Sacred River Ganga

Ganga's cleansing is of utmost importance to the government as the sacred river has been the foundation of India's economic activity, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat said on Monday.

Union minister Smriti Irani took a holy dip in the river Ganges as Kumbh Mela began today with a Shahi Snan at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. Smriti Irani also tweeted a picture of her holy dip, with the caption "Har Har Gange".

The river Ganga, said to be the cradle of Indian civilization, has been given the status of the "first living entity of India" by the Uttarakhand high court. The landmark judgment of the court gives Ganga rights similar to a living person, and is expected to have a positive bearing on efforts to clean up the polluted and much abused river.

Standing on the roof of a three-storey building in Varanasi that overlooks the Ganga, Santosh Kumar Singh looked solemnly at a terrace below. That is where his grandfather, who was 103, was being cremated because the banks or ghats of the sacred river are flooded.

Sangam in Allahabad is the point where rivers Yamuna and Ganga meet and is considered sacred by Hindus. Crowds of devotees converge here for a holy dip, more so on festivals and auspicious days as was the case on June 14, on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra.

"Maa Ganga is very wise and can distinguish between the good, the bad and the ugly," Congress today said, reminding Narendra Modi, who had invoked the sacred river and promised to cleanse it, that "three most polluted rivers" of India flow in Gujarat.

Ganga's cleansing is of utmost importance to the government as the sacred river has been the foundation of India's economic activity, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Shekhawat said on Monday.

Union minister Smriti Irani took a holy dip in the river Ganges as Kumbh Mela began today with a Shahi Snan at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. Smriti Irani also tweeted a picture of her holy dip, with the caption "Har Har Gange".

The river Ganga, said to be the cradle of Indian civilization, has been given the status of the "first living entity of India" by the Uttarakhand high court. The landmark judgment of the court gives Ganga rights similar to a living person, and is expected to have a positive bearing on efforts to clean up the polluted and much abused river.

Standing on the roof of a three-storey building in Varanasi that overlooks the Ganga, Santosh Kumar Singh looked solemnly at a terrace below. That is where his grandfather, who was 103, was being cremated because the banks or ghats of the sacred river are flooded.

Sangam in Allahabad is the point where rivers Yamuna and Ganga meet and is considered sacred by Hindus. Crowds of devotees converge here for a holy dip, more so on festivals and auspicious days as was the case on June 14, on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra.

"Maa Ganga is very wise and can distinguish between the good, the bad and the ugly," Congress today said, reminding Narendra Modi, who had invoked the sacred river and promised to cleanse it, that "three most polluted rivers" of India flow in Gujarat.