The Story Of Ganga

The source of Ganga is at Gaumukh (the shape of the ice formation is like a cow's mouth), where the mighty river emerges from the depths of Gangotri glacier. The Gangotri glacier is situated at the height of4255 m above sea level and is approx 24 km in length and 7-8 km in width.

Here the river is known as Bhagirathi after  King -Bhagirath. Rising in the icy caves of Gangotri glacier, the gushing , tossing and gurgling Bhagirathi starts its long journey downwards where later it joins river 'Alaknanda' and becomes Ganga.There are many legends associated with river Ganga, some of which are even mentioned in the ancient holy scriptures.

The River From Heaven- According to the Indian mythology King Sagar had 60,000 sons. He defeated all the asuras (daemons)  in the earth and wanted to stage a Ashwamedha Yagya to declare his supremacy. As this was the practice prevalent in ancient times, he sent his horse across the earth accompanied by his sons.

The King of Heaven, Lord Indra feared the power of King Sagar and to stop him, he stole the horse and tied it to the ashram of Sage Kapil. When the 60,000 sons saw the horse in Kapil's ashram they got furious and started to attack the hermitage. Sage Kapil was in deep meditation and on hearing the disturbance he opened his eyes in anger and all the 60,000 sons of King Sagar were reduced to ashes, except for prince Asamanjas.

Anshuman the grandson of King Sagar brought  the horse back from the Sage and asked for his forgiveness. Sage Kapil told  him that the sons can be brought to life only if Ganga is brought from heaven to earth. Neither Anshuman nor  his son Dilip were successful in this task.  But Dilip's son, Bhagirath was determined to get this task done. He started meditating intensly for several years and finally Ganga got pleased and descended to the earth. To prevent the earth from flooding, Lord Shiva received Ganga on his matted locks.  King Bhagirath then worshipped Lord Shiva and Shiva blessed him and released Ganga from his locks in seven streams.  The water of Ganga touched the ashes of Sagar sons who rose to the their eternal rest in heaven. The  seven streams of Ganga are Bhagirathi, Janhvi, Bhilangana, Mandakini, Rishiganga, Saraswati and Alaknanda which merge into Ganga at Devprayag. there are totally 12 streams the lord Shiva released .The rock on which King Bhagirath is believed to have meditated, is called Bhagirath Shila and is located near the temple of Ganga. To this date the water of holy Ganga is believed to have Amrit (nectar) in it. It has been studied by Scientists that the water collected from Ganga at its origin is in a pure state and even after being kept for several years, does not get contaminated.. These medicinal properties of Ganga-Jal are attributed to the medicinal secretions of herbs and mineral content which get mixed with the water.

Other Rivers

Bhagirathi

Dhauli Ganga

Girthi Ganga

Rishi Ganga

Bal Ganga

Bhilangna River

Tons River

Alaknanda

Mandakini

Pindar

Nandakini

Five Prayags

Vishnuprayag - Alaknanda meets Dhauli ganga

Nandprayag - Alaknanda meets Nandakini

Karnaprayag - Alaknanda meets Pindar

Rudraprayag - Alaknanda meets Mandakini

Devprayag - Alaknanda meets Bhagirathi

Glaciers

Pindari

This glacier is near the Nanda Khat and other lofty peaks. Its access is very easy and is at an altitude of 3353m. Close to the glacier is an open meadow and lofty moraine made of gravel, mud and blocks of snow. The trek to the glacier starts from Kapkote, which is the last bus terminus. The trekking route is passing through waterfalls, pine forests, meadows and having magnificant views of the peaks.

Gangotri

The gangotri glacier is situated at a height og 4255m. It starts from Chaukhamba cluster of snow peaks near Badrinath and extends to Gaumukh

Khatling

This glacier is a lateral glacier, from the center of which bubbles out the river bhilangana.  It is said that a beautiful Bhil maiden tried to win the love of the meditating Shiva and having been spurned by Him dissolved into liquid, which in turn became the rive Bhilangana. The snow peaks atop the glacier are the Jogin, sphetic prishtwan, kirti stambh, barte kanta, meru etc. The sphetic prishtwan is made of white qurtz which from distance dazzles like cystal white snow The trek of Khatling glacier starts from ghuttu, the last bus terminus. The entire trakking route is studded with dense green forest and delightful meadows, excellent spots for camping, dazzling waterfalls and streams

Brahma Kapalam - Story of Lord Brahma's fifth head

LORD BRAHMA - creator of the world according hindu mythology 

vehicle- swan

wife - saraswathy devi - goddess of knowledge 

Even though Brahma is typically shown as having four heads looking in the four directions, legend holds it that at one time he had five heads, the fifth looking upwards. However originally he is said to have possessed just one head. At that time the cosmos did not exist and Brahma was self-contained and self-content. 
The husband of the Rathi Devi,Manmada was praying for Lord Brahma blessings then with the huge tapa of the Manmadh Lord Brahma was happy and gave him  a 3 arrows which when used on anyone will become more addicted to romance , then to test weather the wish given by  the god is working or not , he tried one of the arrow on Lord Brahma Itself.


