The story of the River Ganga's descent from heaven is told in the Ramayana; the Mahabharata and several Puranas. It begins with the sage; Kapila; whose intense meditation has been disturbed by the sixty thousand sons of King Sagara. Livid at being disturbed; Kapila sears them with his angry gaze; reduces them to ashes; and dispatches them to the netherworld.

Only the waters of the Ganga; then in heaven; can bring the dead sons their salvation. A descendant of these sons; King Bhagiratha; anxious to restore his ancestors; undertakes rigorous penance and is eventually granted the prize of Ganga's descent from heaven. However; since her turbulent force will also shatter the earth; Bhagiratha persuades Shiva in his abode on Mount Kailash to receive Ganga in the coils of his tangled hair and break her fall.

Ganga descends; is tamed in Shiva's locks; and arrives in the Himalayas. She is then led by the waiting Bhagiratha down into the plains at Haridwar; across the plains first to the confluence with the Yamuna at Prayag and then to Varanasi; and eventually to Ganga Sagar; where she meets the ocean; sinks to the netherworld; and saves the sons of Sagara.