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River Ganges–Historical, cultural and socioeconomic attributes

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River Ganges – Historical, cultural and

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Dilip Kumar

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 River Ganges – Historical, cultural and
socioeconomic attributes
Dilip Kumar
C-9/9698, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070, India
Corresponding author: dk.dilipkumar@gmail.com

The River Ganges (also referred to as Ganga) is a symbol of faith, hope, culture and sanity, as well as
a source of livelihood for millions since time immemorial. She is the centre of social and religious
tradition in the Indian sub-continent and particularly sacred in Hinduism. The very special faith and
respect for the River Ganges in India are as old as Indian culture itself. These are amply reflected in
such ancient Indian scriptures as: Vedas, Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and several others. In fact,
respect for Ganga is a part of Indian identity and the very symbol of Indian culture. The history of
Ganga in nurturing culture and civilizations is appreciated through fostering native culture in its basin,
shifting of the Indus-Sarasvati basin civilization into its fold, and promoting integration of cultures to
develop Indian civilization. The Ganges alone drains an area of over a million square kilometers. Its
extensive basin accounts for one-fourth of India’s water resources and is home to more than 407 million
Indians, or some one-third of India’s population. The Ganges basin, with its fertile soil, is a significant
contributor to the agricultural economies of both India and Bangladesh. The Ganges and its tributaries
provide a perennial source of irrigation to a large area, in addition to recharging the groundwater table
all along their course. By supporting agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries, tourism, river-based
trade and transport, the river contributes significantly to the livelihood, food and nutritional security of
about one-third of Indian and two-thirds of the Bangladeshi population. This article attempts to present
a macro view of the Ganges and provide a broader context encompassing its historical, spiritual, cultural
and socioeconomic attributes and considerations which often remain untouched in scientific papers.

Keywords: Indus-Saravasti civilization, river basin, agriculture, fisheries, livelihood

Introduction intricately tied with almost all aspects of life and

The Ganges, or Ganga as it is locally known, is
much more than a mere natural resource. It is a
major river of the Indian subcontinent and widely
acclaimed for its great cultural, spiritual, economic
and ecological significance, which far transcends
the national borders and boundaries of its vast
span of basin and delta. Ganga has also been a cra-
dle of human civilization. Since time immemorial,
it has been influencing humankind, as it has been
the livelihoods of the people living in its environs.
The river is also considered as “the lifeline of
India,” as it delivers wide-ranging services encom-
passing the transitions of water to food, energy to
ecology, lives to livelihoods, social concerns to
economic, and cultural considerations to spiritual.
Ganga is the most sacred river for Hindus, who
call it Ma Ganga (mother Ganga) possibly because
it holds and nurtures billions of lives, including
humans and other terrestrial, aquatic, and

8
Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management, 20(1–2):8–20, 2017. Copyright Ó 2017 AEHMS. ISSN: 1463-4988 print / 1539-4077 online
DOI: 10.1080/14634988.2017.1304129
 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20
amphibious entities. The many symbolic meanings
of the river across the Indian subcontinent are
reflected by the two inspiring quotes of Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of the
Republic of India, in his book “Discovery of
India” (Nehru, 1946):
“The Ganga, especially, is the river of India, beloved
of her people, round which are intertwined her mem-
ories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her
victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of
India’s age-long culture and civilization, ever chang-
ing, ever flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga.
The Ganga to me is the symbol of India’s memorable
past which has been flowing into the present and con-
tinues to flow towards the ocean of the future.”
Originating in the Himalayas and flowing into
the Bay of Bengal, the river negotiates a course of
over 2,500 km through the northern highlands and
plains of north and east India and Bangladesh. The
Ganga basin, which also extends into parts of
Nepal, China and Bangladesh, encompasses
extraordinary variations in altitude, climate, land
use, flora and fauna, as well as the social and cul-
tural life of the indigenous people. The basin
accounts for nearly 26 percent of India’s landmass,
30 percent of its water resources, and over 40 per-
cent of its population. Because of its unique
importance ascribed to reasons that are geographi-
cal, historical, spiritual, ecological, sociocultural,
and economic, the Government of India, on 20
February 2009, declared Ganga as the National
River of India and created the National Ganga
River Basin Authority (NGRBA) to safeguard the
basin by protecting it from pollution and overuse
(GOI, 2009). The runoff generated by the Himala-
yan glaciers feeds several of Asia’s greatest rivers
including Ganga (Ganges), Sindhu (Indus), and
Brahmaputra, providing water and supporting the
production of food for over two billion people
(WWF, 2005, 2011a). Water from these rivers also
feeds “hotspot” regions of biodiversity with some
10,000 plant species, an estimated 300 mammals,
and almost 1,000 types of birds (Conservation
International, 2008).
Though the river Ganga has been extensively
investigated, major areas of studies have been
focused around its hydrological features, and
assessment of its potential for hydropower genera-
tion, irrigation, and flood control. Valuable
9
information thus generated is documented in vari-
ous reports prepared by the Irrigation Commission
of the Government of India (1972). Certain highly
relevant information related to other aspects of the
river are also available: Khosla (1977); Rao
(1975); GOI (1976); IARI (1977); Gole and Patter-
gar (1978); FAO (1978); UN (1996); Lal (1998).
