Author Description

The Ganges Is Neither The Largest Nor The Longest River In India, Yet For Millennia It Is The Ganges That Has Captured The Imagination Of Indians, And Held It Like No Other Geographical Feature In Their Vast And Astonishing Country. According To Hindu Theology, The Ganga Is The Mother Goddess Of The Whole Subcontinent. Being Brushed By A Breeze Containing Even A Drop Of Ganges Water Is Said To Erase Instantly All Sins Accumulated Over A Hundred Lifetimes. For This Reason, Hindus From All Over India Try Once In Their Lives To Visit The Ganges And Bathe In Her Waters; The More Hardy And Devout Make Their Journey To The Very Source, A Sheet Of Ice Hundred Of Feet High Which Stands Wreathed In Mists Deep In The Himalayas On The Very Borders Of Tibet. There It Lies, At The Centre Of The World, The Most Sacred Place On Earth, The Cow's Mouth, Where The Ganges Issues Fully Formed From Beneath The Ice. To Visit It Is The Single Most Auspicious Act A Human Being Can Perform.