Ganga Dussehra Festival The tenth day of the bright fortnight of Jyeshtha, the day the Ganga came down from heaven into Shiva's hair and then to the plains.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Ganga Dussehra
- हिन्दी
- गंगा दशहरा
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The tenth day of the bright fortnight of Jyeshtha, the day the Ganga came down from heaven into Shiva's hair and then to the plains. Haridwar, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Garhmukteshwar and Rishikesh fill with bathers; ten of everything is the measure of the day, since the bath is held to wash away ten kinds of sin.
- Deity
- Ganga, Shiva, Bhagiratha
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami at sunrise; the bath and the deep daan are in the morning, and the arti at the ghat in the evening.
The fast
No fast is required; those who cannot reach the river keep a partial fast and pour Ganga water at home.
Where the regions differ
A day of the Ganga plain above all, from Uttarakhand to Bihar. The south has no counterpart, though the Kaveri gets the same kind of honour at Aadi Perukku.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.