Recent Research on the Sarasvati RiverThere is a book available that goes further into the details of the Saravati riverresearch, 'New Discoveries About Vedic Sarasvati' written by Dr Ravi Prakash Arya. He is the Chief Editor of Vedic Science journal. Kolkata (on Ma_gha Shukla Panchami day: Sarasvati janma tithi celebration held in a big way on Feb. 17, 2002), Delhi, Kalibangan, Mohangarh (Jaisalmer Dist.) where the river is flowing again: 40 ft. wide, 12 ft. deep channel; the huge inaugural plaque there reads: Sarasvati mahanadi ru_pa_ nahar. India's 'miracle river' Scientists say new evidence could unearth the Saraswati. The legend of the mighty Saraswati river has lived on in India since time immemorial. Ancient Hindu scriptures called the Vedas, recorded thousands of years ago, are full of tantalizing hymns about it being the life-stream of the people. In a new radio programme, Madhur Jaffrey recounts the legend of the Saraswati river - and explores startling new evidence that it may not have been a myth after all. Vast and awesome, the Saraswati's holy waters are supposed to have flowed from the Himalayas into the sea, nourishing the land along the way. But as the centuries passed and no one could find it, myth, belief and religion came together and the Saraswati passed into the realm of folklore. Now most people in India think of it as a mythical river. Some even believe that it is an invisible river or that it still flows underground. Another commonly held perception is that the Saraswati once flowed through the north Indian city of Allahabad, meeting there with two other rivers, the Ganges and the Jamuna. The confluence of these three rivers - one of which is not visible to the eye - is considered one of India's holiest spots. Below is a satellite view of the Sarasvati River basin running from the Himalayan Mountains to the west coast of India.
There is a book available that goes further into the details of the Saravati river research, 'New Discoveries About Vedic Sarasvati' written by Dr Ravi Prakash Arya. Heis the Chief Editor of Vedic Science journal.
Kolkata (on Ma_gha Shukla Panchami day: Sarasvati janma tithi celebration heldin a big way on Feb. 17, 2002), Delhi, Kalibangan, Mohangarh (Jaisalmer Dist.) wherethe river is flowing again: 40 ft. wide, 12 ft. deep channel; the huge inaugural plaquethere reads: Sarasvati mahanadi ru_pa_ nahar.
India's 'miracle river'
Scientists say new evidence could unearth the Saraswati. The legend of the mightySaraswati river has lived on in India since time immemorial. Ancient Hindu scripturescalled the Vedas, recorded thousands of years ago, are full of tantalizing hymns about it
being the life-stream of the people.In a new radio programme, Madhur Jaffrey recounts the legend of the Saraswati
river - and explores startling new evidence that it may not have been a myth after all.Vast and awesome, the Saraswati's holy waters are supposed to have flowed from theHimalayas into the sea, nourishing the land along the way. But as the centuries passedand no one could find it, myth, belief and religion came together and the Saraswatipassed into the realm of folklore.
Now most people in India think of it as a mythical river. Some even believe that it isan invisible river or that it still flows underground. Another commonly held perception isthat the Saraswati once flowed through the north Indian city of Allahabad, meeting therewith two other rivers, the Ganges and the Jamuna. The confluence of these three rivers
- one of which is not visible to the eye - is considered one of India's holiest spots.
Below is a satellite view of the Sarasvati River basin running from the HimalayanMountains to the west coast of India.
For most of the country, the name Saraswati is better known for its divinenamesake - the goddess Saraswati, Hindu goddess of Learning. Worshiped particularlyby students and school children, her festival falls in February, and the city of Calcutta isfamous for celebrating her in style. Makeshift shrines are erected in every street andafter the festival is over, thousands of the images are taken to the banks of the river Hooghly and pitched into the water where they are forever carried away by the river.
The goddess' connection to water is part of the enigma that surrounds the river.
But that mystery could be set to be dispelled forever, as startling scientific evidence hascome to light. Through satellite photography, scientists have mapped the course of anenormous river that once flowed through the north western region of India. The imagesshow that it was 8 km wide in places and that it dried up 4,000 years ago.
