Ganga Utsav, 2020 begins

On November 2, 2020, the Ganga Utsav was begun virtually. The festival is to continue till November 4, 2020. The Ganga Task Force as a part of celebration conducted afforestation drives with NCC cadets.

Key Highlights

The Ganga Utsav is being organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga celebrating the 12^th anniversary of declaring River Ganges as National river. The event was organised jointly by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

National River

The Ganges is the longest river of India. It flows over 2,510 km of valleys, mountains and plains. The Ganges originates in Gangotri Glacier as River Bhagirathi. Later it joins the Alaknanda at Devprayag and becomes the Ganges.

The major tributaries of Ganga river are Yamuna, Gandak, Ghagra, Kali, Son and RamGanga. The river drains in 11 states namely Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, West Bengal.
The Ganges joins River Brahmaputra and flows into the Bay of Bengal as River Padma in Bangladesh.

Kumbh Mela

The festival is celebrated once in 12 years and is associated with river Ganges. The festival is celebrated at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mystical Sarasvati. The Kumbh Mela was included in the list of “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO in 2017. In India, Kumbh Mela is celebrated in four sites. They are Haridwar, Ujjain, Prayagraj and Nashik. In Haridwar, it is celebrated on the banks of river Ganges, in Ujjain, it is celebrated on Shipra. In Nashik, the festival is celebrated in Godavari and at Prayagraj, the festival is celebrated at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mystical Sarasvati.

What are National Identities?

The National River, National Flag, National Flower (lotus), National bird (peacock), National Tree (Banyan), National Animal (Tiger), National Anthem, National Song (Vande Mataram), National Calendar (Gregorian Calendar) are the National Identities of India.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2020