Travel Icon: Varanasi, India | Audley Travel Travel Icon: Varanasi, India India's most spiritual river flows through its oldest city. Audley expert Tom Draper takes to the water. The ghats, varanasi Varanasi is not only one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world – and the oldest in India – it is also the holiest city for Hinduism and Jainism. For over 2,500 years the city has attracted a large number of pilgrims and worshippers and it continues to do so today. Hindus believe that to die in Varanasi on the banks of the holy Ganges River ensures they will achieve ‘Moksha’, or liberation from the cycle of life and death. A visit to the ghats of Varanasi can provide a true insight into India’s spirituality and the extremes of Indian culture. For many visitors it is an unforgettable experience that leaves a very humble impression. Did you know? Varanasi is named after the confluence of two rivers, Varuna and Asi. Legends say that the city was founded some 5,000 years ago by Lord Shiva. It is estimated that more than one million pilgrims visit the city every year.

Dawn is a great time of day to see the city; you can travel in a small rowing boat along the river and watch as the city slowly wakes up and the ghats start to fill with worshippers taking an early morning bath. Evenings are lively too when the ghats fill for the Ganga Aarti, a ceremony where priests line up holding large fire bowls in their hands. The air fills with the smell of incense while the sounds of gongs and chants ring out. Small candles and flowers are offered to the river as a symbol of hope and to give thanks to the Ganges for being a source of life and prosperity. You can take a guided walk through Varanasi in the early evening where your guide will talk you through the concepts of death and rebirth. There are also many temples in Varanasi and wonderful narrow alleyways to explore that hide an interesting mix of shops and industries such as silk weaving. Evening prayer ceremony, The Ganges, Varanasi Itinerary ideas that incorporate the city of Varanasi India The Ganges: holy river from hell Print The Ganges: holy river from hell India’s sacred Ganges river is so polluted that many fear for its future.

But new prime minister Narandra Modi has promised to clean it up. Can he do it? Amrit Dhillon reports from Varanasi. Amrit Dhillon reddit More What is dumped in the river Ganges? Raw sewage, plastic bags and bottles, industrial effluents, human waste, chemicals from tanneries, discarded idols, cow dung, partially cremated corpses, garlands of flowers, human remains, animal carcasses, butcher’s offal, chemical dyes from sari factories and construction waste. It only takes a few hours of being in the ancient holy city of Varanasi – the most sacred place in the world for Hindus – to realise that the question needs to be reworded as “what is not dumped in the Ganges?” SHARE Boatman Virender Nishad and the rubbish by the river bank. Photo: Amrit Dhillon On an overcast, but oppressively humid, August day, India’s holiest river is the colour of pewter and swollen from the monsoon rains, which have raised the water level to cover some of the famous ghats – the long stretch of steps leading down to the river.

At Assi Ghat, named after the river Assi, which flows into the Ganges near this spot, a herd of buffalo has been brought by their owner to cool off in the river. Submerged up to their backs, they stand, still as statues, in the same water that locals and pilgrims will bathe in. SHARE A cremation on the Ganges. Photo: Amrit Dhillon “The Assi river has been reduced to this,” says Virender Nishad, a seventh generation boatman, pointing to a three-metre wide drain, full of sludge, plastic and litter. “If nothing changes, the Ganges will become like this too in 20 or 30 years. If we go on polluting it, the river will be ruined and so will we.” Nishad represents that curious paradox found all over India – everyone knows what the problem is and how it should be fixed but somehow it never is. The will to act is missing, in ordinary people, in the government. Advertisement Nishad has grown up on the ghats. Now 30, he has seen the river he regards as a living deity become indescribably dirty.

“When I was a boy, I used to drink the water. It used to be much cleaner and fast-flowing,” he says. But his memories have probably been sanitised by time because it was almost 30 years ago that the Indian government launched its first huge clean-up project so the river cannot have been as clean as Nishad remembers. Over the decades, numerous campaigns to clean the Ganges have come and gone. Billions of dollars have been thrown into the river. Good intentions have been felled by corruption and mismanagement. The pollution and its causes have been dissected ad nauseam. Yet it is filthier than ever. The Ganges flows for 2500 kilometres from the Himalayas through four states where 400 million Indians live through to the east coast where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. As it passes through 100 towns and cities, it absorbs all their human and industrial waste. Experts estimate that more than 3000 million litres of untreated sewage from these towns along the Ganges are pumped into the river every day.

