[Hindu] Ganga is the goddess who is the incarnation of the Ganges, India's most sacred river. She is the sister of Parvati, and has been linked as a consort of Agni, Vishnu, and Shiva. She is the mother of Jalamdhara through a union with the ocean. Hindus believe that by bathing in her holy waters, one's sins will be washed away. Repeated ritualistic washings in the river will secure one a place in heaven. The ashes of the dead are spread over her. She is usually represented as a beautiful woman with a fish's tail in place of her legs, and she rides on the Makara, a water monster. Ganga originally flowed only through heaven, where she sprang from the toe of Vishnu, and it was due to a mortal that she came to earth. Saghara, a king, desperately wanted sons. He prayed and performed rituals and penances, so that his two wives both became pregnant. They gave birth to many sons. Some time later, to thank the gods, Saghara made ready to perform a horse sacrifice, a very solemn and powerful...
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