Dr JR Sharma who heads the Remote Sensing Services Centre in Jodhpur whichis mapping the images, believes a major earthquake may have played a part in thedemise of the Saraswati. There was, he says, a big tectonic activity that stopped thewater supply to the river. Sharma and his team believe they have found the Saraswati
and are excited about what this discovery could mean for India. The idea is to tap itspotential as a water source. They are working with India's leading water experts who areusing the satellite images as clues.
Scientists hope to find water under the desert
Deep in the western Rajasthan desert, not far from the security- conscious border with Pakistan, an extraordinary programme is underway. Giant drilling rigs probe deepinto the dry, arid earth pulling out undisturbed layers of soil and sediment for scientiststo study and test. Water engineers are exploring the region's ancient riverbeds for whatthey call groundwater - underground reservoirs that contain perfectly drinkable water. If they are successful, their discovery could transform the lives of thousands of locals whocurrently experience harsh water shortages.
Mr KS Sriwastawa of the Rajasthan State Groundwater Board believes one of these ancient buried channels may be the Saraswati. He knows the stories refer to theancient river flowing through this area and says excitedly that carbon dating has
revealed that the water they are finding is 4000 years old. That would date it to the timeof the Saraswati. The modern search for the Saraswati was first sparked by an Englishengineer called CF Oldham in 1893 when he was riding his horse along the dry bed of aseasonal Rajasthani river called the Ghaggar.
As he rode on, he was struck by a sudden thought. The Ghaggar when it flowed,was a small, puny river and there was no reason for its bed to be up to 3km wide inplaces unless it occupied the former course of a much larger river - the Saraswati. Thediscovery of a vast prehistoric civilisation that lived along the banks of a major river, hasadded impetus to the growing modern belief that the Saraswati has been found. Over 1000 archaeological sites have been found on the course of this river and they datefrom 3000 BC. One of these sites is the prehistoric town of Kalibangan in northern
Rajasthan.The town has proved a treasure trove of information about the Bronze Age peoplewho actually lived on the banks of the Saraswati. Archaeologists have discovered thatthere were priests, farmers, merchants and very advanced artists and craftsmen livingthere. Highly sophisticated seals on which there is evidence of writing have also beenfound, indicating that these people were literate, but unfortunately the seals have never been deciphered. They may well hold the clue to the mystery of what happened to theSaraswati and whether it has really been found again.
The Miracle River is [was] broadcast at 3.30pm on Saturday 29 June, 2002 onBBC Radio 4http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_2073000/2073159.stm
The Recent Research into the Sarasvati River
The URL which details the efforts to trace River Sarasvati is at:http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/prakalp/sarasvati01.htm
What a privilege it is to be part of this endeavor, unparalleled in the history of humancivilization, as a 1600 km. long river which got desiccated about 4000 years ago comesalive to enable the present and future generations to recollect memories of Vediccultural heritage, which is world heritage.
Jagmohan sets about bringing Saraswati aliveAKSHAYA MUKUL
Times News Network [ SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2002 1:05:27 AM ]
NEW DELHI: A day after Culture Minister Jagmohan announced excavation totrace the ancient course of the Saraswati, the 'lost' river of Harappan civilisation, he hasalready set up a team of four "experts" who will undertake this onerous task.
Though Jagmohan denies the project is linked to the Sangh Parivar's agenda of equating Harappan civilisation with Hindus, he does talk of myths associated with
several areas in Haryana where the Saraswati presumably once flowed. "Marxisthistorians have fed us on a certain kind of history. One should not close options," hesays, adding, "If there is any evidence of Saraswati, we will see it, otherwise we will notpush forward any view."
The four experts û Baldeo Sahai of ISRO, Ahmedabad, archaeologist S KalyanRaman, glaciaologist YK Puri, and water consultant Madhav Chitle -- will carry out thefirst phase of excavation from Adi Badri to Bhagwanpura in Haryana followed in secondphase from Bhagwanpura to Kalibangan on Rajasthan border.