Significant eco-biological and environment-
related information has also been a major focus of
research with the growing awareness of environ-
mental, fisheries, biodiversity and socioeconomic
concerns: Bilgrami and Dutta Munshi (1979);
Singh et al. (1983); Jhingran, A. G. (1989a,
1989b); Jhingran, V. G. (1991); Bilgrami (1991);
Krishna Murti et al. (1991); MRAG (1996); Sinha
et al. (1999); Payne et al. (2004); CIFRI (2008);
Vass et al. (2008, 2010); GOI (2009); Singh et al.
(2010); Nautiyal (2010); IIT, Kanpur (2011);
WWF (2011b, 2011c, 2012). The ecological
aspects of the Ganges river have been studied by a
number of authors, especially after the initiation of
the Ganga Action Plan (GAP- Phase I: of Govt.
of India). The team of researchers at Gurukula
Kangri University, Haridwar, intensively worked
to achieve the objectives outlined by the Govern-
ment of India. Important contributions include
papers by Joshi et al., (1992a, 1992b, 1993a,
1993b, 1993c), which describe the fluctuations
found in various biotic and abiotic constituents of
the River Ganga. Riverbed quarrying/mining is
causing considerable and diversified problems
with regard to the quality, diversity, and loss to ter-
tiary products, including fish seed (Joshi and Shah,
2011). A detailed account of about 30 parameters
of ecobiological importance has also been
described by Joshi and Sharma (2011). The current
status of phyto-planktonic communities and the
impact of mass bathing during grand festivals on
the bank of the River Ganga at Haridwar have
been reported by Bhadula and Joshi (2012) and
Sharma et al. (2012).
Source and course of the Ganges
River
The Ganga commences in the Himalayas at the
confluence of the rivers Alaknanda, Dhauliganga,
Mandakini, Pindar and finally Bhagirathi at
Devaprayag. Bhagirathi is considered to be the
main source stream. Gomukh (‘Gou’ means ‘cow’
and ‘mukh’ means ‘face’), the terminus of the
10 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20
Gangotri Glacier, situated at a height of 4255 m
and about 18 km from the town of Gangotri, is the
precise source of the Bhagirathi river. Alaknanda,
another main tributary in the mountainous stretch,
rises beyond Manna Pass at an altitude of 3123 m
and about 8 km from Badrinath. From Devaprayag
onwards, the river is known as Ganga in the Indian
states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. At
Pakur, near Farakka, Ganga starts diverting to
form its distributary, Bhagirathi-Hoogly, which
goes on to form the Hoogly River, while the main
branch of Ganga enters Bangladesh as Padma. In
Bangladesh, it flows 212 km further east to join
with Jamuna at Gualando. It then continues as the
Padma River for another 100 km to its confluence
with Meghna River at Chandpur, before merging
into the Bay of Bengal by forming a 354 km wide
delta (FAO, 1999). The Ganga traverses a distance
of »2510 km within India from its source to its
mouth (Ganga Sagar) in the Bay of Bengal, drain-
ing eleven states of the country as it passes through
(Figure 1). In her course, she is joined by many
tributaries, the most important being Bhilangana,
Alaknanda, Ramganga, Kali, Yamuna, Gomti,
Ghagra, Gandak, Kosi and Sone (GOI, 2010).
The entire stretch of the river Ganga (main stem)
can be viewed as three major segments: (a) Upper
Ganga, Gaumukh to Haridwar (»294 km), (b), Mid-
dle Ganga, Haridwar to Varanasi (»1082 km) and
(c) Lower Ganga, Varanasi to Ganga Sagar (»1134
km). Ganga flows through the Sivalik Hills to reach
the town of Haridwar. In the Upper Ganga Segment
(UGS), from Gaumukh to Haridwar/Rishikesh, the
river flows mostly on a steep bed with an average
approximate slope of 1 in 70. The river has a turbu-
lent flow and high velocities in most part of this seg-
ment. The habitat is stony, intermingled with
pebbles and sand (GOI, 2010). With limited
nutrients in the water body, growth of phytoplank-
ton and other aquatic plants is limited. Fish, primar-
ily Carp and occasionally Catfish, predominate the
grazing food chain in this region. Mahasheer and
Trout are also seen in many places. As the river
enters into the plains (upper segment), its bed ini-
tially consists of boulders, gravel, and sand, but sub-
sequently becomes only fine sand. The river bed is
essentially flat (slope »1 in 5000) and the river
channel meanders, bifurcates into several channels
in some parts, and consists of dynamic systems of
pools and rivulets. A substantial portion of the river
flow is diverted to support agricultural activities
through a system of canals, including the Upper
Ganga Canal (Bhimgaura Barrage located just
upstream of Haridwar), Madhya Ganga Canal (Bij-
nore Barrage, essentially a floodwater or kharif
canal system) and Lower Ganga Canal (Narora Bar-
rage). A substantial amount of flow is also aug-
mented through a feeder canal originating from the
barrage at Kalagarh on the river Ramganga. This is
introduced into the river Ganga just downstream of
Garhmukteshwar to ensure sufficient quantities of
water for the Narora Atomic Power Plant. The con-
fluences of Ramganga at Kusumkher, Kali at Kan-
nauj, and Yamuna at Allahabad also augment the
flow in the river (GOI, 2010). Thus, river flow and
water quality are the key concerns in this segment,
in addition to the general degradation of the river
system, encroachment of the river bed, gravel/sand
mining, river-bed farming, pollution, overfishing
and destructive fishing activities.
