To understand the river Ganga is to understand a significant part of India. It holds a place unique in all the mythologies, theologies and beliefs of the world. In no other culture has a natural feature assumed so much religious and psychological significance. Sacred sites are many, but an entire river providing salvation, not in the other world but right on this earth, that is rare. The Ganga is so intertwined with the Indian imagination that even for people who never live near it, she will always be the supreme river. In such circumstances, it is not surprising that the river Ganga is also one of the most popular goddesses in India.

So central is the Ganga to the Hindu imagination that all sects have an origin story for her that reflects well on their chosen god. The Great Trinity of Hinduism is intimately associated with Ganga. She is described as the daughter of Brahma, the wife of Shiva, and the actual melted body of Vishnu. This multiplicity of roles happens because no worshipper wanted to feel left out from the saving grace of Ganga. For Ganga's supreme virtue is that she can save you from sin. One drop of her sacred waters is enough to wipe out all the sins accumulated over many lifetimes. One single drop of Ganga water on the cremated remains of a sinner is enough to wipe out all his sins and gain him heaven as one popular story goes. There is nobody who is so sinful that he or she cannot be saved by the waters of the Ganga. The Ganga is thus the ultimate in merciful mother goddesses.

Psychologically the mere fact that the Ganga exists has been a comfort for people. For hope is never lost, there is no trail of sin so dense and impenetrable that the saving waters of the Ganga cannot magically clear up into the path of virtue and salvation. Contrary to unsubtle and hasty thinking this notion is not an incitement to sin. It is not a question of sin as much as you want and then in the nick of time have a sip of Ganga water. The waters transform, changing the propensity to evil into a desire for good. There are many stories, which refute the too-easy-salvation objection, and it has never been a significant or core belief of the Indian mind. Ganga salvation is serious business, not a trivial dip in flowing water. Of such arguments we will deal with later.

A typical mythical origin myth, almost a representative one of the genre runs as follows. The divine sage Narada was a great traveler and he loved to sing lustily as he went along his merry path. One day he came upon a group of extraordinary beings in a forest who were severely wounded and writhing in pain, that seemed to be coming to them in continual jolts. The aghast rishi stopped to help these beings in torment, whereupon they seemed to be in even greater extremities. Enquiry revealed the mortifying truth. These beings were in continual pain because of Narada's non-stop warbling! They were the souls of the ragas he was blithely mangling with his inept rendition, and because he was a divine rishi, the torment caused was actually physically torturing them. He promised on the spot to never again sing until he had mastered the correct procedures, as well as taken up some voice modulation presumably. However, the immediate objective was to restore these poor suffering ragas to health.

They said there was only one way. The Perfect Singer, Shiva himself, would have to sing the ragas and that divine rendition would cure them. It would also teach Narada how these ragas were actually meant to be sung. Shiva had no objections, but since the numbers of ragas he was required to sing were vast, (Narada being a prolific singer!) he made a request of his own. He could keep going for such a long stretch only if he had the Perfect Listeners to enthuse him and create the ultimate aesthetic ambience. Only when the singer was perfectly sure that his audience understood each and every nuance that he was exploring, would a song be a true experience. For this he wanted Brahma and Vishnu to be his audience. They readily agreed, as Shiva is the Master of all the Fine Arts and a concert given by him is a treat even for the Gods.

The ragas began to heal rapidly as the Great God sang. His expectations of his listeners were not disappointed either. No matter where he went with his song, they were in perfect harmony with him. Brahma noticed something extraordinary was taking place. Vishnu had identified with the soft melting notes of the song to such an extent that he was actually melting away from his feet! He quietly collected this liquid Vishnu in his water pot. Brahma's split attention has thus qualified him as not the equal of Vishnu in aesthetic sensibility. However, from the liquid he had collected, he fashioned a divinely beautiful girl, who, because of the unique circumstances of her birth hallowed everything she touched. This was Ganga, and she was nominally the daughter of Brahma as he had given shape and form to her. Ganga lived in heaven, where her privileged status and unique powers made her turbulent and uncontrollable. She was a creature of whim, and none could thwart her, for who can oppose the power of Vishnu? Only the mighty Himalaya, or Himavan, Lord of the Mountains, was patient and good-humouredly put up with her antics and she became a sort of surrogate daughter to him surging in and out of his peaks and crags.

Soon however, matters on earth had reached a crisis and only the saving waters of Ganga could restore the balance that had been upset. The entire ocean had been dried up and it was wreaking havoc on the ecosystem. This catastrophe was the unintentional result of a good deed done by the rishi Agastya. Mankind was being plagued by a species of demon that were hiding under the waters of the ocean. This was an impregnable defense and they raided and killed at will. The great sage however, drank up the waters of the ocean and the gods and heroes slaughtered the demons on the dried up seabed. Agastya, however, had inadvertently digested the entire ocean, he being prone to perform miracles even unconsciously. Filling up the ocean was one task the earth needed Ganga for.

The other task was caused by the sheer determination of a King of the Ikshavaku dynasty called Bhagiratha. Many generations ago, the thousand sons of his ancestor Sagara had angered a sage and been burnt to death by his angry glare. The souls of these unfortunates were cursed too. There was no heaven for them unless the waters of the Ganga could be brought down to earth from heaven to wash over their ashes - the very definition of impossibility. Since the performance of rituals for one's ancestors is a prime duty of ancient Indian kings, it became a prestige issue of the Ikshavakus. King after king attempted to get his ancestors salvation by the practice of tapasya but all failed. Bhagiratha however, was one of those wills before which the Universe changes direction. His tapasya became so formidable that Brahma finally consented to allow Ganga to descend to earth. He warned Bhagiratha that the force of the descent would be such that the earth would be shattered, unless Shiva consented to receive this divine deluge upon his head and thus break up the impact to manageable levels.