The Ganga was a goddess and a river that flowed in Swarga, the heaven of the gods. Then events on earth forced her to leave her celestial home. A powerful king named Sagara held the sacrifice called the ashwamedha yagya in which he set free a horse and conquered the land wherever the horse wandered. Lord Indra was watching this from heaven and he was displeased at the arrogance of Sagara. So he stole the horse and hid it in the ashram of Rishi Kapila who had his hermitage by the sea at Gangasagar.

Sagar sent his sons to search for the horse and when they found it in the ashram they believed that Kapila had stolen it. The rishi was first disturbed in his meditations and then accused of theft and was so angered he opened his eyes and the heat of his rage burnt Sagara’s sons to ashes. The ashes of the sons lay by the sea and Sagar knew that the only way he could give them salvation was if the river Ganga came down to earth and washed the ashes in her sacred waters.

Sagar prayed but Ganga refused to descend to earth. Then Sagara’s great grandson Bhagirath went up into the hills and started such severe penances that Ganga had to listen but she was angry. She began to flow so powerfully that Brahma was afraid she would destroy all creation that came in her way. He begged Shiva to help and the benign god promptly put his head in the path of the river to break her fall. Ganga became calmer as she got lost in the coils of his matted hair and came out as seven streams that would combine to become the Ganga again.

These seven streams are Bhagirathi, Mandakini, Alakananda, Nandakini, Pindar Ganga and Dhauli Ganga. There is a yatra called Sapta Samudri Tirtha in which pilgrims bathe in the waters of the seven rivers. The Ganga then flowed across the plains to reach Gangasagar where the ashes of Sagar’s sons were finally liberated before the river merged into the sea.