Introduction
This article claims that the lore of the descent of the holy Indian river Gaṅgā is based on astronomical observations. It is a re-discovery based on a unique methodology involving the connection of Nakshatras ancient Indian lore to modern stars and zodiac.
Rivers hold high reverence in India and considered to be holy. Among other rivers, the major rivers in Northern India, Gaṅgā, Yamuna and Sarasvati are believed to be Goddesses who descended from heaven.
A person is believed to be devoid of sins and purified by bathing in the Gaṅgā. Gaṅgā is also a path to attain liberation. It is common to undertake pilgrimage to the river, make offerings to the water and utter prayers. Cremation on the Gaṅgā or as an alternative have a person’s ashes scattered in her waters is believed to be one of the easiest ways to attain heaven. The shores of Gaṅgā are speckled with tirthas (pronounced teer-tas where people take bath) and burning ghats. The city of Vāranāsi or Kāshi is considered the most holy amongst other places. Communal bathing festivals like Kumbh Mela occur periodically here.
There are many examples which show the importance and popularity of this event since ancient times until today. The descent of the Ganges is portrayed in stone at the 7th-8th century Pallava heritage site at Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu, the relief is more of a canvas of Indian rock cut sculpture at its best, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984.
Raja Ravi Varma depicted the plunge of Gaṅgā in his painting in 1890 https://g.co/arts/o5BotUUdbNtpCJwr8. A reproduction of this work of art is shown, from Wikipedia
The very first Indian sound film Gaṅgāvataran, produced in 1937 AD, had this same theme. Rituals involving Gaṅgā, the embodiment of the holy water are found all across India today, not necessarily at the banks of the river Gaṅgā. But the rituals have a unique significance at the banks of Gaṅgā in Kashi since it is seen as the ultimate destination for all Indians seeking eternity in heaven.
The story of Gaṅgāvataraṇa occurs in many Purāṇic texts such as the Śivapurāṇa, the Liṅgapurāṇa, the Viṣṇupurāṇa, the Harivaṃśa and so on.
But how did a goddess like Gaṅgā come to earth? Gaṅgāvataraṇa (Gaṅgā + Avataraṇa) (गङ्गावतरण), is the story of Avataraṇa – the descent or plunge or passage – of river Gaṅgā from heaven, the holiest of the holy rivers.
The sacred Gaṅgā has this divine power – purification of ashes of the dead. A human king Bhagiratha prays to Gaṅgā with the intention of bringing her down from Heaven to Earth to purify the ashes of his dead ancestors. The descent from heaven with such a huge force could potentially destroy the whole earth. To avoid that, the ascetic Lord Shiva agrees to trap her in his matted locks. Then she is released, as several streams and she eventually reaches Earth on Makara, her divine vehicle. On the Earth Gaṅgā travels hundreds of miles to reach Sāgara, the ocean and finally the netherworld where she, now called Bhāgirathi, purifies the ashes of Bhagiratha’s dead ancestors.
The detailed story of Gaṅgāvataraṇa[1]
In the heaven, Gaṅgā originated when Lord Vishnu moved his leg towards Lord Brahma in Vishnu’s Avatar as Vāmana, the dwarf who grew gigantically to kill Mahābali or Bali Chakravarty. In this Avatar, Vāmana asks Bali Chakravarty for three measures of land as measured by his little foot. After Bali agrees to this, Vāmana grows from a dwarf to a giant form called Trivikrama, The Lord of three divine steps. He places his first step on the ground. Then he places his second step at the apex of the Universe. When Trivikrama asked where he should place the third step, Bali Chakravarty bows to Trivikrama and kneels down indicating that his step must be placed on his head. Lord Vishnu then steps on him to send him to the netherworld/ Pātāla/ Sutāla. During the process of touching the apex of the Universe at the second step, Vishnu’s leg reaches Brahma. Brahma, delighted, washes his leg with holy water from his KamaṅDalu. That water originating from the KamaṅDalu of Brahma and touched by the holy feet of Vishnu is the origin of Gaṅgā.
