Ganga Dussehra 2028: Date, Rituals & Significance

Shukla Dashami runs 1 Jun, 21:45 → 2 Jun, 19:33.

A dip in the Ganga on this day is said to remove ten kinds of sin — three of the body, four of speech, three of the mind. Those who cannot reach the river bathe at home with a little Ganga-water in it, offer ten each of flowers, lamps, betel and fruit, and give dana of water-pots, fans, melons and cooling things for the summer.

The bathing ghats of Haridwar, Rishikesh, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Garhmukteshwar and Patna fill from before dawn; at Haridwar a grand Ganga aarti and fairs mark the day. It falls in the hottest part of the year, and the dana of water and shade is a seasonal charity.

King Sagara's sixty thousand sons were burned to ash by the sage Kapila's glance; only the Ganga's waters could give them rest. Bhagirath, their descendant, did tapas for generations until Ganga agreed to fall, and Shiva caught her in his matted hair to break the force of the descent and let her out in streams. She followed Bhagirath's chariot to the sea and over the ashes, and the ancestors were freed.

Source: Ramayana and the Puranas — the descent of the Ganga

The Bhagiratha–Ganga descent is told in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas; Ganga Dussehra's bathing merit and the 'ten sins' formula are given in the nibandha literature, and the day is a major mela at the Ganga tirthas.

• Ramayana and the Puranas — the descent of the Ganga
• Wikipedia — Ganga Dussehra

1. The day recalls the Ganga's descent to earth; pilgrims bathe at Haridwar, Rishikesh, Prayagraj and Varanasi.
2. Daan is given in tens, ten kinds of item or ten of each, as the name dasha-hara ('removing ten sins') suggests.
3. The evening Ganga aarti is especially grand, and lamps are floated on the river.

• The Ganga plain (Haridwar, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Garhmukteshwar, Patna). Pre-dawn bathing, Ganga aarti and fairs; dana of water-pots, fans and summer fruit.
• Elsewhere. A bath in the local river with Ganga-water added, offerings in tens, and Ganga stotra recitation at home.

• Sharbat and fruit — Cooling drinks and mangoes distributed to pilgrims in the Jyeshtha heat.

Ganga Dussehra is kept on the day when Dashami of Jyeshtha Shukla paksha prevails at sunrise. That day is Friday, 2 June 2028. Dashami holds at sunrise only on this day.

at sunrise

Ganga Dussehra is Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami — the tenth tithi of the bright fortnight of Jyeshtha, in May or June, a day before Nirjala Ekadashi. Where the tithi does not touch sunrise, the bathing is timed to when Dashami prevails; the merit is greatest if Hasta nakshatra also falls on the day.

A lunar date: Dashami of the bright half of Jyeshtha drifts about 11 days earlier each solar year, then jumps back ~19 days when a leap (Adhika) month is inserted.