By the time it reaches Varanasi, whose untreated sewage (or most of it) is also pumped into the waters, it becomes a sewer and the sixth most polluted river in the world. Dr Vishwambhar Nath Mishra, a university professor whose family has been temple priests here for 13 generations, says that 33 sites in the city continually discharge raw sewage into the river. “If Modi can’t clean up the river, no one can. But I can guarantee 101 per cent that he will. He is upset at the dirt in India and he is determined to do something about it. Tourists come here because of its name but once they see the filth, they curse us and never return.,” Alok Tiwari According to Mishra, who also runs the Sankat Mochan Foundation which campaigns to clean the Ganges, scientists in the foundation’s laboratories have found the river has a faecal coliform count of more than 1.5 million per 100ml of water.

Water regarded as safe for bathing should not contain more than 500 faecal coliform per 100ml, so bathing in the Ganges is only for the strong-hearted or those with blind faith. The foundation’s slogan is that “Not a drop of sewage should go into the Ganges” – although this has yet to be achieved. “I know it’s dirty but I begin my morning prayers every day with a dip in the river,’’ Mishra says. ‘‘ It doesn’t affect my faith.” That faith is predicated on the belief that the waters of the Ganges are both pure and purifying. As British travel writer Eric Newby wrote in his 1966 book Slowly Down the Ganges: “To drink the water, having bathed in it, and to carry it away in bottles is meritorious. To be cremated on its banks, having died there, and to have one’s ashes cast in its waters, is the wish of every Hindu.” The country’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi, is one such Hindu and he is now the latest big hope for those who wish to clean up the Ganges.

Known by his admirers as a man of action who can turn ideas into reality, he stood for election in Varanasi in the recent general election and won a thumping majority. In a speech to thank voters on the banks of the Ganges on May 17, amid Hindu chants, Modi pledged to clean the country’s holiest river, referring to it, as do millions of Hindus, as his “Ma Ganga” or Mother Ganges. Modi has allocated 20.4 billion rupees ($340 million) for the clean-up and says he will succeed where all previous governments have failed. “If Modi can’t clean up the river, no one can. But I can guarantee 101 per cent that he will. He is upset at the dirt in India and he is determined to do something about it. Tourists come here because of its name but once they see the filth, they curse us and never return,” says Alok Tiwari, 35, owner of a nearby roadside restaurant. He too bathes every day in the river. Millions of pilgrims come every year to Varanasi because to bathe in the Ganges is to wash away your sins.

To die here is to escape the cycle of reincarnation and achieve instant salvation. Every day, the ghats are full of pilgrims who have endured long, hard train journeys to make their way to fulfil their lifelong desire to take a holy dip in the Ganges. Every centimetre of the river is sacred to them. They make offerings of flowers and rose petals. They remember their ancestors as they pray. On the journey home, they all carry a small amount of the precious water for use in rituals at home. The moment of entering the water is special like no other. “When they step into the water, they are so overcome by euphoria that they lose their footing or go too far in,’’ Nished says. ‘‘There are no lifeguards, no life rings. It’s up to us boatmen to get them out.” He says that he has saved 100 people from drowning. On the ghats, the boatmen, restaurant owners, flower sellers all seem to know how the river can be protected against pollution.

Tour guide Rajesh Choudhury, whose office is on Tulsi Ghat, says he is ashamed when tourists want to see the sun rise on the ghats because he knows local people will be lined up on the bank, defecating. “We need to stop those who urinate and defecate in the river. We have to put up signs telling pilgrims not to bathe with soap, oil and shampoo. We must fine cattle owners who bring their animals to bathe here. And we need policemen on each ghat to enforce these rules. Right now, there is nothing, not a single signpost saying don’t litter,” says Choudhury. But he blames the culture more than the government’s failures. Of course, India must build sewage treatment plants and penalise factories that pump noxious effluents into the river but he feels that ordinary Indians must also learn to be clean. The filth of the Ganges is mirrored in the filth of Varanasi. If the one million inhabitants of the city cannot keep it clean, they are unlikely to keep the river clean. Once, Varanasi (also known as Benares), one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, boasted a glorious civilisation.