After several eons of this origin of Gaṅgā, a king named Sāgara begets 60,000 sons from his first wife and another son from his second wife by Shiva’s grace for performing a penance.
The lone son from the second wife was sent away for being unruly. The lone son has a son named Anshumat. Sometime later King Sāgara decided to perform Ashwamēdha, the horse sacrifice. According to the rituals of this sacrifice, a horse is set free to wander around freely for a year, followed by the king’s army. When the horse wanders into different kingdoms, the king can claim ownership of that territory. If the local ruler challenges the ownership, he will have to fight a war to retain the territory. Generally, the ritual is successful with all the opposing rulers being vanquished. At the end of the year the wandering horse is sacrificed, signifying that the king is the supreme ruler. Sāgara’s horse in this case was accompanied by the army of his 60,000 sons, but it disappeared into the empty ocean. Sāgara’s sons follow the horse. They enter and excavate into the ocean causing chaos and devastation. Finally, the horse is found in the Ashram of the renowned sage Kapila. When the sons of Sāgara try to take ownership of the horse, sage Kapila gets disturbed and burns all of them up into ashes with a powerful gleam of fire that emanated from his angry eyes. Sāgara learns about this tragedy and sends his grandson Anshumat to look for their uncles in the ocean. Anshumat reaches the Ashram of Kapila and exhibits exceptional respect towards the sage. Pleased with his behaviour, the sage grants boons to Anshumat. Anshumat seeks release the sacrificial horse followed by a request to purify his dead uncles. Kapila grants him the horse. But expressing his inability to purify the dead uncles, Kapila Maharshi tells Anshuman the sons of Sāgara will be purified only when Anshumat’s grandson is successful in bringing Goddess Gaṅgā from heaven to the ocean where the ashes of the dead uncles laid. Following this, the horse is returned to Sāgara who sucessfully concludes his sacrifice. He is succeeded by his grandson Anshumat after his death. Anshumat’s son is Dilipa; Dilipa’s son is Bhagiratha. Bhagiratha undertakes penance in the Himalayas until Goddess Gaṅgā approached and offered him a boon. He requested her to descend to the earth and all the way into the ocean so that the dead sons of Sāgara can be purified with her sacred water. Gaṅgā told Bhagiratha that if she were to descend from the sky to the earth, the force of her fall would destroy earth and wash away all the life on earth. She asked him to obtain the favour from the black-haired, blue-throated god Shiva, as no one except him would be able to sustain her. Bhagiratha then performs severe penance for Shiva and asked him to do so. Gaṅgā starts flowing from her origin at the sky where Vishnu and Brahma reside. She reaches mount Kailash on which Lord Shiva stops her and entangles her into his matted hair. Later, she is released, as several streams, thereby reducing her enormous force. Gaṅgā descends to earth and fills the ocean, purifying the sons of Sāgara. She performs this difficult journey on her divine vehicle, Makara, a hybrid creature.
The Astronomy of Gaṅgāvataraṇa
It is well known that in the sky (Ākāsha), Gaṅgā is represented as Ākāsha Gaṅgā. Ākāsha Gaṅgā is nothing but the path of the Milky way Galaxy. The path of the Milky Way Galaxy must therefore correspond to the path taken by Goddess Gaṅgā. Astronomers call the milky way Galaxy as seen from Earth, follows a path called Galactic Equator. The belief in India is that the north direction is holiest, because of a variety of factors. For example, the northern ascent of the sun from winter solstice (Dec 21) to Summer Solstice (Jun 21) is holy, the new year starts in spring, on or after Mar 21st, the day of Summer Equinox. These days are sunny, less prone to the disasters caused by rain and storms and the time when there is lesser agricultural activity – in general a better time.
