The Real Ganga In India and Bangladesh - The Ganga: Water Use in the Indian Subcontinent - page 5

Chapter 2
The Real Ganga In India and Bangladesh
According to ancient Hindu, Buddhist, Tibetan and Chinese scriptures, Mount
Kailash, 6,100 m high, in the vast snowy reaches of Tibet, beyond the Indian
Himalayas, is the home of the Ganga. Flowing down the mountain slopes, it enters
India. The Manas Sarovar , the Lake of Mind, lies at the foot of the Kailash and
is believed to be another source of the Ganga. The natural lake has been attracting
pilgrims and traders since the Christian era, namely Hindus and Buddhists of Tibet,
China, Japan and other countries. Its water sprawls over about 500 km 2 at an alti-
tude of about 5,000 m. Four great Indian rivers, The Ganga, the Yamuna, the Indus
and the Brahmaputra- are believed to be flowing from Manas Sarovar. However, the
visible source of the Ganga is the Gangotri glacier in north Garhwal district of Uttar
Pradesh (now Uttarakhand), a few 100 km south of the Mount Kailash. It is nearly
30 km long and five km wide and is surrounded by 7,000-8,000 m high mountain
peaks. The two main tributaries of the Ganga - the Alakananda and the Bhagirathil -
also originate from the glacier and flowing past the holy villages of Badrinath and
Gangotri, join at Deva Prayag, take the name of the Ganga and flows south, about
280 km, to reach the plains at Rishikesh and 30 kmmore to reach Haridwar. The land
route to Gangotri meanders through steep mountain slopes across the Bhagirathi
valley, through dense forests of cedar and pine and very similar-looking small
hilly towns. Haridwar, mythologically the gate of God (Lord Vishnu), is a popular
pilgrimage city, where Hindus gather between May and September, to perform reli-
gious rites (Fig. 2.1). Photographs 2.1 and 2.2 shows the Ganga water coming out of
Hill cave at Kedarnath and the meeting point of Alakananda and Bhagirathi at Deva
Prayag.
Flowing about 160 km south-east from Haridwar, the Ganga enters
Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh and travels further south. The discharge
partly diverts here through the Upper Ganga canal, starting from Haridwar. The
course of Upper Ganga from Gomukh to Haridwar is about 375 km. From Haridwar
to Farakka in West Bengal, the 1,730 km course is called the Middle Ganga, flanked
by flood-prone plains. Flowing through five UP districts - Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor,
Meerut, Aligarh and Moradabad, it takes a wide sweep southeast at Nangal in
Bijnor district for several kilometres. In Meerut and Moradabad, it flows on a wide
bed, often changing its course. Flowing about 770 km from Haridwar, it joins the