In India, a river is a mini-cosmos in concept on its own. Every river is considered a mother deity who spawns mythology, art, dance, music, architecture, history and spirituality. Each one has a clear identity, appearance, value, style and spirit compared to a beautiful woman. In all ages and since time immemorial diverse human communities have reinvented themselves on river-banks with fascinating nuances….
“Her shimmering gold-and-white garments dazzle like a thousand suns. The jewels in her crown shine like the crescent moon. Her smiling face lights up the whole world. In her hands, she carries a pot of nectar, the symbol of immortality. Her lotus-fresh presence brings a sense of purity and joy to all beings….” At first glance, this reads like an over-the-top flowery description of a beautiful woman coined by some besotted lover. But to those conversant with the fascinating river-lore of India, this is the mythical portrayal of the River Ganga, written by Sage Valmiki, author of India’s immortal epic Ramayan. It describes the celestial Ganga as she descends from the heavens to the earth to bring salvation to mankind. This story, known as Gangavataran, is such a fundamental tenet of Indian culture that it has held countless generations of Indians in awe for millenniums. The Ganges, arguably the most picturised and written-about river in the world, has been called the Mother of India’s Spirituality and has been immortalized in sculpture, art, literature, poetry, music and dance.
Following her descent to the mortal world to sanctify human efforts to attain salvation, the Ganga is perceived as moksha dayini, the Mother Goddess whose waters bring relief from sin, sorrow and suffering. Through the millennia the river’s banks have been hallowed by a galaxy of saints and seers who either meditated or built great institutions of spiritual research and teachings on her embankments. Great poetic works, including Tulsidas’s Ramcharit Manas, which continues to run in the veins of Indians for centuries, were written alongside her tranquil flow in Varanasi. Great cities like Haridwar, Rishikesh, Prayag and Varanasi were built on her banks and these have become famous centers of art, music, textile weaving, literature and every other artistic endeavor apart from spiritual pursuits. Haridwar and Prayag being the sites hosting the largest gathering of faith – The Kumbha Mela, a festival which celebrates the relentless search of human kind for immortality. From India’s prehistoric ages, the Ganga, with her myriad tributaries, has not only been the harbinger of rich harvests in India’s plains, but also the precious lifeline of India’s cultural heritage. For more information on the river Ganges and the significance it holds for Haridwar, the Kumbha Mela and Ganges in Rome refer to this link
However, Ganga is not the only river in India to be given the pride and respect in the hearts of millions. For centuries Indians have worshipped seven holy rivers that crisscross the sub-continent, fertilizing its sprawling plains and watering its misty mountains and lush forests. These are the Ganga, the Yamuna, the invisible Saraswati, the Narmada, the Godavari, the Kaveri and the Sindhu. Since the Sindhu now flows through Pakistan, the Krishna has been added to the list of the sacred rivers of India. Each of these rivers has a unique persona and quality attached to it. While the Ganga is shimmering white-and-gold and represents purity or salvation, the Yamuna is blue like Krishna, who was born in Mathura, a holy city on her banks. Like him, she represents romance and fun. The legendary Saraswati, white and elegant like a swan, is now extinct and is called the river of knowledge and is associated with Brahma, the creator of the universe. The dark and elusive Narmada, rising in the Vindhya-Satpura range in Central India, meets the Arabian Sea in Gujarat. With few, if any, tributaries, the Narmada is often referred to as the Virgin River associated with the quality of detachment and surrender. The Godavari, rising in Gangadwar near Nashik in Maharashtra, flows eastwards to the Bay of Bengal. She is the saffron river of devotion sanctified by the presence of Ram, Sita and Lakshman who spent much of their exile years from Ayodhya in the forests along the river. Kaveri, the silvery river of wisdom flows from the Sahyadri Hills in Karnataka to the Bay of Bengal through Tamil Nadu. The Krishna, flowing from the Sahyadri Hills in Mahabaleshwar to the Bay of Bengal is green and represents courage and valor.
The quality and appearance associated each of these seven rivers have such a strong influence on the Indian psyche, that history, architecture, art, music and dance and even social movements show their impact. Each river represents a specific color and image and Indian scriptures weave innumerable legends around them which if told will create a blog of its own..!
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