Hindu scriptures The
Gangasagar is mentioned in the Mahabharata's
Vana Parva, which provides proof of the existence of the pilgrimage site in 1500–2000 BC. According to the
Mahabharata, the
Pandavas traveled from the banks of the river Kaushik and reached the
Gangesagarasangam, Confluence of Ganges and
Sagara (Sea). According to
Hinduism, the "Gangasagarasangam" mentioned in the
Mahabharata is Gangasagar in
Sagardwip, situated at the estuary of the
Bhagirathi-Hooghly rivers – one of the two main branches of the Ganges– on the sea coast of
West Bengal. Legend has it that
Kapilmuni, the progenitor of
Samkhya philosophy, had an ashram at
Gangasagara. Sixty thousand sons of
Sagara King were consumed by Kapilmuni's
wrath and their
Ātmans (souls) were thrown into
Naraka (hell).
Bhagiratha, the grandson of the Sagara king, brought the Ganga from
Svarga (heaven) to wash the remains of the Sagara's sons and free their
Ātmans (souls).
Ancient times The
Gangasagar pilgrimage is also mentioned in
Raghuvaṃśa, a Sanskrit epic poem written by the great poet
Kalidasa in the fifth century AD. There is disagreement over the exact age of Kapil Muni's ashram.
The temple of Kapil Muni is mentioned in the 16th century ancient
Puthi Tirthaattvapradayini (). An article about the Gangasagar Mela was printed on February 4, 1837, in the once popular Bengali newspaper
Harkara (). It is written, "The one temple in this place (
Sagar Dwip) has been known to people for 1400 years. In this temple there is established a Siddhapurusha named
Kapil Muni. During the perilous journey, the pilgrims faced diseases like
cholera and
small pox. Due to the danger and death faced by the pilgrims the Bengali phrase originated —
saba tīrtha bāra bāra, gaṅgāsāgara ēkabāra ("Go to all
tirthas again & again, but Gangasagar only once in life").
Modern era – where river Ganges meets the Bay of Bengal. In the year 1819,
Warren Hastings cleared the northern parts of the island in order to resettle 500
Rohingya families fleeing persecution following the
Konbaung dynasty's conquest of Arakan, who would cultivate crops in the cleared land. Shortly after this, the shrine of Kapilmuni situated at the south end of the island came under possession of
Ramanandi sadhus from
Ayodhya with the help of a local
zamindar.
Kapalkundala, a Bengali novel written by
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, depicts a perilous journey to reach the Gangasagar.
Pilgrims In 2007, about 300,000 pilgrims took the holy dip where the
Ganges (Hooghly) meets the Bay of Bengal on the occasion of
Makar Sankranti. Almost five-hundred thousand pilgrims thronged
Gangasagar in 2008. For the rest of the year about 500,000 people come to the island. According to reports on 14 January 2018, 1.8-2 million people had visited Gangasagar in 2018, against 1.5 million in 2017. In 2023, about 51 lakhs pilgrims gathered in the Gangasagar Mela. == Dates, location and preparation ==