GANGOTRI, a celebrated place of Hindu pilgrimage, among the Himalaya Mountains. It is situated in the native state of Garhwal in the United Provinces, on the Bhagirathi, the chief head-stream of the Ganges, which is here not above 15 or 20 yds. broad, with a moderate current, and not in general above 3 ft. deep. The course of the river runs N. by E.; and on the bank near Gangotri there is a small temple about 20 ft. high, in which are images representing Ganga, Bhagirathi and other figures of mythology. It dates from the early part of the 18th century. The bed of the river adjoining the temple is divided off by the Brahmans into three basins, where the pilgrims bathe. One of these portions is dedicated to Brahma, another to Vishnu and the third to Siva. The pilgrimage to Gangotri is considered efficacious in washing away the sins of the devotee, and ensuring him eternal happiness in the world to come. The water taken from this sacred spot is exported by pilgrims to India and sold at a high price. The elevation of the temple above the sea is 10,319 ft.
GANGPUR, a tributary state of Orissa, Bengal, included until 1905 among the Chota Nagpur States. It is bounded N. by Ranchi district, E. by the Singhbhum district, S. by Sambalpur and Bamra, and W. by Raigarh in the Central Provinces. The country is for the most part an undulating plain, broken by detached ranges of hills, one of which, the Mahavira range, possesses a very remarkable appearance, springing abruptly from the plain in an irregular wall of tilted and disrupted rock, with two flanking peaks. The rivers are the Ib and the Brahmani, formed here by the union of the Sankh and the South Koel, both navigable by canoes. The Ib was formerly famous on account of diamonds found in its bed, and its sands are still washed for gold. One of the largest coalfields in India extends into the state, and iron ore is also found. Jungle products—lac, silk cocoons, catechu and resin, which are exported; wild animals—bisons, buffaloes, tigers, leopards, hyenas, wolves, jackals, wild dogs and many sorts of deer. Area, 2492 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 238,896; estimated revenue, £16,000.
GANGRENE (from Gr. γάγγραινα, an eating sore, from γραίνειν, to gnaw), a synonym in medicine for mortification (q.v.), or a local death in the animal body due to interruption of the circulation by various causes.
GANILH, CHARLES (1758-1836), French economist and politician, was born at Allanche in Cantal on the 6th of January 1758. He was educated for the profession of law and practised as avocat. During the troubled period which culminated in the taking of the Bastille on the 14th of July 1789, he came prominently forward in public affairs, and was one of the seven members of the permanent Committee of Public Safety which sat at the hôtel de ville. He was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror, and was only released by the counter-revolution of the 9th Thermidor. During the first consulate he was called to the tribunate, but was excluded in 1802. In 1815 he was elected deputy for Cantal, and finally left the Chamber on its dissolution in 1823. He died in 1836. Ganilh is best known as the most vigorous defender of the mercantile school in opposition to the views of Adam Smith and the English economists.
His works, though interesting from the clearness and precision with which these peculiar opinions are presented, do not now possess much value for the student of political economy. He wrote Essai politique sur le revenue des peuples de l’antiquité, du moyen âge, &c. (1808); Des systèmes d’économie politique (1809); Théorie d’économie politique (1815); Dictionnaire analytique de l’économie politique (1826).