Saryu River

Dr. Udai Narain Sinha, (Reader)
Ancient Indian History & Archaeology Department Lucknow University

“Salutations to Lord Ganesha who removes all impediments and ensures blessedness and success.
Reverence to Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge and learning and Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva, bestower of strength and energy. Ganesha who removes all ills in bestowing of strength and energy.
Prostrations to my Guru Bhagvan Shiva incarnate in the form of Professor Deviprasad Jee and Professor Shailendra Nath Jee, an ocean of benevolence and compassion, who removes defects of vision and purifies the eyes of understanding and guides on the path of knowledge wisdom and devotion dispelling darkness of superstition and allowing me to sprinkle the light that hath come to me through the benedictions. Thus and protects his humble disciples from all sides; Obeisance to Hanuman, an ideal and faithful servant-cum-devotee of Sita Ramah, by whose blessings truth is made manifest and the Yugal-sarkar grant their darshan to a devotee.”

……….Dr. Udai Narain Sinha

“Kosolonam muditah sfeeto janpado Mahan:
Nivishto Saryooteerea prabhhootdhana-dhanyavaan:
Ayodhyanaam nagaree tatrasollokavishruta
Manuna-manavendren yaa puree nirmita svyam…Ramayana of Valmiki Balkand V.19
Tasmin tat sukha-kaale dhanushamanishumanrathi:
Vyayam kritasankalpah saryoomanvaksham nadeem:
Nipanemahishm raatrau gajam vabhvyagatamrigm:
Anayad va shvapadm kinchiddidhasurajeetendriyah:
Apashyamishna teerea saraivastapasamhatam:
Avakeerna Jata Bhaaram praviddhakalashodhakam…Ibid, Ayodhya Kand LXIII.20-36.
Seyamma deeya Jananeev ten manyen ragya saryooviyukta:
Doore Vasatam shishiranilayamar taranga hastaiv roopagahateeva…Kalidas Raghuvansham XIII.63.
Esha Bhagirathi Ganga Drishyatea Lokapavani:
Esha Sa Drishyetea seetee! Saryurpamalini…Ibid XIV.13.
Teerthea Toyatikarabhave: Jahnukanya saryvyo derahatyardadmaradanalekhamasadhyasadhaha:Ibid, V.8.”, are the prominent references speaking about Saryu river but however the History is shrouded with mystery.

The accounts of India and its history have been buried in a haze of opinions and objective. Facts have often been a casualty. The true definition of opinion is the absence of facts for where there are facts there is no need for opinion. This obscure and unfortunate condition has allowed ancient Indian History to grow under water shade. Gradual approach of science and technology and international relations through information technology has given an opposite direction to the old trodden paths.

Consequently the facts about Indian history can be traced from the remains of stone tools, bones, buildings, coins, weapons, ploughs, sculpture, pottery, metals and other solid objects that can now be fairly accurately dated by radio carbon, argon and other scientific methods. These methods are good for our oral traditions. In considering the ancient history of India we can not leave behind the traditions. In fact they are needed to be evaluated with the historical wisdom.

In India river’s have their social and religious importance. The Rig-Veda has Nadi Sukta which signifies their religious and social sanctity attached. The basic reason for the significance of rivers is that they are the fundamental source of irrigation for fields and were the useful tool for trade and commerce and an essential element for human growth. They even today hold a significant position. The important river Saryu finds its place down from the Rig Veda1 the Epics2. It also finds its place on an ancient medieval Monistic Vedantic text “The Yoga -Vaasishtha-Maha-Ramayana3. It is also finds mention in the “Ashtadhyayee” of Panini 4 and in “the Puranas”. Kalidas,” Yogini Tantra” Arab traveler Al-Beruni and “the Adhyatma Ramayana celebratedly mention to it. Not only this, the Buddhist text “MilindaPanho” mentions it as Sarbhu 7. According to B.C. Law, it is the river that flows in between North and South. It becomes Kaudiyâli prior to Manas Sarovar and thereafter it becomes Saryu and in the end becomes known as Ghaghra or Gharghra. Finally it mixes and mingles into Ganges near Chapra District of Bihar. On the confluence of Ganges and Saryu, there is a place known Cheran.
the book, ”Ayodhya: A History from the Rig Veda” co-authored by professor Vinayakrishna Rastogi of Ancient Indian History Department of Banaras Hindu University reveals the fact that the Saryu mentioned in the” Valmiki Ramayana” is not a mythical river but still exists today. He revealed this fact in the High Court Allahabad of Lucknow Bench9 and in argument therein he told that the river has changed its course in 18th to 19th Century by English merchants engaged in transporting timber through waterways. The English linked the Saryu to the Ghaghra River with a nullah.