Indian music, dance, poetry and religious thought flourished here. A few kilometres away is Sarnath where the Buddha gave his first sermon. Today it is a slum. The city is pot-holed, full of rubbish where goats, dogs and cows rummage, roadside eateries serve food right next to open sewers swarming with flies, people eat snacks and throw the wrappers on to the street, men spit and urinate, and the roads are engorged with noisy, chaotic traffic. Mark Twain famously said: “Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.” Stanley Benjamin, a 30-year-old hotel manager who moved to Varanasi seven months ago had heard of Twain’s observation but it failed to prepare him for the assault on his senses. “I am still suffering from culture shock,” says Benjamin, who moved from Kerala in south India where life is cleaner and more orderly. He is the general manager of Suryauday Haveli, a charming, 100-year-old mansion on Assi Ghat. He shakes his head when he talks about how people behave. “They always blame the government instead of looking at themselves.

They keep their homes clean but throw their rubbish out onto the street. As for the river, everything is thrown into it,” he says. The ghats themselves are dirty and infested with hawkers and conmen out to fleece tourists. Even so-called holy men demand ‘‘baksheesh’’ to be photographed. Amazingly enough, though, hawkers and boatmen manage to catch fish, even in the areas by the bank, near where the boats are anchored, areas that are choked with rubbish. Here on the ghats is the place that exemplifies the worst of the city, the Manikarnika cremation ghat where funeral pyres burn night and day. An endless procession of biers carrying the dead, covered in red and gold shrouds, keeps threading its way through the alleyways towards the ghat. It’s estimated that 35,000 bodies are cremated here every year. On a busy day the ghat looks like a scene from hell. Bodies that have not been properly cremated – if the family is poor and unable to buy the right quantity of wood, which is expensive – are just pushed into the river.

Also, according to Hindu tradition, five categories of dead – holy men, pregnant women, children under five, people bitten by snakes and lepers – must not be cremated. Instead, they are weighted down with stones and pushed out into the river. “After 24 hours, they rise to the surface and many end up by the banks,’’ Nishad says. ‘‘The authorities do nothing. It’s up to us boatmen to push them away from the shore.’’ Sewage is not just Varanasi’s problem or the Ganges’ problem. It plagues the entire country. Other water bodies are similarly polluted. India's cities and towns generate 38.2 billion litres of sewage every day. Its installed capacity to treat sewage is 11.8 billion litres, about 30 per cent of what it needs. In a way, the solution is simple. India has to build sewers, treat its sewage, punish industries that discharge their waste into the river and make people develop cleaner habits. “Ninety per cent of the pollution of the Ganges is from untreated sewage,’’ says Mishra. ‘‘Only the other 10 per cent is from human behaviour.” Many locals disagree.

Tapan Das, a 55-year-old hotelier who has lived his entire life in Varanasi, says it is up to every resident to keep the river and the ghats clean. “Everyone talks but no one does anything. It is a desperate situation,” he says. In July, a family friend of Das’ died and he attended the cremation at Manikarnika ghat. Tradition dictates that mourners must bathe in the Ganges after the funeral. “I did bathe in it, out of faith. But when I came home, I had a shower to wash away the Ganga water!” Advertisement A cruise along the holy Ganges River, Varanasi - YouTube A cruise along the holy Ganges River, Varanasi Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jun 12, 2014 Visiters taking a boat ride in the holy Ganges in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.

The Ganges, also Ganga , is a trans-boundary river of Asia which flows through India and Bangladesh. The 2,525 km (1,569 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. It is the third largest river by discharge. The Ganges is the most sacred river to Hindus. It is also a lifeline to millions of Indians who live along its course and depend on it for their daily needs. It is worshipped as the goddess Ganga in Hinduism. It has also been important historically, with many former provincial or imperial capitals (such as Pataliputra, Kannauj, Kara, Kashi, Allahabad, Murshidabad, Munger, Baharampur, Kampilya and Kolkata) located on its banks. The Ganges was ranked as the fifth most polluted river of the world in 2007.

Pollution threatens not only humans, but also more than 140 fish species, 90 amphibian species and the endangered Ganges river dolphin.The Ganga Action Plan, an environmental initiative to clean up the river, has been a major failure thus far, due to corruption, lack of technical expertise, good environmental planning, and support from religious authorities. Varanasi, also known as Benares, Banaras or Kashi is an Indian city on the banks of the Ganges (Ganga) in Uttar Pradesh, 320 kilometres (200 mi) southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It is the holiest of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism and Jainism, and played an important role in the development of Buddhism. Some Hindus believe that death at Varanasi brings salvation. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Varanasi is also known as the favourite city of the Hindu deity Lord Shiva as it has been mentioned in the Rigveda that this city at older times was known as Kashi or "Shiv ki Nagri". Many of its temples were plundered and destroyed in the 12th century.