Along with tracing the river's course, the experts have been tasked with deepeningKapalmochan and Ranmochan û "two wells fed by Saraswati where Pandavas hadcome and taken bath," says Jagmohan. If the effort does not yield Saraswati water in
the wells, the experts have been told tap tubewells. "People consider it sacred. Rightnow water is muddy. Tubewellwater will be clean and faithfuls can take bath," says Jagmohan.
Another place where Saraswati will be traced is Thanesar, capital of Harshvardhan, a few kilometres from Kurukshetra. "Saraswati flowed here also and wehave marked six points to trace its route," says Jagmohan. Plan also is to excavateseven mounds in Rakhigarhi, where minister claims five are of Harappan lineage andtwo of pre-Harappan times. With all this work, Jagmohan is "confident that Saraswatiwill come alive."
But Jagmohan's confidence is not shared by noted historians Suraj Bhan and IrfanHabib. Says Suraj Bhan, "In the 1960s, I worked in this area to trace the Saraswati'sroute. In Adi-badri no course of the Saraswati can be seen." He also denies havingfound any evidence related to Pandava period in this area.
"The legend goes that there were 1400 pilgrim centres on the Saraswati. RSS for decades has been working on the Saraswati project. In 1980s, its Itihas SankalanSamiti and Apte Memorial Committee did take it up in a big way. The idea is to revivebrahminism and sanctity of Vedas. Now it is showing dividends," he observes. "All of usknow there is water underground which will come out through excavation anywhere," hesays. "How can it be called Saraswati's water. Important thing is to trace the dry course
of Ghaggar which has already been done." Habib, who has written extensively onSaraswati, feels the exercise is a "waste of money". The Hindutva historians, he notes,claimed Saraswati flowed from the Himalayas and now they are tracing it in the foothillsof the Shivaliks. "This is an attempt by the RSS to make Harappan civilisationsynonymous with Saraswati culture," he says.
The Tribune, Chandigarh, June 13, 2002 Our Correspondent
Yamunanagar, June 12.
Union Culture and Tourism Minister Jagmohan has said research work on theSaraswati river would be undertaken on a priority basis. While addressing a seminar onSaraswati river research held here today, he said the Saraswati, originating from har KiDoon glacier in the interior Himalayas, after crossing the Shivalik range, enters into theplains, near Adi Badri in the district.
He said he had been to Adi Badri today along with Union Minister of State for Home I.D. Swami. He said since the last century, several scholars and organizationshad been making efforts to trace the course of Saraswati river. He lauded thecontribution of the National Remote Sensing Agency, the Bhabha Atomic ResearchCentre, the Indian Space Research Organization, the Geological Survey of India andthe Central Water Commission in this regard.
He announced that the work regarding tracing the course of Saraswati river would bestarted shortly in two phases, first from Adi Badri to Bhagwanpura and in Kurukshetradistrict and second from Bhagawanpur to Sirsa. He also announced that watershedmanagement and water-harvesting dams would be constructed shortly by the UnionGovernment.
Mr. Jagmohan announced that an international seminar on Saraswati river will beconducted at Kurukshetra in December. Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautalaassured the Union Government that the state government would provide all assistancein the development of Adi Badri and Kapal Mochan as pilgrim spots. He said Saraswatiwas revered not merely for its sanctity but also for being the mother of the ancientcivilization and cradle of vedic literature that was conceived on its banks.
Project to Revive Sarasvati River Times News Network [ SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2002 1:29:54 AM ]
SHIMLA: Sarasvati Nadi Shodh Prakalp, Bangalore, director Dr S Kalyanaramansaid on Friday that the search for the "mythical" Sarasvati river, which began about 16years ago, had reached a stage where it could be said that the river was neither a mythnor a legend, but hard fact.
Delivering a lecture organized by the Institute of Integrated Himalayan Studies at
the Himachal University here, he said that after years of intensive research throughscientific techniques, he could trace the origin of the river and the civilization whichprospered along its banks.
``The revival of Sarasvati river begins in Haryana, with the water harvesting projectfrom Adh Badri through Bilaspur and Kapala Mochan up to Pehoa, a distance of about150 km, check-dams, clearing of the water-ways, restoration and renewal of the ghatsof river and elimination of pollutants,'' he said.