In the lower segment, the River Ganga receives
water from three categories of rivers. The first cate-
gory consists of perennial rivers originating in the
Himalayas and carrying snow-fed flows with signif-
icant discharge in the non-monsoon season. These
include the Kosi, Gandak, Karnali (Ghaghra) and
Mahakali (Sharda) river systems. In the second cat-
egory, rivers originate in the midlands of the
Mahabharat range of mountains and are fed by pre-
cipitation as well as groundwater, including springs.
The Mechi, Kankalm, Kamla, Bagmati, West Rapti
and Babai Rivers fall under this category. Although
these rivers are also perennial, they are commonly
characterized by wide seasonal fluctuations in dis-
charge. The third category of rivers includes a large
number of small rivers in the terrain which origi-
nate from the southern Shiwalik range of hills.
These rivers are seasonal, with low flow during the
dry season but characterized by flash floods during
monsoon. This part of the basin is the alluvial belt.
There is spilling of river banks and drainage con-
gestion because of peculiar deltaic formation of
soil. This is due to the massive amount of silt car-
ried along by the flow. Flood, drought and water-
logging occur frequently. Although the land is very
fertile, floods pose a constant menace and agricul-
ture is badly affected (GOI, 2010).
Ganga’s role in history and
nurturing of civilizations
The history of the Ganga in nurturing culture
and civilizations can be viewed from three
 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20 11

Figure 1. Line diagram of the Ganges River and its major tributaries and location of water management structures. Adapted from
IIT, Kanpur (2011).

angles—the fostering of native culture in its basin, recent discovery of Mesolithic culture in the allu-
the shifting of the Indus-Sarasvati basin civiliza- vial plain of Ganga is highly significant in this
tion into its fold, and the promoting of cultural regard. River systems have been the birthplace of
integration to develop Indian civilization. The civilizations all over the world. For centuries,
12 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20
water and the nature and course of rivers have
defined the rise and fall of civilizations. Ancient
civilizations, like those of the Indus Valley (Har-
appan), Mesopotamia, Egypt and China emerged
and flourished along important rivers—the Indus-
Sarasvati, Tigris and Euphrates, Nile and the Yel-
low River, respectively. These rivers provided
their human populations with the means to both
survive and expand. Consequently, the rivers
became an essential part of the sociocultural and
economic fabric of the local societies and pene-
trated deep into the psyche of the people living in
the surrounding areas. Nowhere is this phenome-
non more pronounced than in India, where the
Ganga, Indus, Narmada, Kaveri, and other rivers
represent the cultural identity transmitted through
the ages and across generations.
The history of the Ganga River is as old as
Indian civilization. For thousands of years, Ganga
has been the only witness of the myriad changes
that have shaped Indian history, culture, and the
life of its people. It was in this plain that the great
kingdoms of Magadha, Gupta, and Mughals found
their home. It was also the place which witnessed
the creation of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and
Sikhism, as well as the seeds of democracy sown
by the establishment of the first-ever republic state
in the world at Viashali.
Shifting of the centre of civilization from
Indus–Sarasvati to Ganga basin
The disintegration of the Harappan civilization,
in the early second millennium BC, marks the
point when the center of Indian civilization shifted
from the Indus basin to the Ganges basin
(Mclntosh, 2008). The Late Harappan period,
from about 1900 to1300 BC, saw the spread of
Harappan settlement eastward from the Indus
River basin to the Ganges–Yamuna doab. There
seems to be a cross link between the Late Harap-
pan settlement of the Ganges basin and the archae-
ological culture known as “Cemetery H,” the
Indo-Aryan people and the Vedic period. The
importance of the rivers is reflected by the fact
that even as early as 3000 BC, the pre-Harappan
peoples living in the Indus–Sarasvati river basin
cultivated wheat and barley, and had developed
sophisticated agricultural implements and crop-
ping techniques (IWHP, 2007). This river system
provided fertile grounds for raising crops of food
grains, fruits, vegetables, and cotton. In addition,
the Indus provided grazing lands for herd animals
and, of course, a steady supply of fresh water. All
of these local-level knowledge and practices,
together with agro-climatic conditions, were con-
ducive to providing critical ingredients for the
development of the Indus River valley civilization
in the middle of the third millennium BC, more
than a thousand years before the civilization of
China. Climatic catastrophe and the disappearance
of the Sarasvati River, together with a number of
other factors, are considered to be the cause of the
collapse of Harappa civilization in the Indus Val-
ley. After the collapse of Harappa, the plains of
the Indus were bypassed in favor of the far lusher
and more extensive lands in the basin of the
Ganges River network to the east.