From the astronomical perspective, the northern direction houses one of the well-known constellations Ursa Major, containing the seven Rishis or sages – called Saptarshi MaṅDala. The Nakshatra Abhijit, Vega star in Lyra constellation, is in the north. Vega is the fifth-brightest star in the night sky. It is the second-brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere, after Arcturus. Interestingly, there is Abhijit Muhurta, an auspicious time everyday around mid-day which is also called Brahma Muhurta. Vega star, Abhijit is one of the most auspicious Nakshatras. Abhijit means Victorious or the One who cannot be defeated. In Bhagavad Geeta, Krishna said that He was Abhijit among Nakshatras.
All these statements underline the importance of Vega, Abhijit. Its deity is Lord Brahma.
Lyra constellation is Lord Brahma
Lyra constellation, apart from Vega has four major stars representing the four heads of Lord Brahma. Our contention is that this is the place of origin for Gaṅgā, in the constellation Lyra, where Brahma washed the foot of Lord Vishnu. Lotus in Indian Puranas usually refer to stars in the sky. The stars are considered to be lotuses which float on the surface of the heavenly ocean. in addition, Lyra constellation appears like a lotus bud.
Hercules constellation is Lord Vishnu
Let us examine how Hercules constellation is Lord Vishnu.
The artwork illustrates how Hercules depicts Lord Vishnu. While the left hand side of the illustration is how the constellations are located, the artwork on the right for Lord Vishnu provides the visualization. The apex of the constellation on the left which is the star Rasalgethi forms the top-most portion of Vishnu’s head. Hercules is Vishnu floating in the ocean on the seven hooded snake Adishesha. He is in a sleeping position, with his head slightly lifted up. This position of Lord Vishnu is found in temples like Ananta Padmanabha temple in Kerala, Srirangam in Tamilnad and Sriraṅgapatna in Karnataka. The five stars forming the head and the torso of Vishnu in orange colour are shaped like a conch. Shaṅkha – Pāṅchajanya, is therefore the conch which is a part of Vishnu. The four stars called the keystone in hercules constellation are almost sitting on a perfect circle (dotted) forming the Sudarshana Chakra.
Now how do you prove that this is the path of Gaṅgā envisaged by ancient Indians, which later got so cemented into the belief systems?
The illustration shows how Hercules and Lyra constellation are spatially located, along with Vega star, Abhijit. The imaginary line to Vega from Hercules forms the lotus-stem on which Brahma is situated.. We now see clearly that Brahma is represented by Lyra constellation’s four stars, stemming from Vega. Vega is the far end of Vishnu’s navel. Padma means lotus and Nābhi means navel. Vishnu is called Padmanābha which means he is lotus-navelled. The near end starts in the constellation of Hercules. Hercules constellation is Lord Vishnu. You can see that the illustration shows how Gaṅgā emanates from Vishnu’s foot, blessed by the holy water from Brahma’s water-pot – KamaṅDalu. Notice the path showing the possible movement of the leg in Hercules (from I Her) to Vega. From Vega, Gaṅgā’s path enters the Milky way near Deneb, a star in the swan constellation Cygnus.
The surrounding constellations of Hercules and Lyra are shown in the next illustration. We are aware that swan/Cygnus is the divine vehicle of Brahma/Lyra. In the illustration, Cygnus being above Lyra in the sky reconfirms the justification of the lore being astronomy based.
We can see the Galactic Equator, or the path of the Milky way above Hercules and Lyra. Ganga takes this path, from Vega, towards Deneb and the constellation on the right, which is Cepheus. Cepheus is Sarasvati! Cepheus is shaped like a kite and has five primary stars, which the reason Basant Panchami is celebrated as Sarasvati’s birthday, especially in North India, with kites flown on that day as a tradition.
