King Bhagiratha, born of two mothers, brings the Ganges down from the heavens

A child born miraculously from a same-sex union becomes an ancestor of Lord Rama

In Hindu mythology, Bhagiratha was a king who helped bring the sacred river Ganges from the sky to the Earth. His origin story varies. In some Bengali retellings of the Ramayana, King Dilipa, an ancestor of Lord Rama,[i] died childless, leaving his two queens as widows. But because it had been prophesied that an avatar of Vishnu will be born into his lineage, the gods intervened…