Archaeology of the Ganga plain:
Cultural–historical dimensions
During the last three decades there has been a
phenomenal increase in research in the archeology
of the Ganga Plain. The discovery of Mesolithic
culture in the alluvial plain of the Ganga going
back to 10,000 BC constitutes a distinct contribu-
tion to our knowledge. Excavations carried out at
a number of sites in the mid-Ganga Valley have
shown that the Mesolithic people of the Vidhyas
lived in huts made of trees, branches, and leaves.
They exploited the edible wild grains for their con-
sumption, which is evident not only from a good
number of grinding stones from the excavated
Mesolithic sites of the Ganga Plain and the
Vindhyas, but also from the evidence of wild rice
from Chopani Mando. Recent discoveries of
the early farming culture of the region have proved
that the Ganga basin was one of the early centres
of agriculture in the world (Pal, 2006). The discov-
ery also highlights the fact that Jhusi has been a
cradle of human civilization from the Mesolithic
age through to the blossoming of the urban phase
of the culture of this region. The contemporary
excavations at Jhusi verify that civilization was
born and developed at its own epicenter, the mid-
Ganga Valley. Outside influences incidental to
the shifting of the Indus Valley civilization and
the invasion of Aryans are therefore considered to
be an interactive rather than original contribution
towards development of culture in the Ganga basin
region. The later Vedas and other Sanskritic
 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20
sources, such as the Puranas (literally, “old
writings”—an encyclopedic collection of Hindu
legends, myths and genealogy), also indicate an
eastward movement from the Indus Valley into the
Ganga Valley and southward at least as far as the
Vindhya Range in central India. Due to integration
of the two cultures, a social and political system
evolved in which the Aryans dominated, but vari-
ous indigenous peoples and ideas were accommo-
dated and absorbed. The transition from the
nomadic to the settled life, which began sometime
in the seventh millennium BC in the Ganga Val-
ley, was largely the result of an economic revolu-
tion based on the cultivation of certain food grains
like wheat, barley, and rice, and the domestication
of animals like cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and buf-
falo. Further, the introduction of copper in about
3000 BC resulted in a spurt of development in
every walk of life and a significant increase in the
number and size of settlements. This has been
amply demonstrated in the excavation of more
than three dozen Chalcolithic sites in different
parts of the Ganga Valley (Singh, 2010).
The Gangetic Plain became the centre of suc-
cessive powerful states, from the Maurya Empire
to the Mughal Empire (Wink, 2002). The first
European traveler to mention the Ganges was
Megasthenes. He became an ambassador of Chan-
dragupta Maurya in Pataliputra, India. Mega-
sthenes (ca. 350–290 BC) was also the author of
the book Indica. In his book, he mentioned that
India possesses many rivers both large and naviga-
ble, which, having their sources in the mountains
that stretch along the northern frontier, traverse
the level country, and not a few of these, after unit-
ing with each other, fall into the river called the
Ganges.
Early trade and commerce in Bengal
Bengal’s strategic location in the Ganga basin
helped this area to achieve prosperity through
trade and commerce from time immemorial. The
Ganges River system provided easy communica-
tion for internal trade and Bengal’s location on the
Bay of Bengal offered her the opportunity of par-
ticipating in seaborne trade and commerce, the tra-
dition of which seems to have been built up from
as early as the second millennium BC. In the early
period of history, Bengal was a territory that
encompassed the present areas of Bangladesh and
13
West Bengal, as well as parts of Bihar and Orissa
in India. Its location between the middle Ganga
Pains and the Brahmaputra Valley provided regu-
lar access to the Ganga basin in the west and the
northeastern parts of India. Geography and human
activities in this deltaic area of the Ganga were
largely shaped by the hydrography of this region.
This is the only true Samudrahimachala region
(stretching from the Himalayas to the sea) in the
entire Indian subcontinent. The Ganga Delta open-
ing out to the Bay of Bengal made the region the
only conduit of the landlocked Ganga Valley to
the sea. These geographical features considerably
influenced movements of men and merchandise in
early Bengal. It is important to note that complex
economic life in Bengal, including sedentary agri-
culture, diversified crafts and trade, growing trade,
and urban development did not emerge prior to the
fourth century BC, or before the emergence of the
Maurya empire.
Ancient institutions of higher learning
The Indus and Ganga basins are also known for
as centres of higher learning. A comprehensive sur-
vey of education in ancient India—of the amazing
oral tradition of India’s literary heritage and its
impact on Indian life—is documented by Scharfe
(2002). Takshashila was flourishing at least several
centuries BC, and continued to attract students from
around the old world until the destruction of the city
in the fifth century. At its height, Takshashila’s pri-
mary concern was not with elementary, but rather
higher education. The Vedas and the Eighteen Sil-
pas or Arts, which included skills such as archery,
hunting, and elephant lore, were taught, in addition
to the institution’s law school, medical school, and
school of military science. Takshashila is perhaps
best known because of its association with Chana-
kya, also known as Kautilya, the strategist who
guided Chandragupta Maurya and assisted in the
founding of the Mauryan Empire. The Arthashastra
(Sanskrit for The Knowledge of Economics) of
Chanakya is said to have been composed in Taksha-
shila itself. Vikramsila was another ancient Bud-
dhist university founded by Pala King Dharmapala
in the late eighth or early ninth century AD in the
vicinity of Ganga. It prospered for about four centu-
ries before it was destroyed, along with the other
major centres of Buddhism in India around 1200
AD, during fighting between by Bakhtiyar Khilji
14 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20
and members of the Sena dynasty. A description of
Vikramshila is available in the writings of Tarana-
tha, the Tibetan monk historian of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries (Dutt, 1962). Nalanda was
also an ancient centre of higher learning in the
Ganga basin. It was a Buddhist centre of learning
from the fifth or sixth century AD to 1197 AD. At
its peak, the university attracted scholars and stu-
dents from as far away as Tibet, China, Greece, and
Persia.