The temples and religious institutions in the city now are dated to the 18th century. The Kashi Naresh (Maharaja of Kashi) is the chief cultural patron of Varanasi, and an essential part of all religious celebrations. The culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the Ganges. The city has been a cultural center of North India for several thousand years, and has a history that is older than most of the major world religions. The Benares Gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed in Varanasi, and many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in Varanasi. Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath located near Varanasi. Varanasi is the spiritual capital of India. Scholarly books have been written in the city, including the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas. Today there is a temple of his namesake in the city, the Tulsi Manas Mandir. One of the largest residential universities of Asia the Banaras Hindu University is located here.

Varanasi is often referred to as "the city of temples", "the holy city of India", "the religious capital of India", "the city of shiva", and "the city of learning". Source:- Wikipedia This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of 50, 000+ hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Please subscribe to our channel wildfilmsindia on Youtube for a steady stream of videos from across India. Also, visit and enjoy your journey across India at , India's first video-based social networking experience! Reach us at rupindang @ gmail .

com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com Category Ganges River | river, Asia | Britannica.com Ganges River Allahabad Ganges River, Hindi Ganga, great river of the plains of the northern Indian subcontinent. Although officially as well as popularly called the Ganga in Hindi and in other Indian languages, internationally it is known by its conventional name, the Ganges. From time immemorial it has been the holy river of Hinduism . For most of its course it is a wide and sluggish stream, flowing through one of the most fertile and densely populated regions in the world. Despite its importance, its length of 1,560 miles (2,510 km) is relatively short compared with the other great rivers of Asia or of the world. The Brahmaputra and Ganges river basins and their drainage network. Rising in the Himalayas and emptying into the Bay of Bengal , it drains one-fourth of the territory of India , and its basin supports hundreds of millions of people.

The greater part of the Indo-Gangetic Plain , across which it flows, is the heartland of the region known as Hindustan and has been the cradle of successive civilizations from the Mauryan empire of Ashoka in the 3rd century bce to the Mughal Empire , founded in the 16th century. Morning prayers along the Ganges River, Varanasi, India. Gavin Hellier—Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images For most of its course the Ganges flows through Indian territory, although its large delta in the Bengal area, which it shares with the Brahmaputra River , lies mostly in Bangladesh . The general direction of the river’s flow is from northwest to southeast. At its delta the flow is generally southward. Physical features Physiography The Ganges rises in the southern Great Himalayas on the Indian side of the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China . Its five headstreams—the Bhagirathi , the Alaknanda, the Mandakini, the Dhauliganga, and the Pindar—all rise in the mountainous region of northern Uttarakhand state.

Of those, the two main headstreams are the Alaknanda (the longer of the two), which rises about 30 miles (50 km) north of the Himalayan peak of Nanda Devi, and the Bhagirathi, which originates at about 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) above sea level in a subglacial meltwater cave at the base of the Himalayan glacier known as Gangotri . Gangotri itself is a sacred place for Hindu pilgrimage . The true source of the Ganges, however, is considered to be at Gaumukh, about 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Gangotri. Gangotri, glacier in the Himalayas of Uttarakhand state, northern India, and one of the sources of … © afateev/Fotolia Eyjafjallajökull volcano The Ganges-Yamuna area was once densely forested. Historical writings indicate that in the 16th and 17th centuries wild elephants, buffalo, bison, rhinoceroses, lions, and tigers were hunted there.

Most of the original natural vegetation has disappeared from the Ganges basin, and the land is now intensely cultivated to meet the needs of an ever-growing population. Large wild animals are few, except for deer, boars, and wildcats and some wolves, jackals, and foxes. Only in the Sundarbans area of the delta are some Bengal tigers, crocodiles, and marsh deer still found. Ganges river dolphin, or susu (… Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Fish abound in all the rivers, especially in the delta area, where they form an important part of the inhabitants’ diet. In the Bengal area common fish include featherbacks (Notopteridae family), barbs (Cyprinidae), walking catfish , gouramis (Anabantidae), and milkfish (Chanidae). The Ganges river dolphin —or susu (Platanista gangetica), a nearly sightless cetacean with highly developed sonar capabilities—can be found throughout the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin, but it is considered endangered because of encroaching human activity.

