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GANGES (GANGA)

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 452 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GANGES (GANGA) , a See also:great See also:liver of See also:northern See also:India, formed by the drainage of the See also:southern ranges of the Himalayas. This mighty stream, which in its See also:lower course supplies the See also:river See also:system of See also:Bengal, rises in the See also:Garhwal See also:state, and falls into the See also:Bay of Bengal after a course of 1500 M. It issues, under the name of the Bhagirathi, from an See also:ice See also:cave at the See also:foot of a Himalayan See also:snow-See also:bed near See also:Gangotri, 10,300 ft. above the level of the See also:sea. During its passage through the southern spurs of the Himalayas it receives the Jahnavi from the See also:north-See also:west, and subsequently the Alaknanda, after which the See also:united stream takes the name of the Ganges. Deo Prayag, their point of junction, is a celebrated See also:place of See also:pilgrimage, as is also Gangotri, the source of the See also:parent stream. At Sukhi it pierces through the Himalayas, and turns See also:south-west to See also:Hardwar, also a place of great sanctity. It proceeds by a tortuous course through the districts of See also:Dehra Dun, See also:Saharanpur, See also:Muzaffarnagar, See also:Bulandshahr and See also:Farukhabad, in which last See also:district it receives the Ramganga. Thus far the Ganges has been little more than a See also:series of broad shoals, See also:long deep pools and rapids, except, of course, during the melting of the snows and throughout the See also:rainy See also:season. At See also:Allahabad, however, it receives the See also:Jumna, a mighty See also:sister stream, which takes its rise also in the Himalayas to the west of the See also:sources of the Ganges. The combined river winds eastwards by south-See also:east through the United Provinces, receiving the See also:Gumti and the See also:Gogra. The point of junction with both the Gumti and the Gogra has more or less pretension to sanctity. But the See also:tongue of See also:land at Allahabad, where the Jumna and the Ganges join, is the true Prayag, the place of pilgrimage, to which hundreds of thousands of devout See also:Hindus repair to See also:wash away their sins in the sacred river.

It is here that the great festival called the Magh See also:

mela is held. Shortly after passing the See also:holy See also:city of See also:Benares the Ganges enters See also:Behar, and after receiving an important tributary, the See also:Sone from the south, passes See also:Patna, and obtains another See also:accession to its See also:volume from the See also:Gandak, which rises in See also:Nepal. Farther to the east it receives the Kusi, and then, skirting the See also:Rajmahal hills, turns sharply to the southward, passing near the site of the ruined city of See also:Gaur. By this See also:time it has approached to within 240 m., as the See also:crow flies, from the sea. About 20 M. farther on it begins to See also:branch out over the level See also:country, and this spot marks the commencement of the See also:delta, 220 M. in a straight See also:line, or 300 by the windings of the river, from the Bay of Bengal. The See also:main channel takes the name of the Padma or Padda, and proceeds in a south-easterly direction, past See also:Pabna to Goalanda, above which it is joined by the Jamuna or main stream of the See also:Brahmaputra. The vast confluence of See also:waters rushes towards the sea, receiving further additions from the See also:hill country on the east, and forming a broad See also:estuary known under the name of the See also:Meghna, which enters the Bay of Bengal near See also:Noakhali. This estuary, however, is only the largest and most easterly of a great number of mouths or channels. The most See also:westerly is the See also:Hugli, which receives the waters of a number of distributary channels that start from the parent Ganges above See also:Murshidabad. Between the Hugli on the west and the Meghna on the east lies the delta. The upper See also:angle of it consists of See also:rich and fertile districts, such as Murshidabad, See also:Nadia, See also:Jessore and the 24 Parganas. But towards its southern See also:base, resting on the sea, the country sinks into a series of great swamps, intercepted by a network of innumerable channels.

This See also:

wild See also:waste is known as the See also:Sundarbans, from the sundari See also:tree, which grows in abundance in the seaboard tracts. The most important channel of the Ganges for See also:commerce is the Hugli, on which stands See also:Calcutta, about 90 M. from the mouth. Beyond this city the See also:navigation is conducted by native See also:craft: the See also:modern facilities for See also:traffic by See also:rail and the increasing shoals in the river having put an end to the previous steamer communication, which plied until about 186o as high up as Allahabad. Below Calcutta important See also:boat routes through the delta connect the Hugli with the eastern branches of the river, for both native craft and steamers. The Ganges is essentially a river of great cities: Calcutta, See also:Monghyr, Patna, Benares and Allahabad all See also:lie on its course below its junction with the Jumna; and the See also:ancient capitals, See also:Agra and See also:Delhi, are on the Jumna, higher up. The catchment See also:basin of the Ganges is bounded on the N. by a length of about zoo m. of the Himalayan range, on the S. by the See also:Vindhya mountains, and on the E. by the ranges which See also:separate Bengal from See also:Burma. The vast river basin thus enclosed embraces 432,480 sq. en. According to the latest calculations, the length of the main stream of the Ganges is 1540 m., or with its longest affluent, 168o; breadth at true entrance into the sea, 20 M.; breadth of channel in dry season, I to 24 M.; See also:depth in dry season, 30 ft.; See also:flood See also:discharge, 1,800,000 cub. ft. per second; See also:ordinary discharge, 207,000 cub. ft.; longest duration of flood, about 40 days. The See also:average fall from Allahabad to Benares is 6 in. per mile; from Benares to Calcutta, between 4 and 5 in.; from Calcutta to the sea, I to 2 in. Great changes take place from time to time in the river-bed, which alter the See also:face of the country. Extensive islands are thrown up, and attach themselves to the mainland, while the river deserts its old bed and seeks a new channel, it may be many See also:miles off. Such changes are so rapid and on so vast a See also:scale, and the corroding See also:power of the current on the See also:bank so irresistible, that in Lower Bengal it is considered perilous to build any structure of a large or permanent See also:character on its margin.

Many decayed or ruined cities attest the changes in the river-bed in ancient times; and within our own times the main channel which formerly passed Rajmahal has turned away from it, and See also:

left the See also:town high and dry, 7 m. from the bank. The Ganges is crossed by six railway See also:bridges on its course as far as Benares; and another, at Sara in Eastern Bengal, has been sanctioned. 452 The UPPER GANGES See also:CANAL and the LOWER GANGES CANAL are the two See also:principal systems of perennial See also:irrigation in the United Provinces. The Ganges canal was opened by See also:Lord See also:Dalhousie in 1854, and irrigates 978,000 acres. The Lower Ganges canal, an See also:extension of the See also:original canal, has been in operation since 1878 and irrigates 83o,000 acres. The two canals, together with the eastern Jumna, command the greater portion of the See also:Doab lying between the Ganges and the Jumna, above Allahabad. Navigation in either is insignificant. (T. H.

End of Article: GANGES (GANGA)

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