Ganga in culture, religion and
mythology
The cultural and religious significance of the
Ganga is enormous. She is the centre of social and
religious tradition in the Indian subcontinent and
particularly sacred in Hinduism (Adel, 2001). The
very special faith and respect for River Ganga in
India are as old as the Indian culture itself, which is
clearly evident from the descriptions in ancient
Indian scriptures such as the Vedas, Puranas,
Upnishad, Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Vedas
were written earlier than Puranas, and the Rigveda
is the oldest among all of the Vedas, composed
roughly between 1700 and 1100 BC. The Indus and
the Sarasvati were considered as major sacred rivers
during the Early Vedic Age of the Rigveda. Ganga
is mentioned in the Nadistuti (Rigveda 10.75),
which lists the rivers flowing from east to west. In
RV 6.45.31, there is clear mention of the word
Ganga, while RV 3.58.6 says that “your ancient
home, your auspicious friendship, O Heroes, your
wealth is on the banks of the Jahnavi.”
In RV 1.116.18–19, there is mention of Jahnavi
and the Gangetic dolphin in two adjacent verses.
Later, three Vedas give much more importance to
the Ganges (Thapar, 1971). This is in conformity
with the shifting of civilization from the Indus to
the Ganga Valley. In the Rig Veda the geographi-
cal focus was the Sapta-Sindhu (the Indus Valley
and the Punjab) with Sarasvati as the sacred river,
but within a few centuries, Ganga became the
sacred river. The mythology of Hindu tradition
and the sacred topography of the land of India
flow inseparably together. The Ganga is both god-
dess and river (Eck, 1998). In fact, the respect for
Ganga is a part of Indian identity and the very
symbol of Indian culture. Nothing else would
qualify as a better symbol of the “Heritage of
India” than the Ganga.
Descent of Mother Ganga
There are several legends and common beliefs
associated with the descent of Mother Ganga.
According to one legend, Mother Ganga is consid-
ered to be the daughter of King Meru, who is the
personification of the Himalayas. Meru had two
daughters—Ganga and Uma, the consort of Lord
Shiva. Another legend says that Ganga is the sacred
water in Brahma’s water pot. Lord Brahma washed
the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu and collected this
water in his Kamandalu. Hence, Ganga is also
called “Vishnupadi.” Being touched by two mem-
bers of the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh),
Ganga became very holy. According to the Purans,
Goddess Ganga used to exist only in Heaven. In
order to bring down the River Ganges from heaven
for salvation for the souls of his ancestors who were
cursed by a sage, King Bhagiratha offered prayers
to Lord Shiva and his prayers were granted. This is
why Ganga is also known as Bhagirathi. Ganga is
also called Jahnavi for the penances of Sage Jahnu.
In Mahabharatha, she is portrayed as the wife of
King Shantanu as well as the mother of Bhishma.
Ganga: Pure and purifying
The River Ganga has been respected by fol-
lowers of all religions in India. People also have
immense faith in the powers of Ganga water in
healing and regeneration. The Mughal emperor
Akbar’s preference for “the water of immortality”
from Ganga for drinking and cooking is described
at length in the Ain-i-Akbari by Abul Fazl. Besides
using Ganga water for his own consumption,
Emporer Akbar also ensured that only Ganga
water was served to guests at weddings and special
festivals because of its soft and sweet taste. He
made sure he had a ready supply of Ganga water
in his court and during his travels. The water
would be collected from the river and sent in
sealed jars to his fort at Agra or Fatehpur Sikri.
The practice continued and expanded under
Akbar’s successors, even after the Mughal empire
began its slow disintegration. Several other kings
and princes, including Maharaja of Jaipur, carried
Gangajal in massive urns for their own personal
use and during travel (Ibaradio, 2007).
According to Hindu mythology, the Ganga
River came down to Earth from the heavens, and
as such, the river symbolizes purification to
 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20
millions of Hindus. They believe that the very
sight and touch of Ganga are so powerful that all
the sins of many past births are destroyed, and tak-
ing a dip in Ganga is a sure way to gain the devo-
tion of the Supreme Lord. It is a well-known
Hindu belief that dying at the banks of Ganga is
way to reach heavenly abodes. It is due to this
belief that cremation performed at the banks of
River Ganga or floating the cremation ashes of the
deceased in the river are common practices, and
Ganga Ghats (banks) of Varanasi and Hardwar are
the most popular funeral sites of the Hindus.
