GANGES..mighty river..with holy water

According to Hindu belief, the Ganges purifies all that she touches. Her entire course is a pilgrimage route for the faithful. Millions of Hindus visit the preeminent tīrthas ("crossings," places of pilgrimage) that mark her path: the source at Gangotri; Hardwar (also called Gaṅgādvāra, "gateway of the Ganges"), where the river enters the plain; Prayāg (present-day Allahabad), where she joins both the holy Yamnuā (Jumna) and the mythical river Sarasvatī, thus earning the name Triveṇī ("river of three currents"); Kāśī (Banaras), abode of the god Śiva and the holiest city of the Hindus; and Gaṅgāsagar, where the Ganges enters the sea. Pilgrims go to these places to bathe in the Ganges, to drink her water, to worship the river, and to chant her holy name.