Gangotri

Gangotri, situated at 3,100 metres in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, is the origin of the sacred River Ganga and one of the most important Hindu pilgrimage sites in India. The temple is built on the banks of the Bhagirathi River — the name by which the Ganga is known in this region — near the spot where King Bhagirath performed his penance.

The current Gangotri temple was built in the early 18th century by the Gorkha commander Amar Singh Thapa. In the 20th century, the temple was renovated by the Maharaja of Jaipur. The temple faces the Bhagirathi river and is constructed from white granite in the Himalayan style.

Mythology

King Bhagirath performed severe penance at this very spot for thousands of years to bring the divine Ganga from heaven to earth, to liberate the souls of his 60,000 ancestors cursed by Sage Kapila. Lord Brahma granted his wish, but the force of Ganga descending from heaven would shatter the earth. Lord Shiva volunteered to receive Ganga in his matted locks, breaking her fall. The river then flowed gently to earth — an act celebrated in Hindu mythology as one of the greatest devotional feats.

The Gaumukh glacier, 19 km further upstream, is the actual source of the river Ganga, emerging from an ice cave shaped like a cow's mouth.