and Festivals which is celebrated along the Ganga river
The path shown by Ganga to the welfare of public life, benevolence which was shown ages ago, that path is followed even today. Mankind is grateful and bowed to this ‘benevolence, humanity, the grace of the Ganges. Ganga teaches the lessons of morality, humanity, welfare, and struggle to the people through its various stories, episodes.
Increases their morale, makes them inspiring, encourages them towards earning virtue. Ganga is followed in the form of many such inspiring legends, parv, festivals. Ganga is worshiped on various such occasions and wishes to earn virtuous benefits. It is the duty of every Hindu religious person to remember some such holy festivals duly. List of Fairs and Festivals which is celebrated along river Ganga–
- Kumbh mela
- Ardh Kumbh Mela
- ganga dussehra (Gangavatara)
- Magha Purnima
- Somwati Amavasya or Mauni Amavasya
- snan parv or Kartik Purnima or Dev Deepawali
- Magh Sankranti or magh snan parv
- Chhath Puja & Chhathi Maiya
Fairs and festivals associated with the river Ganga and the legend about them
In the north, the streams emanating from the snowy glaciers of the Himalayas bless and sanctify many pilgrimages in the form of a river. In Indian culture, rivers are considered motherlike and revered, because they are the basis of water and water is the life of all living beings. Indian culture has developed and progressed by holding the zenith of these rivers. Coastal areas have prospered. In which many became famous as pilgrimages. Fairs and festivals related to Ganga river and stories about them are prevalent, which are also related to the faith of the people.
Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh Mela
The practice of the Kumbh festival is from very ancient times. In the country, this Mahaparv is organized after every 12 years at the confluence of Haridwar, Prayag (Allahabad), while in Nashik and Ujjain apart from Haridwar and Prayag, Ardh Kumbh is organized after every six years. On these occasions, fairs are held on holy rivers across the country, devotees take a bath and wish to attain Amrit, Dev Puja takes place.
Also Read About: Kumbh Mela Faith, believe and union
The mention of Kumbh is also found in the Vedas and various scriptures and their Veda mantras. The Festivals related to Ganga River Kumbh are celebrated in these four virtuous pilgrimages in the conjunction of Sun, Jupiter, and Moon. The sun had not allowed the nectar urn that came out of the ocean churning to burst. Jupiter had prevented it from falling into the hands of the demons and the Moon had not allowed it to spill out.
Story of Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh Mela: The nectar of the nectar that came out of the churning of the ocean could not be found by the Asuras, so Lord Vishnu took the form of a charming Mohini and pacified the war between the Devas and the Asuras and tricked only the Devas to drink the nectar,
but before this, when Indr’s son When Aprit ran away with him to protect the urn, the Asuras wanted to snatch it – in this snatch-up, some drops of nectar had fallen in Haridwar, Prayag, Nasik, Ujjain. Where lakhs of pilgrims gather in Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh and take baths in the rivers to get its truth. On this day, devotees earn merit by taking a dip in other rivers all over the country.
Kartik Purnima and Snan parv
Taking bath in rivers especially in the Yamuna river in the month of Kartik is considered very fruitful at pilgrimage places like Kashi, Mathura, Haridwar, Rameshwaram, etc. It is also called the bathing festival of Kartik month; Because in this, starting the full moon in the month of Ashwin, bathing is done daily till the full moon of Kartik month, hence it is popularly known as Kartik Purnima. In this bathing ritual, waking up early in the morning remembers the name of Lord Vishnu. Chanting Gayatri Mantra in the bath is beneficial.
In the month of Kartik, in the bathing process, daily tarpan is offered to the Tulsi plant, then somewhere water is given to the roots of the gooseberry tree. By lighting a lamp in the Dev Mandir, a wreath of Tulsi, amla, Lotus, etc. goes to the offering. They also light lamps on the banks of the river. Every day after Harikortan, fruits are eaten.
Magha Snan festival and Magha Sankranti, Magha Purnima
Bathing in the Ganges-Yamuna rivers every day in the month of Magh is said to be virtuous, so taking a Sangam bath in Prayag is especially auspicious. The next morning at the festival of Lohri, khichdi is donated. He himself also consumes khichdi. Donating khichdi and sesame seeds to Brahmins is said to be auspicious. Bathing is done from the full moon of Paush month to the full moon of Magh month. Mauni also keeps the fast of Amavasya.