"It is a proud moment that our engineers and scientists have established thefeasibility of reviving this great Vedic river, with a conjunctive use of surface and sub-surface drainage systems. The feasibility study of the National Water DevelopmentAgency has been going on for the last 19 years and is continuing," he added.
Kalyanaraman said that the Rajasthan Canal, also called SarasvatiMahanadirupanahar, was now flowing till Danan in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan andwould be extended to Gedra Road in Barmer district of the state.
"The waters of Sutlej river, which was the anchorage river of Sarasvati, flowingfrom Harike can be taken to the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, through theMahanadirupanahar," he added. He said that of the nearly 2600 archeological sites of varying sizes, over 1500 settlements were found on the Sarasvati river basin, whichincluded settlements larger than those of Harappa and Mohenjodaro.
Director of Himalayan Studies Yoginder Verma said that the research project beingundertaken by the Sarasvati Nadi Shodh Prakalp aimed at making the river flow again innorth-west India from Mansarovar to Gujarat and to interlink Himalayan and peninsular
rivers to create a 40,000-km long national waterway in the country. This, along with thelong coastline, would improve the infrastructure facilities in the country and complementthe railways and national highways, he added.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=13006120&sType=1
Indian Satellites Find Water Under Desert
Hyderabad July 28, 2002. India's remote sensing satellites have traced the buried
course of Saraswati, the mythical Himalayan river, kindling hopes of finding drinkingwater under the hot sands of the Thar desert in Rajasthan.
Mentioned in the Rig Veda, the Hindu scripture, and other ancient literature, theriver is believed to have once flowed, parallel to the Indus, through what is now desertbefore falling into the Arabian Sea.
According to published literature, the river disappeared between 5000 BC and3000 BC due to tectonic events in the Himalayas, that cut off the water supply, andclimatic changes that converted what was once a lush green Rajasthan into an arid
zone. Past attempts to accurately trace the lost river and reconstruct its drainagesystem did not succeed.
"Recent advancements in space-based sensors and in data processingtechnologies made it possible", says J. R. Sharma of the Jodhpur-based RemoteSensing Service Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He and his
colleagues, A. K. Gupta and G. Sreenivasan have mapped the "palaeo channels" relicsof the river and its tributaries using data from three different sensors on board Indiansatellites.
Mr. Sharma said over telephone that 13 borewells drilled along the predicted river course have yielded water at a depth of 35 to 40 metres. The size of the palaeochannels, as estimated from satellite data, was huge, about 15 to 40 metres thick,implying that there was plenty of water out there. "The Government of Rajasthan isplanning to increase the number of borewells to 50 in two months and has earmarkedRs. 40 million for the project," he said, adding, "chemical analysis indicates thesepalaeo channels could form a source for good quality ground water."
The ISRO scientists do not subscribe to the theory that Saraswati is flowing as a
subterranean river. "Radioactive tracer studies show that the maximum flow of water is15 cms per year, too slow to indicate that connection with the Himalayan source is stillthere," Mr. Sharma said.
Union Minister Jagmohan's efforts to establish a role for the Sarasvati river in the IndusValley civilization take the shape of a project of excavations, which will begin inHaryana.
T.K. RAJALAKSHMIin New Delhi
UNION Minister for Tourism and Cultural Affairs Jagmohan has an unenviable taskin hand - that of putting in place a cultural policy for "national reconstruction", which isexplained as a cultural renaissance that will enable Indians to be aware of their
heritage. One step in this regard is the revival of interest in the Sarasvati river,references to which are found in the Rig Veda.
Efforts are on to identify the river's course and to ascribe to it a civilisational virtueunder the camouflage of promoting domestic and religious tourism. These are based onthe assumption that the seasonal Ghaggar river in Haryana is the ancient Sarasvati.The cultural revival as envisaged by Jagmohan will be made possible by excavating thecourse of the river in parts of Haryana and then developing certain areas there asreligious and tourist sites.
