According to a popular Hindu legend, the goddess Ganga descended here when Shiva released the mighty river from the locks of his hair.

[2] Near the river is a stone where King Bhagiratha performed penance to Shiva in order to bring the Ganga down to earth and absolve the sins of his ancestors.

[3] According to another legend, Pandavas performed the great 'Deva Yajna' here to atone the deaths of their kinsmen in the epic battle of the Mahabharata.

Hindus believe that performing the ancestral rites on the banks of Bhagirathi frees the spirit of the ancestor from the cycle of rebirth and a holy dip in its waters cleanses sins committed in the present also past births.

[4] The original Gangotri Temple was built by the Nepalese general Amar Singh Thapa and later restored in the 19th century.