Panch Prayag

Every confluence of two rivers is considered as auspicious. When in the confluence the river Ganga involves the auspiciousness of the place increases multi fold times. The confluence is called "Prayag" in ancient language. There are 5 most sacred confluence in Uttrakhand region. They are called "Panch Prayag" or five sacred confluence. When Sage Bhagirath lead the mission of bringing the Ganga from heaven to earth, to prevent the sinking of earth due to its mighty force, it was splitted into many sacred streams.It started its journey as river Bhagirathi from its source 'Gaumukh'. Following are the sacred form of river Ganga
1) Bhagirathi
2) Dhauli Ganga
3) Girthi Ganga
4) Rishi Ganga
5) Baal Ganga
6) Bhilangna Ganga
7) Tons Ganga
8) Alaknanda
9) Mandakini
10) Pindar
11) Nandakini

Following are the sacred 5 confluence
1) Vishnu Prayag- here river Dhauli Ganga meets Alaknanada
2) Nand Prayag- at this point river Alaknanda meets Nandakini
3) Karna Prayag- river Alknanda meets Pindar river
4) Rudra Prayag- The confluence of river Alaknanda with river Mandakini
5) Dev Prayag- river Bhagirathi joins Alaknanda. It is here river 'Ganga' got its name.

Every Prayag has its own importance and associated with sacred legend.

Descent of Gangaji

In Solar dynasty there was a powerful king whose name was Sagar. He had 2 wives Sumati and Keshini. From Sumati he had 60,000 sons and from Keshini he had a son Asamanjas.Once he had performed Ashwamegha yagya to prove his power. This was a major threat to Indra. He decided to play a trick. He stole the horse of Sagar and tied it in the ashram of sage Kapil who was in meditation at that time. When the sons of Sagar came to knew about the horse they attacked the ashram of sage Kapil. But Sage burnt them into ashes from his divine power. This was a setback for the king Sagar. His grandson Anshuman visited Sage Kapil. The sage returned back the horse and said to Anshuman that for the salvation of the lives of his ancestors it is necessary to bring the Ganga river to the earth from the heaven. Despite all his tapasya Anshuman could not able to please lord. Even his son, king Dilip failed. Now, the son of kind Dilip, Bhagirath was determined to bring Ganga to earth. With his determination Lord Brahma pleased and agreed to send river of devlok, Ganga, to earth. But there was a catch because the flow of Gang was so intense that it was not possible for the earth to bear the pressure of the current of Ganga. Finally Bhagirath requested lord Shiva for the help. He agreed to accept the descending Ganga on his head. Bhagirath led Ganga to the ashram of sage Kapil. On reaching there all the souls of the forefathers of Bhagirath got salvation. From that day the river got it’s name “Bhagirathi”.Ganga ji descend on earth on Jyestha month,Shukla Paksha,dashmi tithi,wednesday,hasta nakshatra,Vyatipaat Yoga,Moon in virgo,sun in taurus. This day is celebrated as Ganga Dusheraa