why river ganga is known as hooghly in kolkatta?

Answer 1

One of the distributory of River Ganga is called by its name HOOGHLY. The area irrigated by this river is mostly in Hoogly District. There is no other reason for giving this name to this distributory. The Hooghly is called Holy Ganga as it is also considered holy and people follow and perform holy and religious customs at Hoogly also. The most famous Kali temples at Thakineshwar and Kalighat are on the banks of this Ganga (Hoogly) ,This is the reason for calling Hoogly with the original name Ganga. Read more details about Hooghly -

HOOGHLY RIVER - also spelled Hugli, river in West Bengal state, northeastern India, a distributary or an arm of the Ganges River, providing access to Calcutta from the Bay of Bengal. It is formed by the junction of the Bhagirathi and Jalangi rivers at Nabadwip. From there the Hooghly flows generally south for about 160 miles (about 260 km) to the Bay of Bengal, through a heavily industrialized area with more than one-half of West Bengal's population. The river's lower reaches are fed by the Ajay, Damodar, Rupnarayan, and Haldi (Kasai) rivers, which rise to the northwest on the Chota Nagpur plateau. Although above Calcutta the river is silted up, it is navigable to the city by ocean liners. Navigation is facilitated by constant dredging and the scour of a tidal bore that rushes inland at high tide. Negotiations with Bangladesh have been held to divert waters in the Ganges River in such a way as to prevent silting at Calcutta. From Calcutta the Hooghly flows west and south to the Rupnarayan Estuary, then twists south and southwest, entering the Bay of Bengal through an estuary 3 to 20 miles wide. It is spanned by a cantilever bridge between Howrah and Calcutta and by Bally Bridge between Bally and Baranagar.

Answer 2

The name of the river Hooghly is derived from Hogla, a wild plant that used to grow along its banks when the colonizers arrived in Bengal. The district Hooghly was used to denote the region where most of the European settlements, like Portuguese in Bandel, Dutch in Chinsurah, French in Chandernagore and Danish in Serampore had developed on the west bank of the Hooghly river. The Hooghly river is th e largest distributary of the Ganges and further downstream of these towns, on the east bank, the city of Kolkata is located. The branching of the distributary from the main river now starts with the feeder canal from the Farakka barrage in the Murshidabad district. At this point the river is known as Bhagirathi and not the Hooghly. In Mayapur, another river called the Jalangi, joins the Bhagirathi. This combined flow is known as the Hooghly. Although the Hooghly is not the main flow of the Ganges (the Padma is the main branch which enters Banlgadesh from the Murshidabad district), it and not the Padma, is locally called the Ganga. So a more intereting question would be "Why the Hooghly, inspite of being a lesser river compared to the Padma, is known to the Bengalis as the Ganga?" The answer is till the 12th century, the Hooghly branch used to be the main flow of the Ganges and the Padma used to be a minor stream. Indications can be found in Charyapada (8th-11th century), the earliest known examples of literature in the Bengali language, where the Padma has been called a canal. There are other direct evidences from later works as well. The shift of the flow of the Ganges from the Hooghly branch to the Padma branch started very gradually from 12th century onwards and at present the roles have reversed. However people have continued to call the old main branch as Ganga.

Answer 3

The town of Hooghly is located on the river, in the district of the same name. The origins of the name are uncertain, whether the city or the river was named first.

The nexus formed by the Hooghly River (Ganga) and the Bay of Bengal, called ‘Ganga Sagar’. This is a sacred place for Hindus. A dip in the ocean, where the river drains into the sea is considered to be of great religious significance particularly on the Makara Sankranti day when the sun makes a transition to Capricorn from Sagittarius and this place becomes home to vast fairs, drawing visitors and recluses from all over the state.

Answer 4

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why river ganga is known as hooghly in kolkatta?

Answer 5

Hooghly River

Answer 6

Ganga river is known as sacred river in INDIA. And that is one of the reason why it is above all the rivers in INDIA. GANGA's importance is connected with LORD SHIVA and it is said that Ganga is coming down to earth from the HAIR of Lord SHIVA. It has got religious believe, Hence it is known as Ganga even after it meet yamuna and saraswati :)

Answer 7

Hoogly is a local name to the final branch of Ganga River.Hoogly means near the end.The mighty River Ganga is near its end and so it was called Hoogly and the town that sprang up there by its bank was also called by the same name.

Answer 8

The Hooghly is only a tributary of the Ganga flowing through Kolkata,so it is named as Ganga merely to invoke the name of the original river.

