SSC
Ganga Dussehra is celebrated on the tenth day of the bright half (Shukla Paksha) of which Hindu month?
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Answer: Option B — Jyeshtha
Detailed Solution
Ganga Dussehra (also called Gangavataran) is celebrated on the tenth day (Dashami) of the bright half of the month of Jyeshtha, which usually falls in May or June. It marks the day on which the river Ganga is believed to have descended from heaven to the earth.
According to Hindu mythology, King Sagara of Ayodhya performed a great horse sacrifice (Ashvamedha yajna). Indra, jealous of the king, stole the horse and hid it near the sage Kapila, who was meditating. The 60,000 sons of Sagara, searching for the horse, found it there and accused the sage of theft. Angered, Kapila burnt them all to ashes with his gaze. Their souls could be freed only if the sacred waters of the Ganga flowed over their ashes. Many generations later, King Bhagiratha, a descendant of Sagara, performed severe penance to bring the Ganga down from heaven. The goddess Ganga agreed, but her force was so great that it would have destroyed the earth. Lord Shiva caught her in his matted hair and released her gently in streams. Bhagiratha led the river to the ashes of his ancestors, freeing their souls. Because of this, the Ganga is also called Bhagirathi, and great efforts are still called "Bhagiratha prayatna".
On Ganga Dussehra, lakhs of devotees take a holy dip in the Ganga, especially at Haridwar, Rishikesh, Prayagraj and Varanasi, and offer prayers, flowers and lamps to the river. It is believed that bathing in the Ganga on this day washes away ten kinds of sins, which is why the festival is called "Dussehra" (from "dasha", ten, and "hara", to remove). Special Ganga aartis are held on the ghats.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Ashadha is the month of the Rath Yatra and Guru Purnima.
- ✗Kartika is the month of Diwali and Dev Deepawali.
- ✗Magha is the month of the Magh Mela at Prayagraj.
Quick tip
Remember: Ganga Dussehra = Jyeshtha Shukla Dashami, the descent of the Ganga, King Bhagiratha and the removal of ten sins.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.