Ganga Dussehra is celebrated on Dashmi Tithi of Shukla Paksha Jeyshta Masa. This day, sacred river Ganga had descended on earth from heaven. When Ganga Dussehra falls on Monday in Hast Nakshatra, it is believed to remove worst kinds of sins. Ganga descended on earth on Wednesday in Hast Nakshatra. Hence, this day is more significant in comparison to other days. :: Ganga Dussehra Importance :: All sins of life are removed by performing bath, donations and Tarpan, on this day. Therefore, this festival is called Dussehra. India is the only country in this world, where every day there is some festival or fast. Ganga Dussehra is a festival of faith and devotion. As per the scriptures, bath and donations have great significance on this day. If due to some reason a person is not able to have bath in Ganga, he should perform Ardhaya nearby river and do the Tilodak and Tarpan. Out of all the rivers, Ganga is considered the most sacred and remover of sins (Papamochini). Having a dip in Ganga, gives salvation to a person. After performing rigid meditation for many year, Rishi Bhagirath convinced Ganga to come on the earth. This day, people from distant places come to have a dip in Ganga. Offering sorbet to thirsty passers, on this day, is considered to be a welfare. Huge fairs are organised in different parts of the country. Mela of Himachal and fair named Patang Utsav of Mathura are the major centre of attraction. On this day, construction of wells etc. should be done on different place. Moreover donating umbrella, shoes, clothes and other things which protect from summer heat are considered auspicious on this day. :: Ganga Dussehra Story :: In ancient time, a king named Sagr used to rule over Ayodhya. He had two queens named Keshini and Sumti. First queen had one son and the 2nd queen had 60 thousand sons. Once, king Sagr was having Ashavamedha Yagya, so, a horse was left before the conclusion of Yagya. To destroy the Yagya, God Indra stole the horse and had hidden it in the Ashram of Kapilmuni. King had sent all his sons in search of the horse. They reached the Ashram of Kapil Muni and got burnt by the anger of Muni, who was meditating. Searching the horse, when the son of first queen reached the Ashram, Mahatma Garud told him about his brothers. He also told the son, that he will need to bring Ganga from heaven to earth, for the salvation of his brothers. Muni asked him to take away the horse of Yagya for now, and after completion of this work, he should convince Ganga to come on earth. After sometime, king died. Even after meditation and many trials he could bring Ganga on earth. Finally, Bhagirath, son of King Dilip, performed meditation on Gokarn Pilgrimage. When many years passed, doing meditation. Then, Lord Brahma was pleased and Ganga came down to earth. But now, the issue was that, how will the force of river Ganga should be controlled. So, God told that in Bhulok, no one except Lord Shankar has the power to control the speed of river Ganga. Again, Bhagirath performed meditation by standing on his thumb. Lord Shiva was pleased and so he opened his hairs. Now Ganga was left from Dev Lok and reached earth, passing the hairs of Lord Shiva. Ganga is also called Janhavi. This way Ganga stays in everybody’s heart.