Answer 9

The Hooghly River (Bengali হুগলী, Huglī; Anglicized alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) is an approximately 260 km long distributary of the Ganges River in India. It splits from the Ganges near the city of Baharampur, and runs south through the Indian state of West Bengal, past the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, to empty into the Bay of Bengal. Two of its well known tributaries are Damodar and Rupnarayan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooghly_River

Answer 10

The Hooghly River (Bengali হুগলী, Huglī; Anglicized alternatively spelled Hoogli or Hugli) is an approximately 260 km long distributary of the Ganges River in India. It splits from the Ganges near the city of Baharampur, and runs south through the Indian state of West Bengal, past the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, to empty into the Bay of Bengal. Two of its well known tributaries are Damodar and Rupnarayan.

It is an essential lifeline for the people of Kolkata. The fish from the river are important to the local economy. The river's presence is one of the reasons chosen by the British to settle there. The French colony at Chandannagar on the Hooghly was once the rival of British Calcutta, but was eclipsed by Calcutta in the colonial wars of the 18th century. In 1974 the Farakka Barrage began diverting water into the Hooghly during its dry season so as to reduce Calcutta's port silting difficulties. The modern container port of Haldia, on the intersection of lower Hooghly and Haldi River, now carries much of the region's maritime trade.One new port will be built in the deep sea to reduce load on Kolkata port.

Hooghly river valley was the most important industrial area of erstwhile state of Bengal. Due to declining jute industry, the prime industry of this region, it lost its glory. But still it is one of the biggest industrial areas of India. Except Kolkata and Howrah it has number of small cities which forms the Greater Kolkata Agglomeration, the second biggest Indian city and former capital.

Several bridges run over the Hooghly at Kolkata; the Howrah Bridge, the Vidyasagar Setu and the Vivekananda Setu bridges.


Boatmen paddle between Barrackpore and Serampore on the Hoooghly river. A photograph shot in 2006The town of Hooghly is located on the river, in the district of the same name. The origins of the name are uncertain, whether the city or the river was named first.

The nexus formed by the Hooghly River (Ganga) and the Bay of Bengal, called ‘Ganga Sagar’. This is a sacred place for Hindus. A dip in the ocean, where the river drains into the sea is considered to be of great religious significance particularly on the Makara Sankranti day when the sun makes a transition to Capricorn from Sagittarius and this place becomes home to vast fairs, drawing visitors and recluses from all over the state.


[edit] Hugli tidal bore
The tide runs rapidly on the Hugli, and produces a remarkable example of the fluvial phenomenon known as a "tidal bore." This consists of the head-wave of the advancing tide, hemmed in where the estuary narrows suddenly into the river, and often exceeds 7 ft. in height. It is felt as high up as Calcutta, and frequently destroys small boats. The difference from the lowest point of low-water in the dry season to the highest point of high-water in the rains is reported to be 20 ft. 10 in. The greatest mean rise of tide, about 16 ft., takes place in March, April or May - with a declining range during the rainy season to a mean of 10 ft., and a minimum during freshets of 3 ft. 6 in.


Course
The Ganges originates in the Himalayas at the confluence of five headstreams – the Bhagirathi, Mandakini, Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, and Pindar at Devaprayag in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Out of the five, the Bhagirathi is held to be the source stream originating at the Gangotri Glacier at an elevation of 7,756 m (25,446 ft). The streams are fed by melting snow and ice from glaciers including glaciers from peaks such as Nanda Devi and Kamet.

After travelling 200 km through the Himalayas, the Ganges emerges at the pilgrimage town of Haridwar in the Shiwalik Hills. At Haridwar, a dam diverts some of its waters into the Ganges Canal, which links the Ganges with its main tributary, the Yamuna. The Ganges which till this point flows in a south-western direction now begins to flow in a south-eastern direction through the plains northern India.

From Haridwar the river follows an 800 km (500 mi) winding course passing through the city of Kanpur, before being joined by the Yamuna from the southwest at Allahabad. This point, known as the Sangam, is a sacred place in Hinduism. According to ancient Hindu texts, a third river, the mythical Sarasvati River is believed to meet the two rivers at this point.

Joined by numerous rives such as the Kosi, Son, Gandak and Ghaghra, the Ganges forms a formidable current in the stretch between Allahabad and Malda in West Bengal. On its way it passes the towns of Mirzapur, Varanasi, Patna and Bhagalpur. At Bhagalpur, the river meanders past the Rajmahal Hills, and beings to change course southwards. At Pakaur, the river begins its first attrition with the branching away of its first distributary, the River Bhagirathi, which goes on to form the River Hooghly. Close to the border with Bangladesh, the Farakka Barrage, built in 1974 controls the flow of the Ganges, diverting some of the water into a feeder canal linking the Hooghly to keep it relatively silt free.

After entering Bangladesh, the main branch of the Ganges is known as Padma River till it is joined by the Jamuna River the largest distributary of the Brahmaputra. Further downstream, the Ganges is fed by the Meghna River, the second largest distributary of the Brahmaputra and takes on its name. Fanning out into the 350 km (220 mi) wide Ganges Delta, it empties out into the Bay of Bengal. Only two rivers, the Amazon and Congo have a higher discharge