Saraswathi

We are given to understand that the Saraswathi River is a gupta nadhi, a subterranean river which is said to bubble out at Prayag, modern day Allahabad at the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna Rivers.

In many places in India where two rivers meet there is a local legend of a 3rd river by name 'Saraswathi' also being present there as a subterranean river. Some scholars have been able to enumerate at least 42 such locations in different parts of Bharath.

Why this unusual importance to an imaginary river by name Saraswathi in so many different places of India? The Vedic text were said to have been composed and compiled on the banks of the Sarswathi River.

If so, there was a free flowing Saraswathi river.

Where is this Saraswathi River now?
In this subject capsule, we look for this mighty Sarswathi River which was flowing a couple of 100 kms east of the Indus River, approximately till about 5000 years back. This river Saraswathi had its origin in the Himalayas and flowed through Punjab, Rajasthan and reached the sea near the present day Rann of Kutch. The Rann of Kutch which was the delta of the Saraswathi River offers geological evidence of how this delta was formed by the silt brought by the Saraswathi River.
The Deccan plateau which includes the Aravalli mountain range is moving northwards and is pushing the Himalayas is a well known geological fact. This tectonic plate movement in all probability disturbed the Himalayan ranges and blocked and diverted the primary tributaries of the Saraswathi River about 4500 years back. Consequent to this massive upheaval, Saraswathi River became a dry river bed and at best was only a monsoon fed river. As this mighty river dried up, the population living on its banks, had to migrate, literally to look for greener pastures. Typical of a migrating population, wherever they went, they termed the local confluence in the name of the once mighty Saraswathi River. The legend of Saraswathi was built thereon.
In the last 15 - 20 years, we have been able to get very good satellite images of this area which clearly show a dry river bed and a subterranean river. In the last decade, all along this dry river bed archaeologists are now excavating various archaeological sites numbering well over 2000.

Evidences in the form of geology, geography, archaeology, literature and satellite imaging prove beyond doubt that a mighty river by name Saraswathi flowed in the western part of India about 5000 years back, which nourished an advanced civilization.

The desiccation of this river led to the people living along its banks abandoning their home and migrating to different parts of India, Central Asia and also probably to other parts of the world.
That the Saraswathi River flowed in Bharath has been established today as a ground truth.

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