origin
of the ganges riverOnce, long ago, a king named Bali Maharaja conquered all the planets in the universe. Ousting the demigods, the deputed managers of universal affairs, from their heavenly domains, Bali Maharaja installed himself as king of the celestial realm. Aditi, the mother of the demigods, being aggrieved at her sons' defeat, fasted and prayed to Vishnu (God) for twelve consecutive days. Pleased with Aditi, Vishnu agreed to reinstate the demigods by incarnating as Vamanadeva, a dwarf brahmana mendicant (saintly priest).
Vamanadeva approached Bali Maharaja and begged him for three paces of land. When Bali agreed, Vamanadeva expanded His form to gigantic proportions and covered the entire universe with His first step, thus reclaiming the demigods lost property. With His second step, Vamanadeva kicked a hole in the universal shell with His toe, causing a few drops of water from the spiritual world to leak into the universe. This water flowed into the universe and became known as the Ganges River. The Ganges is thus considered sacred because it originated from the spiritual world and because it touched the toe of Vamanadeva, the incarnation of Vishnu.
Originally, the Ganges flowed only in the heavenly planets. Then a great king of ancient India, named Bhagiratha, desired to have the Ganges purify the earth and prayed for the river to descend. The personified Ganges, mother Gangadevi, appeared before King Bhagiratha and agreed to fulfill his desire, but she had two reservations. First, she hesitated to come to earth because she feared that many sinful people would bathe in her waters and contaminate her with bad karma. King Bhagiratha then assured Gangadevi that although many sinful persons would bathe in her waters, many saintly persons who can purify even places of pilgrimage would also bathe there, thus purifying her of all karmic contaminations.
Secondly,
Gangadevi said: "When I fall from the sky to the surface of the planet
earth, the water will be very forceful. Who will sustain that force? If
I am not sustained, I shall pierce the surface of the earth and glide
down to the lower regions of the universe." To satisfy Gangadevi, King
Bhagiratha prayed to Shiva, and when the king asked the great demigod
to catch the falling Ganges water on his head, he agreed to the request.
Since that time, Shiva has been sustaining the Ganges on his head, and
her sacred water has been flowing on the earth, purifying all those who
come in contact with them.