Many varieties of birds are found, such as mynah birds, parrots, crows, kites, partridges, and fowls. In winter, ducks and snipes migrate south across the high Himalayas, settling in large numbers in water-covered areas. People Ethnically, the people of the Ganges basin are of mixed origin. In the west and centre of the basin they were originally descended from an early population—possibly speaking Dravidian or Austroasiatic languages—and were later joined by speakers of Indo-Aryan languages . In historical times Turks, Mongols, Afghans, Persians, and Arabs came from the west and intermingled with them. To the east and south, especially in Bengal, peoples speaking Austroasiatic, Indo-Aryan, and Tibeto-Burman languages have joined the population over the centuries. Europeans, arriving still later, did not settle or intermarry to any large extent. Hindu pilgrims bathing in the Ganges River at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh state, India. Frans Lemmens—The Image Bank/Getty Images Historically the Gangetic Plain has constituted the heartland of Hindustan and its successive civilizations.

The centre of the Mauryan empire of Ashoka was Patna (ancient Pataliputra), on the Ganges in Bihar. The centres of the great Mughal Empire were at Delhi and Agra , in the western Ganges basin. Kannauj on the Ganges, in central Uttar Pradesh north of Kanpur , was the capital of the feudal empire of Harsha , which covered most of northern India in the mid-7th century. During the Muslim era, which began in the 12th century, Muslim rule extended not only over the plain but over all Bengal as well. Dhaka and Murshidabad in the delta region were centres of Muslim power. The British, having founded Calcutta (Kolkata) on the banks of the Hugli River in the late 17th century, gradually expanded their dominion up the valley of the Ganges, reaching Delhi in the mid-19th century. A large number of cities have been built on the Gangetic Plain .

Among the most notable are Saharanpur , Meerut , Agra (the city of the famous Taj Mahal mausoleum), Mathura (esteemed as the birthplace of the Hindu god Krishna), Aligarh , Kanpur, Bareilly , Lucknow , Allahabad , Varanasi (Benares or Kashi; the holy city of the Hindus), Patna, Bhagalpur , Rajshahi , Murshidabad, Kolkata, Haora (Howrah), Dhaka, Khulna , and Barisal . In the delta Kolkata and its satellite towns stretch for about 50 miles (80 km) along both banks of the Hugli, forming one of India’s most-important concentrations of population, commerce, and industry. The religious importance of the Ganges may exceed that of any other river in the world. It has been revered from the earliest times and today is regarded as the holiest of rivers by Hindus. While places of Hindu pilgrimage, called tirtha s, are located throughout the subcontinent, those that are situated on the Ganges have particular significance.

Among those are the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna near Allahabad, where a bathing festival, or mela, is held in January and February; during the ceremony hundreds of thousands of pilgrims immerse themselves in the river. Other holy places for immersion are at Varanasi and at Haridwar. The Hugli River at Kolkata also is regarded as holy. Other places of pilgrimage on the Ganges include Gangotri and the junction of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi headstreams in the Himalayas. The Hindus cast the ashes of their dead into the river, believing that this gives the deceased direct passage to heaven , and cremation ghats (temples at the summit of riverside steps) for burning the dead have been built in many places on the banks of the Ganges. Ship laden with cremation ashes to be deposited in the Ganges River, Varanasi, India. © Charles A. Crowell/Black Star Economy Irrigation Use of the Ganges water for irrigation, either when the river is in flood or by means of gravity canals, has been common since ancient times. Such irrigation is described in scriptures and mythological books written more than 2,000 years ago.

Megasthenes , a Greek historian and ambassador who was in India, recorded the use of irrigation in the 4th century bce. Irrigation was highly developed during the period of Muslim rule from the 12th century onward, and the Mughal kings later constructed several canals. The canal system was further extended by the British. The cultivated area of the Ganges valley in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar benefits from a system of irrigation canals that has increased the production of such cash crops as sugarcane , cotton, and oilseeds. The older canals are mainly in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab (doab meaning “land between two rivers”). The Upper Ganga Canal, which begins at Hardiwar, and its branches have a combined length of 5,950 miles (9,575 km). The Lower Ganga Canal, extending 5,120 miles (8,240 km) with its branches, begins at Naraura. The Sarda Canal irrigates land near Ayodhya , in Uttar Pradesh. Higher lands at the northern edge of the plain are difficult to irrigate by canal, and groundwater must be pumped to the surface.

