In India
we have many rivers. These Rivers are part of our culture. We just don’t treat
them as rivers, they are treated as goddesses. Taking
bath in these rivers is believed to be sacred. During Pushkaras and in Karthika
Maasam many people have a bath in these rivers. As rivers have so much
importance in our life, I would like to share some information about the rivers
in India.
1. RIVER GANGA
River Ganga flows in VARANASI, UTTARAKAND,
UTTAR PRADESH, BIHAR, JHARKAND, WEST BENGAL, AND
IN SOME PARTS OF BANGLADESH. It covers over
2525KMS. Its starting point is in Himalayas. Per year About 400 million devotees
come to take bath in River Ganga. It is
believed that River Ganga is there from time of
RIGVEDA i.e approximately around 1700-1100BC.
River Ganga
is the most important river which flows in KASI.
People believe that they will attain Moksham easily
by taking their last breath at the banks of river Ganga
in Kasi, so in past many old people used to go to Kasi and stay there itself to
spend their last days. Every Hindu will wish to have bath in river Ganga at least once in their life time. Ganga
water is very sacred, it is proved that it can clean the impurities in it by
itself. It will not be spoiled when stored for many days. By Puranas we can
know that by visiting Kasi or having bath in Ganga
we will not have next birth.
Now this sacred river is being polluted so much that it is
beyond the capacity of the river to clean itself, so our government is taking
necessary measures to clean Ganga water on the
name of “THE GANGA ACTION PLAN”.
KUMBHMELA
Kumbhmela is a mass Hindu Pilgrimage in which Hindus gather
at Ganga River. The normal Kumbhmela is
celebrated for every 3 years.
2. RIVER SARASWATHI
Another river which is present from Vedic period (period in
history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism were
composed) is river Saraswathi. According to Puranas this river is believed to
be the other form of goddess Saraswathi Devi.
Due to the changes that occurred in the underground layers
of the earth, now this river is not visible, but it is flowing even know under
the under ground layers of earth (ANTHERVAHINI). It is proved by the satellite
pictures. It flows between river Yamuna and River Sutlej.
River Saraswathi originates in HIMALAYAS near KAILASA
PARVATHAM(mountain) and when it is visible it flowed through. PUNJAB, HARYANA, RAJASTHAN, GUJARAT, RANN OF KUTUCH AND
THEN MERGED IN ARABIAN SEA.
3. RIVER BRAHMAPUTRA
River Brahmaputra is one of the major rivers of Asia. I t is the only
Indian river that is attributed the masculine gender. It is about 1800(2900kms)
miles long. It is one of the deepest rivers in the world. It is 5,075metres
deep. It is an important river for irrigation and transportation. It originates
near KAILASA PARVATHAM IN HIMALAYAS and flows through NEPAL, BHUTAN, BURMA AND MERGES IN BAY OF
BENGAL IN BANGLADESH.
4. RIVER THAPATHI
Thapathi
River covers over 724kms. It is 752feet height from the sea level. It
flows through important places in India and we can see it in SATPURA (BHATHUL DISTRICT, MADHYAPRADESH).It flows through MAHARASTRA, GUJARAT AND MERGES IN ARABIAN SEA. Thapathi is daughter of Lord Surya .She married Sanvaran.
They gave birth to a child named KURU. According to Puranas we can know that Kuru ruled the
place for many years.
In olden days this river played a very important role in Hajj and Mecca tour of Muslims. It is
also used as a major port and exports and imports are also done. Tapathi River is also called as River Taapi, River Thapthi.
It helped for the development of Dhodia tribes and Bhil tribes.
5. RIVER YAMUNA
River Yamuna is in UTTARANCHAL. It
originates in YAMUNOTRI in HIMALAYAS at
a height of 6387 meters. It covers 1370kms(length) .Yamuna is
daughter of Lord Surya. Sister of Lord Yama .She is also worshipped as Jamuna
matha. Lord Krishna was taken across the Yamuna on the night of his birth. When
Vasudeva carrying Krishna in a basket, reaches river Yamuna, on a extremely
turbulent, rainy night of Krishna‘s birth, it has parted in the middle and made
way for Vasudeva. Most of the Lord Krishna’s childhood passes on the banks of
Yamuna. Yamuna, according to legends is closely related to Ramayana and Mahabharata.
6. RIVER KAVERI
River Kaveri originates on Brahmagiri
hills in KODAGU in the Western Ghats in Karnataka. It is also
called as TALAKAVERI, which means head of Kaveri.
It flows through Karnataka and Tamilnadu and merges in to Bay
of Bengal.
The Kaveri basin is estimated to be 27,700 square miles with many tributaries. Rising in Southwestern
Karnataka, it flows south east some 765km to enter the Bay
of Bengal. East of Mysore it forms the island
of Shivanasamudra,
on either side of which are the scenic Shivanasamudra
Falls .Shivanasamudra falls are the
second biggest water falls in India.
Hydroelectric plant built on the left Sivanasamudra Falls in 1902 was the first hydraulic plant in Karnataka. The
primary use of river Kaveri is providing water for irrigation, and water for
house hold purpose.
The three major islands at Kaveri have a strong Vaishnava
Heritage. One of them is Srirangam.
On the banks of Kaveri is the ancient temple of Talakad
where the holy festival Panchalinaga Darshan is held every 12years.There is a small story related to Kaveri. Once when drought occurred in India Agasthya Rishi prayed for Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma pleased by the prayers of the sage told Agasthya rishi to go to Kailasa Parvatham and please Lord Siva and bring water along with snow which will never drain and changes into a big river. Agastya rishi took water into a Kamandalam and was in search an appropriate place. Lord Ganesha came in the form of a child. Agasthya rishi called the child playing there and gave this Kamandalam and told him not to place it down until he comes.Lord Ganesha kept that Kamandalam down before rishi came and one cow came there and throwed that Kamandalam down. The place where Kamandalam fell down Kaveri originated.
Karnataka people call Kaveri as Kaverimaa. Having dip in this river removes all our sins and gives mental peace.
TEMPLES ON
THE WAY
1. SRIRANGAM
2. TALAKAD
7. RIVER KRISHNA
The Krishna River is one of the longest rivers in central
southern India,
about 1290kms. It is 200metres
deep. It is one of the oldest rivers in India. It is also called as Krishnaveni. Krishna
River is the fourth
largest river in India
after Ganges, the Godavari and the Narmada. It
flows from Mahabaleswaram to Maharastra. In middle it touches Karnataka and comes
into Hamsaladeevi (Andrapradesh) and merges
into Bay of Bengal. For every 12years Puskaras will be celebrated grandly.
Its most important tributary is the Tungabhadra River. Other tributaries are Venna River, Konya River, Bhima River,
Malapraba
River, Ghatapraba River,
Yerla River, Warna River,
Dindi River, Paleru River,
Musi River, Urmodi River, Tarli River
and Dudhganaga
River.
TEMPLES ON THE WAY OF KRISHNA RIVER
1. Sri
Saila Mallikarjuna
Swamy Temple,
Srisialam
2. Amareswara Swamy, Amaravathi
3. DathatrayaSwamy
Temple
4. Sangameswara
Temple
5. Durga Malleswara Sawmy
Temple,Vijayawada.