Gangajal or Ganga water is one of the important
ingredients in Vedic rituals. Gangajal is held so
sacred and holy that no Hindu ever dares to dis-
honor it and is obliged to speak truth if he holds
the water. Many Hindus keep water from the
Ganga in glass bottles as a sacred relic or for use
in religious ceremonies. In Narada Purana, it is
declared that in the present Yuga of Kali, Ganga is
of utmost importance and worship of Ganga is
sure path to salvation. For Hindus, the water flow-
ing in Ganga is “Gangajal,” not meant for mere
drinking, domestic use, irrigation, or fisheries and
hence not needing to meet any criteria or standards
set by WHO or MoEF (Agarwal, 2008). Ganga
water has often been observed to remain fresh for
long periods of time and her unique, natural char-
acteristics have made her a fascinating subject of
study for many scientific inquiries. The putrefac-
tion-resisting, selectively bactericidal qualities, and
the capacity for speedy self-purification are some
unique qualities of Ganga water. These qualities
are not merely believed to be factual, but have
been personally experienced by most Indians and
can be easily verified, quantified, and compared in
analytical laboratories. Unfortunately, very little
scientific research has been carried out to test and
verify the widely believed pollution-removing and
self-cleansing powers of Gangajal, probably due to
apprehensions that any findings supporting such
beliefs shall go against “Modernity,” while a nega-
tion might rock the foundational beliefs of the
masses.
The British physician Dr. C. E. Nelson observed
and recorded that even samples taken from the
dirtiest sections of Ganga, remained fresh during
the long boat journey back to England. The East
India Company also preferred using Gangajal for
the three-month journey back to England in the
company’s early days, as they found that the water
stayed “sweet and fresh” (Gurudev, 2008). In a
15
paper published by E. Hanbury Hankin in the
French journal Annales de Institut Pasteur in 1896,
it is stated that the bacterium which causes the
deadly cholera disease could be killed within three
hours of being treated with water from Ganga. Han-
kin also suggested that the water of this river and its
tributary Yamuna were responsible for containing
the spread of cholera in the region in those days.
This unique factor present in Gangajal is now
known to be a bacteriophage (Gurudev, 2008). In a
landmark judgment, the Uttarakhand High Court on
19 March accorded the status of “living human
entities” to the Ganga and Yamuna, two of India’s
most sacred rivers (PTI, 20 March 2017).
Festivity and rituals
The Ganga basin is the centre of Hindu and
Buddhist pilgrimage and culture and the site of
wide-ranging festivities and rituals. Several impor-
tant centres of spiritual learning have flourished
for centuries along the Ganga’s banks and tributar-
ies. At the headwaters of the Ganga in the Hima-
layas, sacred shrines at Tapovan, Gomukh,
Bhojbasa, and Gangotri mark the sources of her
power. The shrines of Kedarnath and Badrinath
also celebrate their position in the upper reaches
of the watershed. Farther downstream in the Hima-
layas are Uttarkashi and Rishikesh, and along the
plains lie Haridwar, Rishikesh, Allahabad
(Prayag), Banaras (Kashi), Vindhyachal, Sonepur,
Sultanpur, Nadia, Kalighat and Gangasagar. Sev-
eral sacred complexes are also located along the
river Yamuna, including Mathura and Vrindavan.
The Hindu spiritual centre of Vindyachal and the
Buddhist sites of Sarnath, Gaya, Rajgir and
Nalanda lye inland within the basin. On important
holidays of the Hindu calendar, millions of people
converge on the river at selected cities to pray and
bathe in the waters. People congregate in large
numbers on occasions like Kumbh Mela, Kartik
Purnima, Makar Sakranti, Chath Puja, etc. Kumbh
Mela, the largest religious gathering on Earth,
takes place once every 12 years at two places on
the banks of the Ganga River. Over 10 million
people from around the globe congregate to take a
holy dip in the Ganga. This is similar to the pil-
grimage to Mecca for Muslims or Jerusalem for
Jews. In January 2007, over 60 million people
made a pilgrimage to the city of Allahabad, mak-
ing it the largest gathering in the world.
16 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20
Ganga: Socioeconomic
significance
The Ganga basin is one of the most populous
regions on Earth, sustaining over 450 million peo-
ple. The average population density in the Ganga
basin is 520 persons per square km, as compared
to 312 for the rest of India (GOI, 2001). In the
delta zone, the population density rises to over 900
people km¡2. The basin has 1949 cities and towns,
with an estimated population of 125 million. Con-
sequently, there is strong demand and competition
for natural resources, especially water for irriga-
tion, domestic consumption, industry, and a large
number of vast and varied ecosystems. To meet
the demand for water, the basin is also marked by
a large number of irrigation canals and barrages
along the Ganga and its tributaries. Fisheries along
the river are of considerable economic value and
their output makes a major contribution to regional
nutritional needs, in addition to providing liveli-
hood to a large number of poor rural communities.