At a seminar organised at Yamunanagar, Haryana, on June 12 by the SarasvatiRiver Research Centre (Sarasvati Nadi Shodh Sansthan), Jagmohan announced thatthe Central government, along with the State governments concerned, including theHaryana government, would undertake the excavation of the entire course of the extinctriver. A four-member committee will be in charge of this. The committee comprises
Baldev Sahai, former Deputy Director, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad; V.M.K.Puri, a glaciologist who was formerly with the Geological Survey of India, Lucknow; S.Kalyanaraman, a former senior executive of the Asian Development Bank, who is alsotrained in archaeology; and Madhav Chitle, former Secretary, Ground Water Management, and coordinator for Global Water Partnership. The first phase will involvethe digging up of the stretch from Adi Badri in Yamunanagar district to Bhagwanpura inKurukshetra district to Sirsa (all in Haryana). In the second phase, the excavation andrelated work will be taken up from Bhagwanpura to Kalibangan in Rajasthan. TheCentral government is yet to sanction the funds, as the estimates are still in the processof being prepared by the State governments concerned.
Darshan Jain, president of the Sarasvati Nadi Shodh Sansthan, feels it would be
convenient if the first phase is launched before the annual fair in Adi Badri in November to mark the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. As for the river whose origins are sought to be found at Adi Badri, Darshan Jain conceded thatall that remained was a trickle from one of the rock formations. However, if fresh water could be filled in the several tanks that date back to the Mahabharata period, which aremuddy now, people could take their holy dips in them, he averred.
The present effort is definitely novel. Jagmohan told Frontline that it was notimportant whether the Sarasvati was found or not. But in the course of the research onthe "mighty river" which has been referred to 50 times in the Rig Veda, a certainconsciousness will find its way into the minds of the people, he hopes. The river, theMinister explained, was mentioned along with other rivers, and if these rivers had
existed, it was not correct to assume that the Sarasvati had not existed. He said thatthere was cultural, geological, hydrological and geographical evidence to show that theriver was not a mythological desert river. "There is a school of thought - I would not saythere is irrefutable evidence - that believes that a sophisticated civilisation flourished onthe banks of the Sarasvati," said Jagmohan.
It is here that the real purpose of the programme comes into the open. The projectis evidently a conscious effort to address the "plaguing problem" of the origin of theAryans, an ideological riddle that was first raised by the Baba Saheb Apte SmarakSamiti (named after the founder of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and the BharatiyaItihasa Sankalan Samiti (which is devoted to the rewriting of history) in the early 1980s.A survey of the lost Sarasvati was planned in 1983 by the former institution.
Attempts to make the Indus civilisation and the Rig Veda chronologicallycompatible have been afoot for quite some time now. One major proponent of theSarasvati's civilisational link is B.B. Lal, former Director-General of the ArchaeologicalSurvey of India (ASI). In his latest book The Sarasvati Flows on: The Continuity of Indian Culture (Aryan Books International, New Delhi, 2002), Lal argues that the RigVedic Sarasvati and the present-day Sarasvati-Ghaggar combine, which flows through Haryana and Punjab and dries up near Sirsa, are thesame. His other theory refutes the Aryan invasion theory. R.S. Bisht, Director for
Excavation at the ASI, also subscribes to a similar theory though he is against thedigging of the entire course of the river.
Bisht, who accompanied Jagmohan to Yamunanagar, asked how it was that somany sites were found located on the banks of the Sarasvati - such as Gaveriwala,Rakhigarhi and Dholavira - if it had not been a perennial river. Bisht contends that the
territory of the Rig Vedic Aryans was coterminous with that of the Harappans. Between2000 B.C. and 1800 B.C., a dry spell heralded the decline of the Indus Valleycivilisation, he says. Bisht argues that the Sarasvati died a clinical death andrejuvenating it is impossible; but in the same breath he underscores the Vedicimportance of the river. The Nadi Sukta or the river hymn, although a late compositioncompared to the Rig Veda, enumerated a large number of rivers that ran from the eastto the west. Bisht said that it was thought that the Yamuna and the Sutlej flowed into theSarasvati, an idea that was dear to S.P. Gupta, the historian who proposed the idea thatthe Indus Valley civilisation be renamed the Indus-Sarasvati civilisation. The Sarasvatiis mentioned in the Rig Veda several times.
