~ 250 ~ International Journal of Sanskrit Research 2020; 6(5): 250-257 ISSN: 2394-7519 IJSR 2020; 6(5): 250-257 © 2020 IJSR www.anantaajournal.com Received: 08-07-2020 Accepted: 12-08-2020 Mahesh U Patil Thane, Maharashtra, India Corresponding Author: Mahesh U Patil Thane, Maharashtra, India Legend descent of Ganga and similarities with impact event Mahesh U Patil DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/23947519.2020.v6.i5e.1148 Abstract Role of comets and icy asteroids in getting water to Earth is under discussion for last few decades. In the recent history, we have observed and recorded two comet impact events in the solar system. Both the impacts of solwind and Shoemaker levy-9 support the argument that the impacts by comets may be a regular feature and Earth is no exception to it. In the history of mankind, there is a strong possibility that such events were observed by various civilizations.Early settlements of ancient India observed various celestial objects like stars, constellations, planets and comets.Vedas like Rigveda, Atharvaveda refer comets as “Dhumketu”. Certain hymns of Rig Vedastrongly support the possibility of impact event being observed and recorded as eyewitness account. Reference of these celestial bodies is found in various ancient legends of India. These legends may be work of imagination based on real observations. One such legend is descent of Ganga from heaven. As per Valmiki Ramayana many aspects of this legend like its composition, appearance, descent path and effects at the time of descent have close resemblance with the impact event of a celestial body like comet. Ancient Stone carvings depicting the event provide major clue about the celestial movement and the impact event.In this paper we have used ancient description from Ramayana and Veda, and compared it with modern scientific facts and geological features of the region described in the legend.There are Multiple water bodies and lakes in the Tibet behind mount Kailash. This lake region is rich with finds like coesite, stishovite and other ultra high pressure finds that are usually associated with the impact site. These lakes play crucial role in the water cycle of Asia.Though there are lot of similarities in the legend and the available facts, as on date there is no conclusive evidence which can prove the origin of river Gangaas a result of this event as mentioned in thelegend. Thus this legend may be a result of observations mixed with belief. Keywords: Comets, Ganga, Orion, Eridanus, mahabalipuram 1. Introduction Impact event of solwind in 1979 and1994 shoemaker levy 9has drawn attention of the scientific community on the possibility of similar event on Earth. Even the Tunguska event is under discussion for possible comet impact. There are few sites like Egypt (Libyan Desert Glass region) which are under discussion for similar impact events but till date there is no conclusive evidence in the form of Cometary impact crater. Hence there is a strong possibility that modern science is missing something while studying impacts by these low density objects.One cannot ignore the possibility that such events were observed and may be recorded by early human settlements.Certain hymns of Rig Veda indicate the possibility of such event being observed by early Indian settlements. Thus there is no harm in considering their view point, however the main challenge is the method followed by the ancient civilizations for the recording and communicating these observations.In the ancient India one such event is recorded in the form of story which talks about water coming to earth from outer space in the form of river Ganga. For the purpose of this study we have referred the legend from Balkand of Valmiki Ramayana [1] and its English translation by Ralph & Grifith [2] . Rivers are the main source of drinking water so they are respected in every culture. Rivers like Nile, Yangtze, Danube and other major rivers had a deep influence on the human civilization but no river is considered as holy as Ganga. This respect for Ganga is not restricted to any religion or region.