However lord Brahma alone at that time was he eventually started longing for company. At this time, he split himself to form a female form, called Satarupa (the one with a hundred beautiful forms). As he laid his gaze upon Satarupa, Brahma immediately felt attracted towards her. To avoid Brahma's gaze, Satarupa tried to slip off in various directions but was unsuccessful as Brahma developed a head in each direction. Finding no other way, Satarupa start ascending upwards but then too, Brahma developed a head that looked upwards. Shiva noticed all that was happening. Since Satarupa originated out of Brahma, Shiva felt Satarupa was a daughter of Brahma and hence it was improper of Brahma to be obsessed with her. Shiva therefore cut off the head of Brahma that looked upwards so she could escape him. As an additional punishment for this unholy behavior of Brahma, Shiva cast a curse on him and directed that there be no proper worship of Brahma. Ever since, only Vishnu and Shiva out of the three Gods comprising the Trinity are worshipped while Brahma is almost totally ignored. It is also said that since then Brahma has been trying to redeem himself of his sins by continuously reciting the four Vedas. According to Shiva Purana, the incestuous union of Brahma and Satarupa resulted in the birth of Swyambhu Manu, who eventually turned out to be the progenitor of Man

Some might Ask Why Brahma who knows all vedas did a stupid thing of gaze on SataRupa 
the Answer for that is the Manmadha Was given a wish of having 3 Arrows which increases the lust of Romance in one so to test the given wish would work or not? Manmadha used one of the Arrow on Lord Brahma itself because of that Effect Lord Brahma was behaving unusually.



The Fifth Head when cursed by Lord Shiva Was cut with the trishul and the fifth head of the Brahma seperated from trishul In Badrinath and in that place the fifth Head of Lord Brahma got Mukthi so the place in Badrinath is Famous as Brahma Kapal and the rituals of pinda pradhan is done over here and its said that once if we perform pind pradhan in this place those people will get mukthi and those people will never get rebirth .
If once pind pradhan is done in this place no need to do in any other place for life long.

Here is the story for the question 

why Brahma is not having many temples like shiva and vishnu 

In spite of being one among the three gods forming the Trinity, worshipping of Brahma worship is not as widespread as worshipping of Shiva or Vishnu. In India, there are only two temples dedicated to Brahma, as against thousands dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu. One of these two temples is at Pushkar near Ajmer in Rajasthan. The other is at Khedabrahma in Kerala. It is believed that once Lord Shiva stood in the form of a great linga with no end under the ground or in the sky. Brahma and Vishnu threw each other a challenge of superiority in which one of the ends had to be reached. Brahma took the form of a swan and flew upwards while Vishnu turned into a boar and started digging into the ground. However, even after a lot of efforts, neither of the two found the end of the linga. However to exert his superiority, Brahma came back and lied to Vishnu about having found the top of the linga. Shiva flew into a rage as soon as Brahma uttered the lie and took his own form from the linga and cast a curse on Brahma and declared that he would never be worshipped. Further, since the Ketaki flower stood witness to Brahma's blatant lie, Shiva cursed the flower as well and since then the Ketaki flower is not used in religious rituals.

the above content is true as per my knowledge

Sanskrit sloka -1

vaagarthaaviva samp.rktau vaagartha-pratipattaye |
jagataH pitarau vande paarvatI-parame"svarau ||

Preliminary study:
1. There is one verb - vande
vand = to salute, vande = (I) salute (first person singular)

2. kam vande? Whom do I salute?
paarvatI-parame"svarau vande | I salute Parvati and Parameshwara.

This makes the gist of the "sloka clear. This is a salutation to Parvati
and Shiva.

3. The word 'paarvatI-parame"svarau' is in dvivacanam, i.e. dual.
This ends with 'au'. There are also two other words in the "sloka which have
a similar ending and are easily identifiable, namely 'pitarau'
and 'samp.rktau'. These also must refer to the Divine couple.
Thus, a more elaborate answer to the question in (2) could be :

vaagrathaaviva samp.rktau, jagataH pitarau, paarvati-parame"svarau vande |

The meanings of these phrases and the remaining part of the "sloka will
become clear when we get into the detailed meanings.



Detailed study:
1. vaagarathaaviva = vaagarthau + iva
vaagarthau (vaak+arthau) = vaak ca, arthaH ca
= word and its meaning
iva = like

samp.rktau = combined, remaining together, united
vaagarthaaviva samp.rktau
= the couple united like a word and its meaning
vaagarthaaviva samp.rktau = dvitIyA (2nd) vibhakti of the above


2. jagat = world
jagataH = shash.tI (6th) vibhakti of the above = of the world
pitarau = maata-pitarau = maata ca, pitaa ca = mother and father = parents
jagataH pitarau = mother and father of the world
jagataH pitarau = dvitIyA (2nd) vibhakti of the above


3. paarvatI-parame"svarau = paarvatI ca, parame"svaraH ca
= Parvati and Parameshwara

paarvatI-parame"svarau = dvitIyA (2nd) vibhakti of the above


4. vaagartha-pratipattaye
vaak = word, arthaH = meaning,
pratipattiH = understanding, knowledge, grasp
pratipattaye = caturthI (4th) vibhakti of the above
= for the purpose of understanding/knowledge
vaagartha-pratipattaye
= for the purpose of understanding words and their meanings
= to gain a command over the language


5. vande = (I) salute




try to understand the meaning for the words said by all our ancestors and learn the way to live happily