Ganges is a nature documentary series for television on the natural history of the River Ganges in India and Bangladesh.
As well as the variety of animals and habitats that are to be found along the river’s 2,510 km (1,557 mi) reach, the programmes also feature the cultures, traditions and religions of the very large human population that it supports.
For Hindus, the Ganges is a sacred river and a place of pilgrimage, a deep influence on their religion and culture as well as being their lifeblood.
Over the course of three episodes, the series is presented as a journey from the source of the river in the high Himalaya to its delta at the Bay of Bengal.
Daughter of the Mountains. The first episode begins at the Gangotri Glacier in the Indian Himalaya, regarded as the true source of the Ganges, and follows the river 150 miles downstream through the mountain valleys to the edge of the north Indian floodplain and the holy city of Haridwar.
River of Life. Beyond the mountains, the fast-flowing river slows and spreads out over the plains, forming a marshy grassland known as the Terai. Animals featured include the rare Indian rhinoceros and Ganges river dolphin, but in these polluted and crowded waters their future is uncertain.
Waterland. The Ganges eventually flows into the Brahmaputra and drains into the Bay of Bengal via a huge delta. In the coastal mangroves of the Sundarbans the locals share an uneasy existence with tigers.