The detailed path of Ākāsha Gaṅgā
The complete path of Ākāsha Gaṅgā is shown next, from another angle starting from top to bottom this time, from Vega in the heaven and ending in the yellow circle where the stars of Makara Rāshi are situated along the Galactic Equator. Makara Rāshi is the equivalent of the western Capricorn zodiac sign, but the stars in Indian system forming the sign differ. Makara Rāshi can be considered as the culmination point for Ākāsha Gaṅgā. This is the place of touchdown for Ākāsha Gaṅgā on Earth.
Gaṅgā’s journey enters the Milky way at around the Cygnus constellation – near the star Deneb.
From there, the path of Ākāsha Gaṅgā can be identified roughly by the following points in the sky, corresponding to the numbers shown in the path.
- This is the area after Deneb, below Cygnus/Hamsa at the constellation Cepheus – Sarasvati.
- This area is near the star Capella is where she starts to cross Mount Meru. Auriga constellation is Mount Meru with its peak formed by the star Prijāpati left to and slightly higher to Capella in the illustration.
- The third area is after the antigalactic center at Auriga. It is above the giant red star Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is Lord Shiva’s Nakshatra, Ārdra or Ārudra. Its principal deity is Goddess Parvati. Taurus, Vrishabha is Nandi. Meissa along with two other stars at the top of Orion constellation are Mrigashira, the three eyes of Shiva. The Orion constellation overall represents the combined form of Shiva and Parvati called Ardhanāreeshwara – Half man and half woman. Ārdra and Mrigashira Nakshatras belong to Mithuna Rāshi. The name Mithuna symbolizes the union of Shiva and Parvati. Around this area in the sky, we see the number of stars in the Milky way Galaxy reduce since we are looking directly around the anti-galactic center surrounding that area. This provides the perfect reasoning for why it is believed that Shiva captures Gaṅgā with his long matted ascetic hairlocks.
- This area represents the gates of the heaven at Canis Major constellation, with Sirius, the dog star, brightest in the sky being the Makara Jyothi. From here, Gaṅgā travels on her divine vehicle Makara.
- Around this area, Gaṅgā passes through Trishanku, the constellation Centaurus. This represents the midpoint – half the distance – from Heaven’s gate at Canis Major to Earth.
- Finally, the yellow circle at the bottom near Sagittarius constellation where the Ecliptic crosses the Galactic Equator is the touch down point at earth for Goddess Gaṅgā. This is Makara Rāshi as per Hindu astronomical calculations, which is based on lunisolar calendar and therefore different than the western zodiac.
The path of the Ākāsha Gaṅgā ends at Makara Rāshi in the sky. On the Earth, the path can be considered either as a continuation of that journey or reflection of the heavenly path on Earth. Gaṅgā starts her journey on the Earth from the Himalayas from Gangotri, through various holy places like Rishikesh, Haridwar, Varanasi etc. and reaches the ocean, Bay of Bengal, via Patna and Kolkata after a long journey of 2500 kms. Upon reaching the ocean, she successfully liberates the grandfathers of Bhagiratha by purifying them from the touch of her holy water.
Astronomy In Ancient Indian Belief Systems
Do you want to find out more about the the path taken by the liberated souls from Earth to heaven? Are you curious to find out further on the complete details how Hercules is Lord Vishnu, Orion is Lord Shiva and re-discover the astronomical origins of other Indian pantheon like Lakshmi, Daksha Brahma, Prajāpati, Indra, Nārada, Dhanvaṅtari, Kubēra; divine vehicles like Garuda, Naṅdi, Makara, Adishēsha, Vāsuki, Airāvata; divine animals like Kāmadhēnu, Uchchaishravas? Why Auriga is Mount Meru? Where is Kailāsa, Vaikuṅtha, Gōlōka? Would you be interested to understand the origins of various Indian festivals throughout the year?
Read the book
Astronomy In Ancient Indian Belief Systems
by Chandrashekar B U
More details about the book at
[1] http://www.storyandreligion.div.ed.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Decent-of-the-Ganges.pdf