Over the years, man-made interventions obstructed the course of the surface
water channels. To redeem the lost glory of the river, its easternmost source, inHaryana, was taken as the most sacred one. All the depressions along the course of theriver would be symbolically cleaned, Bisht said.
On the other side is Suraj Bhan, renowned archaeologist and historian. He arguesthat the Rig Vedic references to the Sarasvati do not always pertain to a particular river.In the early parts, it perhaps means the Harakhvati of Afghanistan and the Sindhu(Indus), he says. There is no evidence even to suggest that either the Sutlej or theYamuna contributed to the Sarasvati, he contends. R.C. Thakran, Reader in theDepartment of History, University of Delhi, who is a trained archaeologist and hails fromrural Haryana, does not buy the argument that the Sarasvati was a mighty perennialriver. Like the Yamuna, most perennial rivers have two important features on their
surfaces and sub-surfaces - sand deposition and water reservoirs, the latter on accountof the constant flow of water on their floodplains. Despite continuous exploitation of water in the sub-soil of the Yamuna, water reservoirs remain. And this could happenonly if the river was a "mighty" one, he said. But in the case of the Sarasvati, sanddeposits and water reservoirs were missing, he pointed out. The impact of a river with abed ranging from 10 to 30 kilometres should be felt along its course and depositionswould be naturally available. But nowhere in the State were sand deposits visible either on the sub-soil or the surface soil, he said. The depth of the sand deposits wouldindicate the impact of the river, said Thakran. Even if they did find sand deposits, it byno means would establish that the river was a perennial one. Sub-soil reservoirs weremissing in most parts of Haryana. The water was not fresh. Only in some districts, suchas Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala, water was of good quality and was freely available(but not to the extent in the Yamuna belt). He said that most tubewells were shallow,and that the majority of borewells were located in areas where canal water had reached.On the theory of the dry period, Thakran said that the region received erratic rainfallfrom ancient times. Even so, people never made habitations along the banks of rivers,especially mighty rivers, for the simple reason that they posed a hazard, he argued.
Thakran said rivers per se were not essential for human settlements; what wasessential was the supply of water in one form or the other. Ethnographic archaeology or
the study of modern lifestyles in the State could explain how people coped with thesemi-arid conditions. The prevalence of village ponds widely indicates a certain degreeof rainwater harvesting. Wells were also constructed alongside the ponds. The muddywater in the wells would be desilted and stored for later use. Thakran recalls that in hischildhood days clearing of ponds was a community activity, which gradually diminished
as alternative sources of water, such as canals, appeared.According to him, villages located themselves near ponds, not rivers.Thakran said that in the mid-1980s an ASI-French archaeological mission found thatthere was no river action in this belt in the Harappan times and even afterwards. Water action observed at local levels revealed surface water run-off or rainwater run-off. Onthe question of settlements, Thakran said that only a nominal number of them wereobserved though there was a mild increase in their numbers between the early andmature Harappan phases. After agriculture, pastoralism is the other known source of subsistence for people in the State. Cattle outnumber other domestic animals as theyare hardy and require less water and food than others. The practice, which started inthe proto-historical times, continues even today. Pastoralists would not have known how
to control such a mighty river as the mythological Sarasvati, said Thakran.As for remote-sensing and satellite imagery of paleo-channels or past channels of water, Thakran said the images appeared as impressions of flowing water. They beginin the north, move towards Rajasthan and get lost beyond that. There is hardly anyevidence to show that these images are that of the Sarasvati. However, he said,remote-sensing did not reveal the antiquity of the images and was not capable of datingor soil morphology. In such a situation, it was difficult to say which period an imagebelonged to. He said another limitation of remote-sensing was that it was effective onlyon dry soil. Moisture in the sub-soil tends to absorb the signals and therefore amessage cannot be sent to the satellite.