It is said that bathing in the Ganges during the Arunodaya period destroys the sins of a person. Donation of food and water is best in Vaishakh. In the month of Kartik, penance and worship have priority, but in the month of Magha, there is great importance of chanting, austerity, and charity. By sacrificing one’s favorite things and following the rules virtuously, one gets the virtue of religion and the destruction of unrighteousness. Taking bath in Magh Snan with fruitfulness leads to the accomplishment of desired results and it is said to be salvation.
Describing the importance of the Magh bath, Maharishi Bhugu had told Vidyadhar on Maniparvat
– “Which is the month of Magh, the redness of Jabr Upakal is very high, the man who bathes regularly in a river or puddle outside the village. does. He, having delivered seven generations of father and mother’s family, takes the body like the gods himself and goes to heaven.
Story of Magha Snan festival and Magha Sankranti, Magha Purnima: Once, Maharaja Dilip completed the Yagya rituals and took a holy bath by the sages after taking a holy bath, his good deeds were greeted by all the subjects. For the benefit of the subjects, he used to do the best of the subjects from time to time with the permission of sage Vashistha. One day Maharaja Dilip said to sage Vashisht Ji –
Lord, from your prasad, I have heard about the conduct, punishment, various types of state religion, the deeds of the four varnas and ashrams, charity, the method of charity, the law of yajna, much brat-uddyapan and worship of Lord Vishnu, etc. Now I want to hear the fruit of Magh Snan.’
On this Rishi Vashistha said – ‘O Rajan! Those who want to attain the best speed without performing yajna and wishful deeds should take a bath in the water outside only early in the morning. Those who want to go to heaven without donating things like cow, land, sesame, clothes, gold, and grains, etc., should always take a bath in Magh early in the morning.
If those who fast for three nights and want to attain heaven without drying their bodies due to the effects of Paraak etc., they should always take a bath in Magha early in the morning.
In relation to Magha-snan, Shri Krishna has told that one can take a Maghar-bathing in pilgrimages like Prayag, Pushkar, Kurukshetra, etc. or wherever he wants, but the mind, deeds, etc. of the bather should be faithful because faithless, sinners, atheists, Skeptics and reasonists are not partakers of the pilgrimage. A creature with knowledge, austerity, and fame attains complete pilgrimage. Like the sunrise, all the great people get retirement from the bath aarti and they get the result of Prajafatya Yagya.
In between Paush Phalgun, take a Magh-bath for 3 days in the Sun of Capricorn. On the first day of Magh, follow the rule of bathing with determination. After going to the pilgrimage, bathe and offer Arghya to the sun by applying mud on the head. After offering obeisances to the ancestors, come out of the water and bow to the presiding deity, worship the conch shell and chakra-dhari Purushottam Shrimadhav. If the creature is capable, then do daily Havan, eat once, fast for celibacy and sleep on the ground. Even if there is no power, one must take bath in the morning.
Mauni Amavasya and Somvati Amavasya
On the day of Amavasya falling on Monday, bathing at Har ko Pauri in Haridwar, Sangam in Prayag, and Ganga Ghat in Kashi is virtuous and fruitful. Like North India, in South India too, there is great importance of bathing on the banks of river Kaveri, Godavari, and Tungabhadra, especially for women, it is said to be auspicious and auspicious.
In this bathing method, devotees take a bath early in the morning and circumambulate the root of Ashvartha chest 108 times. During Pradakshina, remembering the name of Lord Vishnu, the thread of raw thread is wrapped. The brahmins take food only after feeding a brahmin. This brat is kept for the longevity of the child.
Story of Mauni Amavasya and Somvati Amavasya: In this regard, the legend of Mahabharata is prevalent that Bhima came to Bhishma lying on his bed in Kurukshetra battlefield to seek knowledge from him. Bhishma asked to keep Somvati Brat to make the power of Pandavas Chiranjibi and narrated a story.
Long ago Kanchipuram was ruled by King Ratnasen. In the same kingdom, a brahmin named Devaswami lived with his thin wealthy woman, seven sons, and a daughter named Gunavati. He was looking for a suitable match for his daughter. One day an ascetic came to a Brahmin’s house. He was also a great astrologer. He blessed everyone to be fortunate, but only blessed Gunavati to be Dharmavati.
Seeing this out of curiosity, the Brahmin leaf wanted to know the reason. The ascetic told that the fate of this girl is the sum of being a widow and her husband will die only during the rounds. Then the Brahmini wanted to know the way to remove this evil. The ascetic told that in the Sinhala country, only a washerman named Som knows its solution.
The Brahmin, worried about the misfortune of the girl, sent his seventh son Shivaswami and daughter Gunavati to the Sinhala country. Both of them crossed the river by boat, but were disappointed to see the vast sea ahead and tied the boat to the huge butt tree on the shore and sat there. His little boat could not sail amidst the raging waves of the ocean. They started thinking about this.
