The Ganges is formed at Devprayag by the confluence of the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers.
Devprayag is a town in Uttarakhand, India, where the two major Himalayan headstreams meet. From that confluence, the river is traditionally called the Ganges, or Ganga. The Bhagirathi rises at the Gangotri Glacier, while the Alaknanda gathers water from several high Himalayan valleys.
The river then flows through northern India and Bangladesh before reaching the Bay of Bengal. It supports one of the world’s most densely populated river basins and has major religious importance in Hinduism.
The Ganges is often described as beginning at the Gangotri Glacier, but that refers to the Bhagirathi headstream. The named Ganges begins at Devprayag, where the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda unite.