Large areas in Uttar Pradesh and in Bihar are also irrigated by channels running from hand-dug wells.The Ganges-Kabadak scheme in Bangladesh, largely an irrigation plan, covers parts of the districts of Khulna, Jessore, and Kushtia that lie within the part of the delta where silt and overgrowth choke the slowly flowing rivers. The system of irrigation is based on both gravity canals and electrically powered lifting devices. Navigation In ancient times the Ganges and some of its tributaries, especially in the east, were important transportation routes. According to Megasthenes, the Ganges and its main tributaries were being navigated in the 4th century bce. In the 14th century, inland-river navigation in the Ganges basin was still flourishing. By the 19th century, irrigation-cum-navigation canals formed the main arteries of the water-transport system. The advent of paddle steamers revolutionized inland transport, stimulating the growth of indigo production in Bihar and Bengal. Regular steamer services ran from Kolkata up the Ganges to Allahabad and far beyond, as well as to Agra on the Yamuna and up the Brahmaputra River.

Small sailing vessel on the Padma River (main stream of the Ganges [Ganga] River) near the ferry … joiseyshowaa The decline of large-scale water transport began with the construction of railways during the mid-19th century. The increasing withdrawal of water for irrigation also affected navigation. River traffic now is insignificant beyond the middle Ganges basin around Allahabad, mainly consisting of rural rivercraft (including motorboats, sailboats, and rafts). West Bengal and Bangladesh, however, continue to rely on the waterways to transport jute, tea, grain, and other agricultural and rural products. Principal river ports are Chalna, Khulna, Barisal, Chandpur, Narayanganj, Goalundo Ghat, Sirajganj, Bhairab Bazar, and Fenchuganj in Bangladesh and Kolkata, Goalpara, Dhuburi, and Dibrugarh in India. The partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947—with eastern Bengal becoming East Pakistan until in 1971 it declared its independence as Bangladesh—produced far-reaching changes, virtually halting the large trade in tea and jute formerly carried to Kolkata from Assam by inland waterway.

In Bangladesh inland water transport is the responsibility of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority. In India the Inland Waterways Authority of India formulates policy for and develops and maintains an extensive system of national waterways, while the publicly owned Central Inland Water Transport Corporation, Ltd., is responsible for transporting cargo in the waterway system and maintains the transport vessels as well as the facilities at several ports. Approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of waterways in the Ganges basin from Allahabad to Haldia are included in the system. The Farakka Barrage at the head of the delta, just inside Indian territory in West Bengal, began diverting Ganges waters south into India in 1976. The Indian government argued that hydrological changes had diverted Ganges water from the port of Kolkata over the preceding century and resulted in the deposition of silt and the intrusion of saline seawater. India constructed the dam to ameliorate the condition of Kolkata by flushing away the seawater and raising the water level. The Bangladeshi government maintained that the Farakka Barrage deprived southwestern Bangladesh of a needed source of water.

In 1996 both countries signed an agreement resolving the dispute by apportioning the waters of the Ganges between the two countries. Catastrophic floods in Bangladesh in 1987 and 1988—the latter being among the most severe in the country’s history—prompted the World Bank to prepare a long-term flood-control plan for the region. 1000+ images about Ganges on Pinterest | Hindus, India and Indian I love the colors of india. This photograph was taken near Varanasi from the ganges river. Varanasi is a very dark and dusty place but if you look closer, crazy colors come your way. See More Travel Icon: Varanasi, India | Audley Travel Travel Icon: Varanasi, India India's most spiritual river flows through its oldest city. Audley expert Tom Draper takes to the water. The ghats, varanasi Varanasi is not only one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world – and the oldest in India – it is also the holiest city for Hinduism and Jainism. For over 2,500 years the city has attracted a large number of pilgrims and worshippers and it continues to do so today.