Thakran is certain that the Ghaggar river made no contribution to the evolution and
development of the early and mature Harappan settlements. Nor was the number of settlements found to be substantial. On the contrary, a greater number of early andmature Harappan sites were found in the upland dry areas which had saline water,away from the rivers. A far greater concentration of Harappan settlements was found inthe Ghaggar basin and in the basins of other rivers, but these were not in the formativephase but in the terminal phase of the civilisation.
Hence the river neither was helpful in promoting human activities nor couldbecome a centre of human settlements by the end of the mature Harappan phase. But,according to Jagmohan, there is a preponderance of evidence to show that theSarasvati was an important river. There were 1,500 settlements along the course of theSarasvati, though in the late Harappan period, he said. He added that the Central Water Commission, with assistance from its counterparts in the State, had been told to dig twowells in the Adi Badri area; if there was water in them "it would come out", he said.
The Rig Veda makes references to several rivers, including the Indus. To magnifythe importance of one particular river in this context and promote tourism around it onlybetrays the enthusiasm of the BJP-led government in the case of anything Vedic. Butmany feel that both the Centre and the Haryana government should concentrate moreon getting water for the parched State from Punjab instead of promoting an extinctSarasvati.
AHMEDABAD, INDIA, August18, 2002: The government of India, with theassistance of hydrologists, geologists, archaeologists and space scientists, is trying tobring back the Saraswati River, which dried up in Vedic times. The dry bed of the"mythological" river was spotted in satellite photos, five miles wide, coursing from theHimalayas to the Arabian Sea. Some water still flows along this course, butunderground. The government's attempt is to tap this water in wells and reservoirs, sothat Hindus may once again be blessed by the Saraswati's sacred waters.From: http://www.the-week.com/22aug18/cover.htm
Unearthing Lost Saravati Cities
PTI [TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2003 05:34:22 PM]KURUKSHETRA: Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Jagmohan on Tuesday
announced that the Centre has launched a scheme of unearthing lost cities, which onceexisted along the embankments of Saraswati River, and left a number of signposts of
the Saraswati-Indus civilization from Adi Badri near Kurukshetra to Dhola Vira inGujarat.
Addressing the students of Kurukshetra University at the 25th convocation here hesaid that "all these signposts are intended to be converted into new centres, all over thecountry, in which elements of culture, tourism and clean civic life are being synthesised.Kurukshetra is being given a top position in the list of such centres, Jagmohan added.
He said, "Believe me, a revolution is in the making. Kurukshetra would become notonly a world class tourism destination but also a pace-setter for this revolution". Addingthat a new life was being injected in Kurukshetra which would make it a symbol of aresurgent and reawakened India.
Chancellor of the University, Babu Parmanand, conferred the honorary degree of
Doctorate of Philosophy (honoris causa) upon Jagmohan in recognition of theexceptionally meritorious services rendered by him to the nation.
Babu Parmanand also conferred Ph.D upon 121 students and M.Phil on 47students in different subjects. Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala awarded medals tothe outstanding students of the university.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/comp/articleshow?artid=36474030
NEW DELHI, INDIA, July 26, 2003: It has been reported that to uncover ancientHindu cultural sites, the Indian government, in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, has started excavating along the legendary Saraswati River from Haryana toGujarat. The task is an arduous one in a land where the local people are often notaware of the value of their heritage and artifacts from cultural sites are often smuggled
out of the country. Tourism Minister Jagmohan says, "We are shortly coming up with anamendment to the existing legislation on protection of antiques and arts which will makeillegal trafficking a cognisable offense and give police the powers of seizure." As theyforge ahead with the excavation, it is expected that treasures, such as abandonedtowns and habitations from the Harappan civilization dating well before 3000 bce, will berevealed. The Tourism Department has grand plans to house the artefacts uncovered inmuseums to attract tourists. Communities along the dried up river have beenencouraged to keep the environment around the heritage sites clean. After Jagmohanaddressed an interactive meeting organized by UNESCO about the heritage sites,Indian-born Australian Amareswar Galla commented, "As long as you have poverty, youwill have problem with dealing illicit trafficking in cultural property, be it India or