Agriculture and allied activities
The Ganga basin, with its fertile soil, is the
major contributor to the agricultural economies of
India and Bangladesh. The Ganga and its tributar-
ies have formed a large flat and fertile plain in
North India extending over an area of
1,086,000 km (Jain et al., 2007). The fertile allu-
vial soil not only covers more than 52% of the
basin, but also extends over a sizable portion of
the peninsular foreland. The nutrient-rich alluvial
formation has yielded annual harvests of crops for
the past thousands of years with little significant
deterioration. The river and its tributaries provide
a perennial source of irrigation for cultivation of
rice, wheat, sugarcane, lentils, oil seeds, and pota-
toes. The presence of swamps and lakes along the
banks of the river provide a rich growing area for
crops such as legumes, chilies, mustard, sesame,
vegetables, and jute. The basin is one of the most
extensively irrigated areas in the world. As of
2008, the net irrigated area in the states comprising
the Ganga basin was some 361,100 km2, constitut-
ing over 57% of the net irrigated area of India as a
whole (GOI, 2008). The basin also has a vast res-
ervoir of groundwater, which is replenished every
year at a very high rate. The groundwater usage
for irrigation in the states in the Ganga basin
exceeded 104.7 billion m3 per year as of 2008 and
accounted for nearly 50 percent of the groundwa-
ter irrigated area of the entire country. Apart from
irrigation, groundwater resources are also being
heavily tapped for industrial and domestic uses
covering both urban and rural areas (GOI, 2008).
Bangladesh, which is situated mainly on the del-
tas of the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers, is highly
dependent upon the Ganges for its economy. Over
60% of the country’s total land area is cultivated.
Although half of the nation’s gross domestic prod-
uct comes from the services sector, about 63% of
the economically active population subsists on
agriculture. Bangladesh takes pride in being recog-
nized as a nation of fish and rice—“Mache Bhate
Bengali.” Bumper harvests of rice from its fertile
river basin and fish from its vast network of river
distributaries and floodplains help the people derive
their identity. Similarly, because of the richness of
the land that takes on a golden hue when the rice
crop is ready for harvesting, the Land of the Royal
Bengal Tiger and the Ilish fish (Hilsa) bring the
country pride in being known as Sonar Bangla
(Golden Bengal). The Ganga River carries the
highest silt load of any river in the world and the
deposition of this material in the delta region
enriches the mangrove forests of the Gangetic delta
known as Sundarban. The Sundarban is the world’s
largest remaining contiguous, biodiversity-rich
mangrove ecosystem featuring habitats for fish,
shrimp, birds, and other wildlife, including the
Bengal tiger. The forest also has immense protec-
tive and productive functions. Constituting 51% of
the total reserved forest estate of Bangladesh, the
mangrove ecosystem contributes about 41% of
total forest revenue and accounts for about 45% of
all timber and fuel wood output of the country
(Walkey et al, 1999). A number of industries (e.g.,
newsprint mill, match factory, hardboard, boat
building, furniture making) are based on the raw
material obtained from the Sundarban ecosystem.
Various non-timber forest products and plantations
help generate considerable employment and
income-generation opportunities for at least half a
million poor coastal population. Besides the for-
est’s production functions, it provides natural pro-
tection for life and property of the coastal
population in cyclone-prone Bangladesh. In 1987,
the Sundarban National Park in India, and in 1997,
parts of the Sundarban in Bangladesh, were
inscribed on the World Heritage list (IUCN, 1997)
and thereafter have received more attention.
 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20
Fisheries
A comprehensive study of the fisheries of the
Ganga River basin was conducted by MRAG in
1996, and is still largely valid even today. Fisher-
ies and aquaculture are major activities along the
Ganges River, its tributaries, and distributaries, as
well as in the delta region. The social and eco-
nomic structure of the fisheries is strongly influ-
enced by culture, faith, and tradition within the
basin. Interestingly, socioreligious pressures influ-
ence access to and participation in the local fisher-
ies. Vegetarianism in the Hindu faith influence
fishing and allied activities. By contrast, the
people of Bengal in the delta—both east Bengal
(Bangladesh) and West Bengal (India)—are
renowned eaters of fish and Kolkata provides the
biggest market. In Bengal, the demand for fish is
widespread and markets are much more diffuse.
There are also considerable social restrictions as to
who should participate in the fisheries. Within
India and Bangladesh, it is caste fishermen who do
the fishing. The same is also true in Nepal,
although divisions are less distinct. In Bangladesh,
the Muslim majority traditionally do not fish and
leave this activity to sectors of the residual Hindu
population. However, rising population pressure
forces many rural dwellers, including Muslims, to
resort to fishing to feed their families (MRAG,
1996).
Fishing occurs in the upland regions of both
India and Nepal, wherever markets exist. Markets
depend upon local centres of population or where
roads cross or run alongside rivers. The torrential
nature of most rivers in the upland region makes
fishing very difficult and has led to considerable
ingenuity in the development of fishing methods.
There is a clear trend for fishermen from lowland
areas of the marshy, lowland terai belt of both India
and Nepal to move into the upland fisheries. This
appears to be due to increasing pressures on the
lowland fisheries. Immigrant fishermen are usually
full-time professionals and can dominate a fishery.
Major Carp species are the most commonly caught,
however they represent a relatively small contribu-
tion to the overall annual catch, being 13% at
Allahabad, 4% at Patna, and 7% in Bangladesh.