Thus Saryu is the same as it stands in Ayodhya even today and is the point of attraction to millions of worshipers by tradition since a long past. Now if we relate this river with the Ram’s birth, then its oldness can be determined not less than about 12.96 lakh years ago as the astrologers and Astronomers think. Saryu is attached to Ramganga and it mixes and mingles with it. In this regard the questions Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya? By Uttam Ghosh are of importance which appeared in” United News of India” July 7, 1998. It is there where a theory is propounded that Banawali in Hisar district of Haryana, by which the long-lost river Saraswati once flowed, is probably the Ram Janmabhoomi (the birth place of Lord Ram) and not Ayodhya as is the common belief.

This theory has been propounded by veteran archaeologist M V N Krishna Rao, a pioneer in deciphering the Indus Valley civilization script, who unraveled the famous 'Pashupati' seal in 1969.
In a paper titled 'Ramah and Ravana in Indus Seals', contributed to the” 'J P Joshi felicitation volume',” Dr Rao has based his conclusion on his reading of the Banawali seals. He says that while identifying places and rivers, the Puranas are often confused. So probably In such circumstances, he says, there is little wonder if they placed Ayodhya on the river Saryu near Faizabad instead of Saraswati in Haryana.

The latest findings revealed that the Indus civilization covered a vast region on the east-west axis from Alamgirpur to Sutkagendor and on the north-south axis from Ropar to Bhagatrav, about another 1600 km. No other ancient civilization could boast of such a vast distribution of space as claimed by the Indus civilization. Moreover, it had nearly 1300 km of seaboard along the west coast. Archaeologists at the beginning of the present century, Dr Rao says, had unearthed in Iraq some very important clay tablets, stone Stela with carved inscriptions and other art objects revealing significant information about 'Rim-Sin'' and 'Hammurabi', who became famous for establishing an empire and for furnishing a law code.

'Rim-Sin', whose name was read in the Indus seals as 'Ramah Sana', was the son of 'Kudur Mabug (or Mabhana of Indus seal)' and reigned in Larsa, the modern Sank era in Iraq. 'Rim' in Sumerian language means 'ruler' and 'Raman' is the name of 'thunder god of the Amorites'. 'Sin' means 'moon god' in Acadian language and 'Sana' means 'god of thunder storm' in the Indus language, Dr Rao explains. Before his accession to the throne of Larsa in Sumer, Rim's brother 'Aard-Sin' ruled for 12 years. His father 'Kudur Mabug' reigned in Jamutbal, a kingdom on the coast of the Persian Gulf towards east of river Tigris adjoining Elam. \'\'This name is identical with Jabuna or Sapuna or Jambudvipa of Indus Valley.'

Rim-Sin appears to be an Aryan chief ruling over Elamites, Sumerians and Aryans of Indus civilization, Dr Rao says10. However his theory is not acceptable because even today the problem of reading the Indus script is controversial. German Indologist in his discourse has proved through his bilingual approach that Indus script holds short commands and that they are of Vedic Sanskrit but scholars like Parpola suggests in his paper of 2005 that Indus script belongs to Dravidian language. So, unless it is resolved, on the basis of tradition and locations we believe that the Saryu river of the Ramayana is the same Saryu river which flows even today at Ayodhya and is attached to Baliya District where there are no hills, the level surface is varied because of the high banks of the great rivers and the gentle slope from the central waster shed towards the Ganga, the Ghaghra and the Saryu. There are depressions of varying depth and extent in which the drainage water collects, prior to its draining into the main systems of the river. SARYU / RAMGANGA (E) - The Ramganga (E) originates from the Namik glacier which is one of the most beautiful glaciers in the Kumaon Himalaya. Like its origin, the river follows
a scenic route through a lesser inhabited valley, meets the Saryu at Rameshwar, and goes out to confluence with the Kali Ganga at Pacheshwar. Witness says River Saryu still exists.