Hindus believe that to die in Varanasi on the banks of the holy Ganges River ensures they will achieve ‘Moksha’, or liberation from the cycle of life and death. A visit to the ghats of Varanasi can provide a true insight into India’s spirituality and the extremes of Indian culture. For many visitors it is an unforgettable experience that leaves a very humble impression. Did you know? Varanasi is named after the confluence of two rivers, Varuna and Asi. Legends say that the city was founded some 5,000 years ago by Lord Shiva. It is estimated that more than one million pilgrims visit the city every year. Dawn is a great time of day to see the city; you can travel in a small rowing boat along the river and watch as the city slowly wakes up and the ghats start to fill with worshippers taking an early morning bath. Evenings are lively too when the ghats fill for the Ganga Aarti, a ceremony where priests line up holding large fire bowls in their hands. The air fills with the smell of incense while the sounds of gongs and chants ring out.

Small candles and flowers are offered to the river as a symbol of hope and to give thanks to the Ganges for being a source of life and prosperity. You can take a guided walk through Varanasi in the early evening where your guide will talk you through the concepts of death and rebirth. There are also many temples in Varanasi and wonderful narrow alleyways to explore that hide an interesting mix of shops and industries such as silk weaving. Evening prayer ceremony, The Ganges, Varanasi Itinerary ideas that incorporate the city of Varanasi India Holy river with beautiful view - Ganges River, Varanasi Traveller Reviews - TripAdvisor “Go now!” Reviewed 8 July 2015 Do it. Go here. Rent a boat from a man at the shores and take that ride on the Ganges. Sit in awe of the people, the ritual, the tradition, the spirituality. Hold your nose in shock of the pollution. When the world's biggest thunderstorm approaches, the boat driver will pull out a tarp and cover the boat and you will sit and rock under a tarp waiting for the storm to pass, and it does. Amazing views. A boat trip down the Ganges River should be on everyone's bucket list.

Visited August 2014 “Stirring and unforgettable experience” Reviewed 8 July 2015 An extraordinary experience. In spite of the fact that a lot of the ritual singing and chanting is conveyed through electronic speakers, the evening ceremonies have a power and resonance that will grip most who attend (huge crowds - be prepared - get there early) even if not formally religious. Get a good seat - somewhere high up on one of the balconies is helpful. Even more mysterious and unforgettable is to go on a small rowing boat (easily arranged - so many willing rowers) to see the sun rise over the Ganges: this time the silence is what is powerful, and the sight of huge piles of wood on the 'burning ghats' for the cremation of the dead. (For a brilliant description of this event, read Atul Gawande's description of his physician-father's funeral on the Ganges, in his brilliant book 'Being Mortal'. Even though not a believer, he was deeply stirred by what happened.) The river as 'mother' to whom one returns in the end is very vividly conveyed by the dawn boat-ride, and the sight of the blood-red rising sun symbolising new life.

Don't miss it. Visited March 2015 Geography of the Ganges River By Amanda Briney Updated August 03, 2015. The Ganges River, also called Ganga, is a river located in northern India that flows toward the border with Bangladesh ( map ). It is the longest river in India and flows for around 1,569 miles (2,525 km) from the Himalayan Mountains to the Bay of Bengal. The river has the second greatest water discharge in the world and its basin is the most heavily populated in the world with over 400 million people living in the basin. The Ganges River is extremely important to the people of India as most of the people living on its banks use it for daily needs such as bathing and fishing. It is also significant to Hindus as they consider it their most sacred river. Course of the Ganges River The headwaters of the Ganges River begin high in the Himalayan Mountains where the Bhagirathi River flows out of the Gangotri Glacier in India's Uttarakhand state. The glacier sits at an elevation of 12,769 feet (3,892 m).

The Ganges River proper begins farther downstream where the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers join. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance As the Ganges flows out of the Himalayas it creates a narrow, rugged canyon. The Ganges River emerges from the Himalayas at the town of Rishikesh where it begins to flow onto the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This area, also called the North Indian River Plain, is a very large, relatively flat, fertile plain that makes up most of the northern and eastern parts of India as well as parts of Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh . In addition to entering the Indo-Gangetic Plain at this area, part of the Ganges River is also diverted toward the Ganges Canal for irrigation in the Uttar Pradesh state. As the Ganges River then flows farther downstream it changes its direction several times and is joined by many other tributary rivers such as the Ramganga, Tamsa and Gandaki rivers to name a few. There are also several cities and towns that the Ganges River passes through on its way downstream. Some of these include Chunar, Kolkata, Mirzapur, and Varanasi.

