Location of the Ganges River

Once Upon a time there lived a king named Sagara, ruler of Ayodhya. He had two wives. With his second wife “Sumati”, they had 60,000 kids together! Their kids were not liked by the people, they were show-offs and very mean to others.

To show off his power, King Sagra decided to perform the “horse giving” celebration. He chose his fastest and strongest horse to walk one full circle around Earth. If the horse would return to the king, this would prove to everyone else that he had the most power in Ayodhya.

Indra, the God of heaven , did not like how the King’s 60,000 sons were treating everybody else. He punishes the family for their rude acts by coming to Earth, acting as a demon, and stealing the horse. He places the horse beside a Hindu religious poet, without the poet knowing.

King Sagara is very angry that his horse was stolen and did not return, destroying his celebration. He screams at his sons “Go find me that horse, if you can’t, don’t bother coming back!”

The sons find the horse near the Hindu religious poet. His name is Kapila Muni, and he had strong connections with the Gods. They found him in the middle of one of his prayers.

The sons think they have found the stealer of the horse. They run towards Kapila and try to attack him, ruining his prayers. Kapila is very angry, and using his powers burnt all the sons into ashes. They were all sent to hell.

By this time, King Sagara is now worried about his children. He had not heard from them for a very long time. He then sends his grandson King Bhagirath to search for his sons.