The first two values are substantially less than in
earlier years. The most abundant species in the
fisheries are the smaller riverine species, including
Clupisomagarua, Oxygaster spp., S. phasa and
A. aor in the general upland regions, and Mystus
17
seenghala, Eutropichthys vacha and Rita rita spe-
cifically at Allahabad. Hilsa is the traditional com-
ponent of the Bangladesh fisheries, with the recent
fish production trends showing a contribution of
about 30% to the total fish production of Bangla-
desh. About 40% of fishermen (or 2% of the total
population of the country) depend on Hilsa fishery
directly or indirectly. Therefore, the economic con-
tribution of this single species is highly significant
in the agricultural-based country of Bangladesh.
During the mid-1990s, Hilsa contributed 40–60%
of river catches in Bangladesh, 1% at Patna and
0.6% at Allahabad. Spawn and fry collection of
Carp is now limited to certain patches only.
A socioeconomic study at Allahabad showed
that almost 90% of fishers owned or had access to
a boat, which is not necessarily the case in other
types of floodplains. Investment cost can limit
access. Gill nets and seine nets constituted the
most common fishing gear, and more than 50% of
the fishers were full-time. Average catches for
boat users were 12.05 kg per day (MRAG, 1996).
A policy paper prepared by CIFRI in 2007 indi-
cated some disturbing trends in the riverine sector.
The total average fish landing in the Ganga River
system declined from 85.21 t during 1959 to 62.48
t during 2004. This contrasts sharply with the rest
of the country, since India’s inland fish yield went
up by eight times in the last four decades. Tradi-
tional riverine fisherfolk are badly impacted by
this decrease. CIFRI carried out a study on the sta-
tus of fishers along the Ganga, which showed that
on an average, fishers spent 66% on food and 34%
on non-food items. The major food item of the
expenditure was cereals (37%), followed by vege-
tables (7%). Among non-food items, the highest
expenses were medical (9%), followed by intoxi-
cants (8%). Several other limitations also contrib-
ute to the current neglect of the river. The Census
of India does not have clear classification of the
riverine fisherfolk. A large chunk of the 387 com-
munities of fisherfolk, which the Anthropological
Survey of India has identified, is involved in
inland fishing (Das et al., 2007).
River-based navigation and transport
system
The large number of rivers and the annual
flooding hazard make it difficult to build and
maintain adequate land-based transportation
18 Kumar / Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management 20 (2017) 8–20
facilities in Bangladesh and parts of India like
Bihar, Bengal, and Assam. Consequently, river-
based waterways are the important means of trans-
portation of goods and people. There are five main
river ports in Bangladesh—Dhaka, Narayanganj,
Chandpur, Barisal and Khulna. The inland water
system has 8,372 km of navigable waterways,
including 2,575 km of main cargo routes. Simi-
larly, river-based transport for people and goods
are also common in eastern parts of UP, Bihar,
West Bengal and Assam.
Tourism
Pilgrim tourism to holy places (tirtha-yatra) is
an ancient and continuing religious tradition of the
culture of Hindus. In recent times, tourism has
become an engine for economic development and
plays a large part in socioeconomic changes. The
important forms of tourism in the basin include
religious, heritage, adventure, sports, and ecosys-
tem-based tourism. There are a number of towns,
cities, and spots which are holy to Hindus, Bud-
dhists, Jainists and Sikhs. Hindu pilgrims arrive at
these towns to take a dip in the Ganges, which is
believed to cleanse a person of sins and help attain
salvation. Similarly, Budhists from around the
world come to visit places like Bodhgaya, Rajgir,
Vaishali, Sarnath, Patna and Kushinagar. Jainists
and Sikhs visit Pawapuri and Patna Saeb, respec-
tively. Religious tourism has a distinct edge over
other kinds of tourism due to the pull of huge
crowds (Chattopadhyay, 2006) and generates reve-
nue in a way no other kind of tourism does. The
rapids of the Ganges are also a popular river raft-
ing area, attracting hundreds of adventure seekers
in the summer months. Adventure tourism, such as
riverside camping, whitewater rafting, and kayak-
ing on the River Ganga in the state of Uttarakhand,
is fast becoming the one of most popular forms of
tourism in the area with the influx of young people
and sports lovers (Farooqee et al., 2008). Images
of such activities are also increasingly used for
advertising in both print and electronic media.
Conclusions
Despite the centrality of rivers to Indian history,
hardly any attempt has been made to construct an
account of how Indian culture was shaped by its
rivers. However, many are familiar with the place
occupied by the two great river systems—the
Ganga and the Indus–Sarasvati—in the develop-
ment of Indian civilization. The great kingdoms of
Magadha, Gupta and the Mughals found their
home in the Ganga basin. It was also the place
which created the essence of Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. However, despite
its iconic status, religious and cultural heritage,
and huge socioeconomic benefits, Ganga today is
facing formidable pollution pressures and associ-
ated threats to its biodiversity and environmental
sustainability. An ever-growing population,
inadequately planned urbanization, and industriali-
zation have affected flow, volume, and quality of
water in the river, resulting in a growing threat to
fisheries and aquatic biodiversity. All these exhibit
the dynamics of the nexus of water, land, and
poverty in the present state of the Indo-Ganges
(IG) basin. Considering and treating Ganga as the
“Heritage of India” is the only way to preserve
and protect the river for future generations.
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