A vulture and his children lived on the same tree. On that day, when the vulture started feeding the children, he refused to eat and said that we will not eat until both the guests sitting under the tree get food. Giddharaj saw the generosity of his children and asked Shivaswami and Gunavati sitting down the reason for their sadness. Both narrated their grief. The vulture not only fed them but took them across the ocean and took Soma with him to the washerman. There, both of them, by their behavior and service, convinced Soma to go with them to Kanchi.
Soma herself, on the strength of her good deeds, brought them both to Kanchi. There Gunavati’s marriage was fixed with a young man named Rudra Sharma of Ujaini. According to the ascetic’s words, Rudra Sharma also died during Saptapadi, but due to his virtuous deeds, Soma made him alive. In fact, there was a reason behind Soma’s amazing power and love. She used to keep fast on Somvati Amavasya and follow them according to the rules. This miraculous power was the glory of this universe.
Now Soma’s virtue had been used up, so her husband, son, daughter, and Jamata (daughter’s husband) died on her way back home. Soma got the knowledge of this on the way. Coincidentally, that day was also the day of Somvati Amavasya. He duly kept fast, worshiped, and revived his family members with the blessings obtained from the fruits of the fast, he went home and told that he had died due to the loss of his virtue, so he again got the virtuous fruit. and brought them all to life.
Knowing the importance of this story, the Pandavas also kept fast on Somvati and Mauni Amavasya for the longevity of their children.
Ganga Dussehra
Ganga was incarnated on the tenth day of Shukla Paksha of Jyeshtha month, hence the festival which takes place on this day is called Ganga Dussehra. In fact, Dussehra Maa Ganga is the one who removes ten sins. By bathing in the Ganges stream, she washes away all these ten sins of the worshiper, she liberates that devotee from sin. It is pure, hence it is called Ganga Dussehra.
Of these ten sins, three are corporeal (associated with the body), four are verbal (associated with words) and three are mental (associated with contemplation). According to Kashi Khand of Skanda Purana
There are three bodily sins – taking things without giving, forbidden violence, and the trans-woman movement.
There are three mental sins – ill-thought of taking other’s wealth, thinking bad of others in mind, insisting on untrue things.
These ten sins are washed away by dipping in the Ganges. But in practice, by washing the filth of the mind, the filth of the body will automatically be washed away. One can talk about making Ganga pure only by purifying oneself. First of all the mind has to be made Gangamay, then only Ganga will be able to become pure in true sense. On this day, devotees take a bath in the Ganges river and offer prayers and eat only fruits during the day.
Story of Ganga Dussehra: In the context of Ganga Dussehra, the story of the Ashwamedha Yagya performed by Maharaja Sagar, the emperor of Ayodhya, his 60,000 thousand sons being consumed by Kapil Muni and bringing the Ganges to earth by his descendant King Bhagirath for their salvation. Gangaji had descended on the earth on Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami, hence the festival of Ganga Dussehra is celebrated.
Another meaning of the story is also taken that King Bhagiratha had cut the mountains with hard work and made a path on the flat land for the flow of the Ganges, due to which 60,000 thousand sons of King Sagar and the subjects were saved. His agricultural land was lit up on getting the Ganges water.
Ganga Dussehra festival in Uttarakhand
Ganga Dussehra is celebrated on the 10th of Jyeshtha Shukla Dasami. It is an India-wide festival. Ganga-bathing, sherbet-donation are done on this day. In Kumaon, Uttarakhand, it is called only ‘Dussehra’ instead of calling it Gangadashera. Though it is considered a holy festival and bathing is done in the holy rivers and lakes, people are not familiar with the story of Gangavataran related to it and neither do they know it as the day of ‘Gangavataran’.
Ganga Dussehra festival in Uttarakhand, For them, ‘Dussehra’ means the ‘door leaf’ made by the priests, which is applied on the doors with the Vaj preventive mantras. In Kumaon, three verses like “Agasvyashcha Pulasvyashcha (अगस्व्यश्च पुलस्व्यश्च), are written in a paper leaflet and pasted by Brahmins in every house. Small Dakshina is given to Brahmins in prizes. It is believed that there is no fear of thunder, lightning, etc. by applying this ‘Dussehra letter’.
Ganga Navami (Bhadrapada Krishna Navami)
Ganga Navami festival is celebrated on the ninth of Krishna Paksha in the month of Bhadrapada. This festival is believed to be related to Atri Rishi. There is a folk tale in relation to this, which is read and listened to, and worshiped during the fast.