Many Hindus visit the Ganges River in Varanasi as that city is considered the holiest of cities. As such, the city's culture is also closely tied into the river as it is the most sacred river in Hinduism. Once the Ganges River flows out of India and into Bangladesh its main branch is known as the Padma River. The Padma River is joined downstream by large rivers like the Jamuna and Meghna rivers. After joining the Meghna it takes on that name before flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Prior to entering the Bay of Bengal however, the river creates the world's largest delta, Ganges Delta. This region is a highly fertile sediment laden area that covers 23,000 square miles (59,000 sq km). It should be noted that the course of the Ganges River described in the above paragraphs is a general description of the river's route from its source where the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers join to its outlet at the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges has a very complicated hydrology and there are several different descriptions of its overall length and the size of its drainage basin based on what tributary rivers are included.

The most widely accepted length of the Ganges River is 1,569 miles (2,525 km) and its drainage basin is estimated to be about 416,990 square miles (1,080,000 sq km). Population of the Ganges River The Ganges River basin has been inhabited by humans since ancient times. The first people in the region were of the Harappan civilization. They moved into the Ganges River basin from the Indus River basin around the 2nd millennium B.C.E. Later the Gangetic Plain became the center of the Maurya Empire and then the Mughal Empire. The first European to discuss the Ganges River was Megasthenes in his work Indica. In modern times the Ganges River has become a source of life for the nearly 400 million people living in its basin. They rely on the river for their daily needs such as drinking water supplies and food and for irrigation and manufacturing. Today the Ganges River basin is the most populated river basin in the world. It has a population density of about 1,000 people per square mile (390 per sq km).

Significance of the Ganges River Aside from providing drinking water and irrigating fields, the Ganges River is extremely important to India's Hindu population for religious reasons as well. The Ganges River is considered their most sacred river and it is worshiped as the goddess Ganga Ma or "Mother Ganges" ( About.com ). According to the Myth of the Ganges the goddess Ganga descended from heaven to dwell in the waters of the Ganges River to protect, purify and bring to heaven those who touch it. Devout Hindus visit the river daily to offer flowers and food to Ganga. They also drink the water and bathe in the river to cleanse and purify their sins. In addition, Hindus believe that upon death the waters of the Ganges River are needed to reach the World of the Ancestors, Pitriloka. As a result, Hindus bring their dead to the river for cremation along its banks and afterward their ashes are spread in the river. In some cases corpses are also thrown into the river. The city of Varanasi is the holiest of cities along the Ganges River and many Hindus travel there place ashes of their dead in the river.

Along with daily baths in the Ganges River and offerings to the goddess Ganga there are large religious festivals that occur in the river throughout the year where millions of people travel to the river to bathe so that they can be purified of their sins. Pollution of the Ganges River Despite the religious significance and daily importance of the Ganges River for the people of India, it is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Pollution of the Ganges is caused by both human and industrial waste due to India's rapid growth as well as religious events. India currently has a population of over one billion people and 400 million of them live in the Ganges River basin. As a result much of their waste, including raw sewage is dumped into the river. In addition, many people bathe and use the river to clean their laundry. Fecal coliform bacteria levels near Varanasi are at least 3,000 times higher than the what is established by the World Health Organization as safe ( Hammer, 2007 ). Industrial practices in India also have little regulation and as the population grows these industries do as well.

There are many tanneries, chemical plants, textile mills, distilleries and slaughterhouses along the river and many of them dump their untreated and often toxic waste into the river. The water of the Ganges has been tested to contain high levels of things like chromium sulfate, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and sulfuric acid (Hammer, 2007). In addition to human and industrial waste some religious activities also increase the pollution of the Ganges. For example, Hindus believe that they must take offerings of food and other items to Ganga and as a result these items are thrown into the river on a regular basis and more so during religious events. Human remains are also often placed into the river. In the late 1980s India's prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi began the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) in an effort to clean up the Ganges River. The plan shut down many highly polluting industrial plants along the river and allotted funding for the construction of wastewater treatment facilities but its efforts have fallen short as the plants are not large enough to handle the waste coming from such a large population (Hammer, 2007).

Many of the polluting industrial plants are also still continuing to dump their hazardous waste into the river. Despite this pollution however, the Ganges River remains important to the Indian people as well as different species of plants and animals such as the Ganges River dolphin, a very rare species of freshwater dolphin that is native only to that area. To learn more about the Ganges River, read " A Prayer for the Ganges " from Smithsonian.com.

Question: What holy river flows through Varanasi, India?
Answer: Ganges