Ganga Dussehra 2027
13 June 2027

Ganga Dussehra, kept on Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami, celebrates Ganga’s descent from the heavens to the earth. The Valmiki Ramayana’s Bala Kanda and the Puranic tradition tell of King Bhagiratha’s long tapasya to bring the river down and release the souls of his ancestors, the sons of King Sagara, reduced to ashes by the sage Kapila. Because her fall could have overwhelmed the earth, Shiva received her first on his matted hair, breaking her descent into many gentler streams.

The day is also called Dus Hara, since bathing in the Ganga, or in any river held as her form, on this Dashami is believed to wash away ten kinds of sin, of the body, speech and mind. Families near a river bathe at dawn, and those who are not keep a Ganga puja at home with a little Ganga jal.

• Ganga jal
• Diya and ghee
• Flowers and akshat
• Coconut
• Items for daan: cloth, umbrella or fan
• Ganga Aarti or Stotra text

Source: Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda; also told in the Bhagavata and Vishnu Puranas

King Sagara’s sixty thousand sons, searching the earth for his stolen sacrificial horse, dug into the netherworld and disturbed the sage Kapila deep in meditation. Mistaking him for the thief, they insulted him, and his gaze burned them all to ashes on the spot.

Only the waters of Ganga, then held in the heavens, could release their souls and carry them to liberation. Bhagiratha, a descendant of Sagara, undertook long and severe tapasya to bring her down to earth, and Brahma, pleased, agreed, but warned that only Shiva could bear the force of her fall.

Bhagiratha then won Shiva’s grace, and Shiva caught Ganga in his matted hair as she fell, releasing her to the earth in gentler streams. She followed Bhagiratha’s chariot across the land and down to the netherworld, where her waters touched the ashes of Sagara’s sons and freed them at last, which is why she is also called Bhagirathi.

What to do

• Bathe with remembrance of the river as a living mother, not merely as a ritual to complete quickly.
• Give at least one act of charity today, since Dus Hara’s merit is held to lie as much in daan as in the bath.
• If a river is far, a little Ganga jal added to your bathing water at home is held to carry the same meaning.

What to avoid

• Avoid leaving waste, flowers or offerings that choke the water at the ghat, since the day itself is in the river’s honour.
• Avoid non-vegetarian food in the home today, as many families keep it a sattvik day.

Haridwar, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Garhmukteshwar see the largest gatherings on this day, but a Ganga puja kept anywhere, with Ganga jal where a river is not near, is held to count the same.

Since this is Shukla paksha, Amanta and Purnimanta calendars both call the month Jyeshtha, so there is no month-name difference.