Flow of Purity: Decoding the Secrets of the Ganges
- Shravan Official
- Dec 10, 2023
- 4 min read
From the Glaciers of the Gangotri, originates a mighty river. The river flows on to support around 9-14% of world's population in its widely spread plains. The river which has flourished the Lands of India and has nurtured its people since ancient times and has gained the status of Mother Goddess on the land of Bharath is none other than the river Ganga. Her Plains encompasses 7,00,000 km2 of area and is said to be one of the most densely populated Plains in the world.
Although Ganga is primarily believed to have originated from Gangotri, it is formed by the confluence of two rivers, Bhagirathi from Gangotri glaciers and Alaknanda from Satopanth Glacier. These two major rivers meet at Devprayag and further flows under the name of Ganga. The river Ganga Doesn’t have a single point of origin. It is made by the confluence of many streams and rivers like Nandakini, Mandakini, Jhanvi, Pindar etc., which either join Alakhnanda or Bhagirathi before they combine to form Ganga.
In Sanatana Dharma Ganga has a prominent status. The Vedas, Puranas, predominantly speak about the might and purity of Ganga. In Bhagavath Geetha Sri Krishna says “among all the Rivers of the world; I am the Ganga River descending from the heavens, in the form of melting snow from the lofty Himalayas”. The waters of Ganga are said to be flowing in Heavens and it is brought to earth by King Bhagirath. Many Holy Places like Badrinath,Kedarnath, Kashi, Prayagraj, Pancha Prayag etc., are at the banks of this virtuous river. Indians believe that waters of Ganga to be purest among all. Her waters are used in different venerations, Fire sacrifices etc.,
Waters of Ganga are also said to cure diseases. It is said that one can store Ganga waters for many years and it still remains as pure as before. But, scientifically it is hard to believe that any river can self purify itself over time. In the year 1896 when cholera was widely spreading across India, the villages which settled near the banks of mainstream Ganga were comparatively less affected by the disease. This drew the attention of a British Bacteriologist Ernst Hanbury Hanking. In his journal Hankin EH. L’action bactéricide des eaux de la Jumna et du Gange sur le vibrion du choléra. Ann Inst Pasteur. He states that the cholera Microbe did not survive in the Ganga water. The water did not lose its bactericidal property even after filtering, when heated in the sealed tube it did kill the bacterias but not as effectively as before. Thus, it was concluded that the factor in Ganga was thermolabile and not filterable. Dr C E Nelson a Canadian scientist concluded that water collected from polluted stretches of Ganga i.e near Hooghly, remained fresh for months. These studies concluded that Ganga Had some factors which kills the microbes and purifies its waters. Upon Further research it was known that the Factor was none other than Bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are the type of Virus which harms bacterias. These Viruses were responsible for maintaining Ganga waters clean from many deadly bacterias.
The Bacteriophages can affect a wide range of Bacterias, but since viruses are host specific they cannot harm any other organisms apart from bacterias. The Bacteriophages due to their unique bactericidal property are used in antimicrobial research.
Now, the question arises if only Ganga Waters have these phages? And what is the reason that Ganga has these phages?
The Answer for the first question is, No! Other rivers of India such as Yamuna and Narmada have been found to contain these phages. But, the number of phages are less compared to that of Ganga. Ganga waters have abundant phages in them which makes them more clean than other rivers. The NEERI[National Environmental Engineering Research Institute ] Report submitted in 2015 stated that more than 1100 varieties of Phages are found in Ganga but less 200 varieties of them were found in Waters of Yamuna and Narmada. This clearly shows the difference.
The reason why Ganga has large number of phages is that, these viruses were trapped in the frosts of Himalayas. These Viruses are said to be trapped there for long time. when glaciers melts to form river, these phages move into the waters. Thus, Ganga has large number of Phages as it's waters are fed by several different glaciers of Himalayas.
Some other uses of Ganga waters are as follows:
In 2019 Dev raj Patel found out that the waters of Ganga can be used for treating the non healing wounds and other skin treatments.
The phages in Ganga not only helps in treating humans but also aids in treating the bacterial infections among the animals.
From the above researches and Studies we can clearly state that Ganga is Scientifically Holy. This shows that our Ancestors have clearly known the powers of Ganga. And, we Indians must count ourselves lucky to have such a divine boon. Unfortunately, Waters of Ganga are now in the list of Most polluted rivers of the world. Not only River Ganga, almost every other river of India is now polluted. Many rivers are now at the verge of Extinction. Despite having such a wonderful natural drainage system, water scarcity is one the major problems of India. Illegal Land encroachment, release of toxic wastes, kills these rivers, not just Rivers but also the aquatic life of these rivers are endangered. When depicting Goddess Ganga, we see her to be seated on a mysterious animal “Makara”* , which is also believed to be Indian River Dolphins or The Ganges River Dolphin. This Dolphin is also the National Aquatic animal of India. However,they are now one of the most endangered species in India.Not just venerating nature, but also we need to consider sustaining and conserving them. Because, if rivers are extinct then the whole civilisation will wipe out.
*Makara is also considered to be Crocodile, however the makara the actual description of Makara states that its body is combination of body parts of several animals like elephant, fish, lion etc.,
Perfectly researched and written.