Garhwali Shantanu drowns his own sons

Variant

In Garhwal it is the father, not the river-goddess, who drowns the babies.

In Garhwal Pandav Lila, Shantanu marries Ganga who is queen; when she bears sons, the king drowns each in the river at her instruction. The eighth, Bhishma, is hidden and survives; Ganga later confronts the king. Per the article, in Vyasa Ganga herself drowns them.

Who: Shantanu, Ganga, Bhishma

Places: Garhwal, Uttarakhand

Where this comes from

folk-oral · Oral Tradition journal: 'Vocal Delivery and Ritual Epic Performance in Central Himalayan Pandava Stories' narrators Kedar Singh, Khumera

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