Story of Ganga

The story of Ganga is interrelated to the story of Benares because here lies the holy temple of Baba Vishwanath (Father, he who protects the world). The story of Benares will be told in my next post. In the photos you can see the first of the Ghats or the man built embankments where you can see various activities from playing of cricket to burning of the dead. Next post.

Sagara, a legendary king of Ayodhya had no children . He performed long and ardous penances as a result of which he was promised with the birth of 60,000 children. he did get these sons and when they grew up, king Sagara resolved to perform the Ashwamedh Yajna. Indra, the lord of heavens was alarmed and he feared that Sagara would become very strong and dethrone him.

Indra descended to the earth and stealthily carried away the horse , and he placed it in patal (the subterranean region) just near the place where the famous sage Kapila was sitting in deep meditation. The 60,000 sons of Sagara, after searching the horse all over the earth, dug a hole and reached patal. There they found the horse standing near a sage who was sitting with eyes closed in meditation. They thought he was the thief and began beaing him. sage Kapila, who awoke from his meditation, in his anger reduced all the princes to ashes.

The wandering sage Narada informed Sagara about the fate of his sons. King Sagara prayed to sage Kapila for relief, who advised that if he could somehow bring the goddess Ganga form heavens to the earth and if the ashes were washed with her water, their salvation would be possible. sagara gave the throne to his single surviving son and went to forest for prayers but perished in his efforts. So also his son, who too sacrificed his life as a penance after giving throne to his son Dalip.

For many years, no issue was born to Dalip from any of his two wives. Later with god Shiva's blessings he did get a son named Bhagiratha who was deformed. When this boy became young a sage blessed him and he turned into a healthy and handsome prince. Bhagiratha now addressed prayers regularly to different gods for the restoration of his 60,000 relatives suffering on account of a curse. he performed severe penance earnestly for a very long time. Both god Shiva and goddess Ganga were ultimately propitiated.

As Ganga had to fall from heaven to earth , Bhagiratha feared that the earth will be crushed by her fall. So Ganga swept down in three great instalments and Shiva standing on the Himalaya, caught Ganga in his matted hair to mitigate the impact. At length Shiva allowed a part of Ganga to fall on earth and Bhagiratha blowing the conch given to him bygod Vishnu led Ganga to seas. later she was taken to patal and so all the 60,000 sons of Sagara were purified.

Source: Gods And Goddesses Of India
Published By: http://www.diamondpocketbooks.com/
Sourced from http://spirituality.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=12160095

Views from Mussoorie 2 of 2: Sightseeing

This is the blog continued from here. Here you will see the sights of Mussoorie's hills and natural beauty. The photos below here have been taken on the road to Dhanolti. a sightseeing place in between Mussoorie and Chamba (Tehri Dam- not to be confused with Chamba of Himachal Pradesh). Here you will see Pine trees and in the distant you can see Gangotri Glacier- those snow covered mountains- from where River Ganges originate. For the mythological tale of Ganga read here. And you can read here for some details of Gangotri. [For some photos of Gangotri, not mine you can visit here.]. For some more information about river ganges you can visit here. For some more information on holy places in Uttaranchal where Mussoorie is you can visit here.

Fantastic view.

Some shops where you can buy something to eat (Not for Foreigners- I guess unless you are already tuned to Indian Foods on the roadside.

Views from Mussoorie-1 of 2, India

Quote "Mussoorie, with its green hills and varied flora & fauna, is a fascinating hill resort. Commanding snow ranges to the north-east, and glittering views of the Doon Valley & Shiwalik ranges in the south, the town presents a fairyland atmosphere to the tourists.

Its history dates back to 1827 when Captain Young, an adventurous military officer, explored the present site and laid the foundation of this holiday resort which now has few rivals. Mussoorie is famous for its scenic beauty and hectic social life. It provides all kinds of amusement and every facility for domestic and foreign tourists.

Mussoorie is conveniently connected to road by Delhi and major cities and is the 'Gateway' to Yamunotri and Gangotri Shrines of Northern India." Unquote.

The above has been picked up from this site "Welcome to Mussoorie-Town in Himalayas" by Mr Dinesh Singh Pundir. [After all when someone else has already provied you the details, why waste web space by duplication? I am sure he will not mind as I have provided a link back to his site.]. Here is another site made by Mr Ranjeet Rustogi who belongs to that place.

Mussorie is one of many Hill Stations in India and each hill station has its own beauty to one who loves nature. For more details you can read here which is the govt. tourism site.

We stayed at Green Breeze Hotels and Resorts at their resort some 5 kms before Mussoorie main town. This is near Jaypee Hotel which is a 5-star hotel. The main Green Breeze Hotel is on Mall Road but I did not like to stay on the Mall. Staying on the Mall is like staying inside a town and it is just like staying in my home city. After all when you are going to the hills you must stay near nature. Of course the mall road by itself is a quaint place with small shops dotting the road on one side and the valley on the other side. Well everybody has his or her own choice. I have not taken any photograph of the Mall Road itself so cannot show them here.

You do not really need to stay in a 5-star. This goes for people from outside India too. As hotels like the one where I stayed will also provide you bottled water and cooked food is also hygenic. These are the only two things that any Foreigner should remember - have bottled water and food only in good hotels- which need not be 5 -star.

Here are some views of Mussoorie. The first four are a night view of the main town at the top from our hotel below the town.









The next four photos now show the city of Dehradun covered in a fog below us from the hotel. Dehradun is the capital of Uttaranchal.

Then here you can see the same hill top from our hotel in daylight or just before sunset which is why there is a reddish tinge giving it a different quality in the picture. On the right is the CinemaHall end and on the left is the Libray end of the Mall Road which is around 1.5 kms.

Here is the looking below from Mussoorie. Some from our hotel and some from the Mall road. The buildings on the corner of the hill in the 3rd photo are where our hotel was.

Sunset at Mussoorie. Of course some are the photos of same place at different times. For some spectacular sunset views and coloured sky please visit my other photoblog here.

My photos of Mussoorie are continued here.