The Indo-Gangetic Plains are a relatively homogenous ecological region in terms of vegetation but can be subdivided into five broad regions. The Trans (region 1 in Pakistan & 2 in the Indian Punjab and Haryana), Upper (region3), Middle (region 4) and Lower (region 4 in eastern India, and region 5 in Bangladesh) Indo-Gangetic Plains. These transects have been delineated based on soil-scapes, bio-climate, development of ground- and surface-water, and driving variables for agricultural development. There are gradations in soils, climatic patterns, cropping systems, social and economic situations,
and infrastructure and policy framework. The annual precipitation in the IGP ranges from 500 mm to 1800 mm, increasing from northwest towards the east. Gently sloping Illitic calcareous alluvium soils are coarser in the NW gradually becoming finer in an easterly direction. Driving forces for agricultural development clearly differentiate the northwest region from the eastern region and warrant that technology needs to be better targeted to meet local situations. A common and similar approach to resolve complex natural resource management problems is unlikely to work across the whole of the IGP. Future emphasis must shift from the past reliance on area expansion, high-yielding cultivars, and inputs of water and chemical fertilizers towards improving the performance and efficiency of agriculture at large and that of irrigated agriculture in particular. Thus changing geographical conditions are the responsible factors to determine the truth. However even though everybody knows this, still people are at daggers drawn to decide the factors in between Ram and Babar and thus polluting Saryu culture as pointed out by Bhavana in her diary in the following manner:- “

There she’s twirling around in her bright yellow ghagra-choli. Her eyes closed, thick black curls kissing her cheeks as she clangs the tiny cymbals in her podgy, little hands. She half-opens an eye to peer if someone’s watching her from the crowd. There aren’t many gathered for the evening aarti and kirtan though, for it’s a modest temple. Ramlalji, long hair tied in a ponytail, his flowing beard tremulous as he sings ‘Main to yahan ki maalin hoon, koi phulwa le lo [I am the gardener’s girl here, will someone buy my flowers]... ’ A long, thin line of vermilion runs up the centre of his brow. His voice soaked in betel juice, wrinkled fingers twinkling on the harmonium, the Pied Piper of Hanumat Niwas temple in Golaghat is playing. Everyone sways, eyes shut, to his tune. The little girl continues to dance, her feet pattering on the temple floor. Perhaps her fond parents have opened their eyes to see if their child has begun to keep time with the music or if she goes on with her artless performance. She does, and without a care. She is in Ayodhya, her second home. Ayodhya which is unconquerable, invincible.
They are here on a holiday, staying in a house across the temple. Close by, as one takes a right turn from Hanumat-Niwas, is the main bazaar called the Shringar Haat. Hindu and Muslim shopkeepers vend their goods together, their bright, well-lit kiosks calling the attention of happy, local buyers.
The little girl, now flanked by her mother and father, moves towards the Saryu, which is on the left side of the bazaar road. There is granny as well, in her virgin-white, starched sari, pallu covering her neat, thinning hairline, a full-sleeved blouse with pockets on either side and a pair of Gandhi glasses
making her look sterner than she really is. She looks happy today. They all are. It’s Lord Ram’s place – bhagwan ka sthan. She beams at her grandchild.

That is why they travel to the town as often as they can. The Howrah Mail takes about 15 hours to reach Lucknow from Amritsar where they hire a taxi to Ayodhya via Faizabad. Three hours plus, a bumpy ride and they are there. A small rest and they head for a dip in the placid and beautiful Saryu that murmurs timeless tales. It’s been like this for as long as the little girl can remember.
Granny, like all the grannies of the world, loves to tell a story. People go to Prayag to wash their sins in the Ganga. But on Ram Navmi, Prayag comes to wash its sins in the Saryu, she drones. The little girl giggles. Granny is kidding, isn’t she father, she asks.

Father is humming one of his favorite poems. Bula lo Awadh mein mujhe Ram Raghav, Basa lo Awadh mein mujhe Ram Raghav [Call me to Ayodhya O Rama, Give me a place in your Ayodhya O Rama]...’
The hum blends with the whispering wind as their feet take them to Nageshwarnath temple, an encomium to Shiva. At the other end, towards Faizabad, is Tulsi Chowra, a small garden showing off an unusually muscular Tulasidas standing in stone.

But granny’s favourite haunts are Hanumat Garhi and Kanak Bhavan. The little girl darts up the long flight of stairs leading to the Hanuman temple. It is
ancient, overlooking some glorious ruins. Her mother gestures to her to fold her hands and bow to the mighty monkey-god.

They are simple people that come here, father says as they walk back. The building is falling to pieces, but their faith never falters... such is the strength of simplicity and he smiles down at his daughter.
The little girl hasn’t heard of the Ram Janmabhumi controversy. She’s having a ball and is excited about seeing Sitaji ki rasoi just next to the Janmabhumi. Did Sita really cook here, but she was a queen and didn’t she have servants to do the cooking for her? The incessant, innocent prattle goes on.

