The Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India c5.s8.2

c5.s8.2

Jahnu-āśrama—The hermitage of Jahnu Muni is at Sultangunj (E. I. Railway) on the west of Bhagalpur. The temple of Gaibinātha Mahādeva, which is on the site of the hermitage of Jahnu Muni, is situated on a rock which comes out from the bed of the Ganges in front of Sultanganj. The river Ganges (Gaṅgā) on her way to the ocean, was quaffed down in a draught by the Muni when interrupted in his meditation by the rush of the water, and was let out by an incision on his thigh at the intercession of Bhagiratha, hence the Ganges is called Jāhnavī or the daughter of Jahnu Ṛishi. It is the Zanghera of Martin (Indian Empire, vol. III, p. 37 and Eastern India, vol. II, p. 37), or Jahngira which is a contraction of Jahnu-giri according to Dr. R. L. Mitra (JASB., vol. XXXIII, p. 360), and of Jahnu-gṛiha according to General Cunningham (Arch. S. Rep., vol. XV, p. 21). The Paṇḍās of Gaibinātha Mahādeva live in the village of Jahngira which is at a short distance from the temple. The hermitage of Jahnu Muni is also pointed out at Bhairavaghâṭî below Gaṅgotri in Garwal at the junction of the Bhagirathî and the Jâhnavî, where the Ganges is said to have been quaffed by the rishi (Fraser's Himala Mountains, p. 476). For other places which are pointed out as the hermitage of Jahnu [see Gaṅgâ and my Notes on Ancient Aṅga in JASB., vol. X (1914), p. 310]. There was a Buddhist Monastery at Sultanganj itself which contained a colossal copper statue of Buddha constructed in the 5th century A.D.