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Nature and the Ganga

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Devendra Swaroop Bhargava
Affiliation:
Professor (Environmental), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Roorkee, Roorkee 247 667, U.P., India.

Extract

The Ganga's unique and numerous virtues appear to be based on myths, but the reasons for its importance are traceable to scientific premises. The Ganga, symbolizing Indian culture and civilization, is regarded by the Hindus as the holiest amongst the rivers, and it is the Indo-Gangetic plain's most significant river owing to its mighty basin and course, and extraordinarily high self-purifying powers. The Ganga originates from Gangori in the Uttrakhand Himalayan glacier as an upland stream, emerges as a river of the plains at Rishikesh, and, after traversing almost the entirety of India from West to East, finally merges into the Bay of Bengal.

Type
Main Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1987

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