Ganga Saptami

Ganga Saptami, also called Jahnu Saptami, recalls a later episode in the descent of the sacred river Ganga. The better-known Ganga Dashahara story tells how Bhagiratha brought the celestial river to earth so that the ashes of his ancestors could be purified. As Ganga rushed across the land, however, her powerful waters disturbed the hermitage and sacrificial rites of sage Jahnu. Angered, the sage drank up the entire river. Bhagiratha and the gods pleaded with him to release her so that the sacred mission could continue. Jahnu relented and allowed Ganga to emerge again from his body, after which she received the name Jahnavi, 'daughter of Jahnu'. Ganga Saptami celebrates this symbolic rebirth of the river. Devotees bathe in or worship Ganga, offer arghya and remember water as a source of purification, continuity and life.

Ganga Saptami is valued for devotion, family tradition and the spiritual or seasonal meaning attached to the day.