They stand in front of Kanak Bhavan, the Palace of Gold. The girl is a little disappointed. She had imagined it to be a magnificent building of real gold. The Golden Temple and Durgyana Mandir back home in Amritsar are more beautiful, she thinks. Inside the Kanak Bhavan, the sight of Ram-Sita-Lakshaman sitting on a silver throne returns the smile on her lips. Queen Kaikeyi gifted the palace to Rama and Vikramaditya is said to have reconstructed it in its present form, father recounts the lore of yore...

The little girl’s fantasy has frozen in a quarter century.

Ayodhya in its present form is the new Tower of Babble. Pettifogging politicians, bickering bureaucrats, cunning historians have laid siege to the town from the left and the right. Cops and curfew haunt the new Ayodhya. Polemic passes off as prayer, with history-sheeters chanting it.

Granny has passed away. And Ramlal’s song lulled, perhaps forever. But the little girl is around. This time, they tell her another story. Ayodhya isn’t Ram’s land at all. She can argue because she isn’t little anymore. She doesn’t. Instead she smiles wistfully at those days of innocence, when she twirled
in her bright yellow ghagra-choli without a care. Indeed this Ayodhya sounds very different from the town of her infancy.

She fears Saryu’s stories may go down in this mad riptide. Will Prayag muster its dreams and hopes to come once again to Ayodhya’s river this Ram Navmi? Will someone dance to ‘Main to yahan ki maalin hoon... again?

The little girl isn’t giggling this time. She has grown up 11.”

It is the time when historians have to awake to fulfill the gaps of traditions created due to appeasement policy of one or the other sector of the society by politicians and thus they have to bring truth before the society. If Saryu is a tradition to be faith to flow at the present Ayodhya which everyone is worshiping since long, there should be no common controversy, because Abstracts can never be proved by historians but to be proved through abstract science. If Tsunami can change the boundaries of World geography, why there can not be a change in the course of river? However, traditions are so strong that faith can not be uprooted by false presentation of facts. The Puranas tell that Vishnu brought the Vedas from the depth of ocean, indicative of the fact that the Vedas were written documents and later on were preserved through oral tradition too. So likewise, Ayodhya which stands on Saryu river might have been little farther to it but strong tradition speak of its existence even today as a birth place of Rama and name the flowing river as Saryu. There should not be any controversy in accepting the fact and thus happily Ram temple should emerge on the place and a Kaba to be built where the believer of Islam think in India only, instead they go in foreign strand as a second grade citizen to become a Hajji. On the other hand Hindu fundamentalist party, whose aim is not peace making in the Country is only interested in baking a political Chapati on the issue of Ram temple and on whose call simple Indian folk people were forced to drown into Saryu river. This is the time when we should think collectively in the interest of the Country only without disturbing the facts. This is the time when we should strive for solving the mysteries of Universe instead of going to the path of Atomic Explosion. Will this national feeling emerge in Islamic follower, who now constitute almost the half of the population of India due to the advantage they hold of a separate law in a Country which is considered to be a sovereign for about the last fifty-7 years and in the same way would Hindu fundamentalist also think for the prosperity of Nation? Which yet lives in shallow thinking and living in feudalistic society?

Notes:
1. Rv. Chaukhamba Varanasi IV.30/18, X.64/9, V.53/9.
2. Valmiki Ramayana Aadikand 14/102, 23/5, V/5-6, Ayodhya. 32/17, 63/20-21 and 36 Uttar. 123/1, The Mahabharata of Vedavyas: Adi Parvan. 169/20-21, Sabha Parvan. 20/28, Van Parvan. 84/70, Anushasan Parvan 155/23-24, 165/21, Bhishma Parvan. 9/19, (both Ramayan and Mahabharata Geeta Press Gorakhpur)
3. Panin Ashtadhyayee Chaukhamba Surbharti Granthamala Sam vat 1981 Varanasi VI.4/174,
5. The Bhagvat Puran (Khemaraj Shri Krishnadas edn. Bumbai) V.19/18, IX.8/17, X.79/9, Padma. Uttarkhand. (Anand Ashram Poona) 35/38, Kalika Puran. (Vyankateshvar Press Bumbai) 24/129,
6. Sinha Udai Narain “Yoga Vaasishtha Maha-Ramayana Ka Rachana Kaal” Akhilbhartiya Sanskrit Parishad Mg. Marg Lucknow 2001 pp. 202-3
7. IBID.
8. Law B.C. Geography of Early Buddhism Ndl. 1979 Pp 5, 6, 23, 36. “Calcutta Review Aryan Occupation Oct. 1924” pp. 74-76. Calcutta Geographical Society Calcutta.
9. U.N.I. July 7, 1998 and The Tribune Tuesday, July 7, 1998.