Saraswati River Research Articles

Geophysical characterization of Saraswati River palaeochannel in parts of Yamuna Nagar and Kurukshetra districts of Haryana, India.

Palaeochannels are remnants of rivers or stream channels filled with younger sediments over the period of time. In ancient times, these rivers/channels were thriving in phenomenal conditions, but due to frequent tectonic activities, they lost the direction of their original path and were gradually either lost or buried under thick beds of younger alluvium. Palaeochannels act as reservoirs for fresh groundwater since they are made up of coarser sediments and were formerly flowing rivers. Depending on the groundwater regime and local topography, these could either be saturated or dry. The palaeochannels have high groundwater potential if saturated. These are ideal sites for artificial groundwater recharge, if dry. The identification of palaeochannels becomes quite challenging if they are buried under thick deposits of finer younger sediments. In the present study, an attempt has been made to characterize the Saraswati River Palaeochannel in parts of Yamuna Nagar and Kurukshetra districts of Haryana by using surface and subsurface geophysical methods. Till date, the palaeochannels in this area were mainly discerned on the basis of remote sensing only; therefore, geophysical characterization of these palaeochannels has been attempted in this study. In surface geophysical methods, electrical resistivity surveys, especially gradient resistivity profiling (GRP) and vertical electrical sounding (VES), were conducted in the study area, while electrical and natural gamma logging was used as subsurface geophysical approaches to identify the coarser sands of buried palaeochannels. The main objective of the study was to characterize the Saraswati River palaeochannel and analyze the quality of the groundwater stored in the palaeochannel in the study area. The findings were compared with the well-log data and were found in good agreement.

Geophysical signatures of the Saraswati River palaeochannel in a part of Kurukshetra district, Haryana, India

Geophysical signatures of the Saraswati River palaeochannel in a part of Kurukshetra district, Haryana, India

DRAGON AND GODDESS: THE CULT OF GODDESS SARASWATI IN JAPAN

This study is devoted to the cult of goddess Benzaiten (Saraswati) in Japan. As an Indian goddess Saraswati, who in the Vedic period was revered as the deity of the river of the same name, under the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism turned into the patroness of music and the embodiment of eloquence. In the Far East, China and Japan, she was known as Biancaitian (Jp. Benzaiten). However, in addition to her connection with music, Benzaiten retained the association with water inherent in the original Saraswati, which was expressed in her veneration as a goddess incarnated in a water deity-dragon or commanding them. At the same time, due to the ambivalence of her nature, ambiguously interpreted in various Buddhist sources, Benzaiten turned into a universal deity, identified with many other gods from the Shinto-Buddhist pantheon. For this reason, later she took a firm place in Japanese folklore, being included among the Seven Gods of Happiness (Jp. Shichifukujin). Based on a comparative analysis, it is concluded that if the deity of the Saraswati River in the Rig Veda is a stormy, water element that cannot be controlled, but can only be propitiated with hymns and offerings, then the Japanese Benzaiten, which sometimes manifests itself in the form of an unbridled dragon or snake, can be subjugated through the Buddhist rituals. This fact shows the importance of Buddhism in fixing religious cultural codes that originated in ancient India, and their subsequent spread across the territory of Central Asia and the Far East.

State of Praxis in The Oath of Vayuputras: An Eco-Critical Perspective

The depletion and drying of river water across India is a growing problem in the contemporary period. The ecologists have raised a huge concern regarding the depletion of river water in India. The drying, depletion, and disappearance of the rivers in India can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization. The ecological disturbance on land resulted in the loss of the Saraswati River. Amish Tripathi is a renowned figure in the realm of popular Indian mythological fiction. He has not only re-narrated the mythology of India but has also retold the history and geological reasons for the disappearance of the Saraswati River in his novel The Oath of Vayuputras (2013). The research article views the novel from a deep eco-critical perspective to examine the rationale behind the drying and depletion of the Saraswati River due to the destructive production and disposal of Somras and its toxic waste in the river. The article aims at showing the ecological disturbance in the biosphere which is the result of the progress of the human race towards civilization. The shunning of the eco-centric attitude and the development of a capitalistic attitude in humans towards other living beings have resulted in this disrupted eco-system in the present biosphere.

Multi-sensor satellite images and resistivity survey for the evolution of Sutlej Palaeochannels and groundwater aquifer potential in Punjab, Northwest India

Remote Sensing technique with multi-sensor satellite images is found to be a useful tool in delineation of the palaeochannel network in arid to semi-arid regions in India. Principal Component Analysis method with fused images (optical and microwave data) shows a wide N-S trending Sutlej Palaeochannels (SPC) and narrow NE-SW trending palaeochannels in central Punjab. High-resolution Electrical Resistivity Tomography (HERT) survey and litholog data analysis provide good groundwater prospect zone of the palaeochannel. Interpretation of 2D resistivity tomograms with Wenner-Schlumberger method exhibit a thick zone of low resistivity layer (saturated coarse-grained sand) at a depth of 40 m. Integrated geo-tectonic study provides clue that the river migration of Sutlej River from N-S to E-W direction was due to a major tectonic upliftment in the Himalaya. Geochronological data analysis indicates that the avulsed channel of SPC was the main course of old Ghaggar River, linked to the ‘Lost Saraswati River’ in northwest India.

Evaluating the connectivity of the Yamuna and the Sarasvati during the Holocene: Evidence from geochemical provenance of sediment in the Markanda River valley, India

In the northwest Indo-Gangetic plains, the linkage of the Ghaggar-Hakra paleochannel with the Sarasvati River of early Indian literature and the Harappan (or Indus) civilization poses an important case for understanding drainage reorganization and human-landscape interactions. Among the major paleochannels of the Ghaggar-Hakra, sediment provenance studies on the paleo-Sutlej branch show its connectivity with the Sutlej catchment during the Holocene. However, evaluation of the role of fluvial morphodynamics on the Harappan settlements remains restricted because of limited effort to identify drainage reorganization of the paleo-Yamuna and its connectivity to the Ghaggar-Hakra paleochannel. Here we focus on the sediment deposits in the Markanda Valley, upstream of the northernmost purported paleochannel (Y1) of the river Yamuna, to explore the possible connectivity of the Yamuna catchment with the Ghaggar-Hakra paleochannel through Y1. We analyzed sediment samples from fan surfaces, fluvial terraces, and the modern riverbed for trace element and Sr-Nd isotope geochemistry to identify source signatures. Chronology of the samples, available through Singh et al. (2021), shows aggradation of the fan (57.7 ka) and T-1 to T-5 fluvial terraces during 13.1 to 6.0 ka, and deposition of paleoflood sediment during 3.9–3.8 ka. Results of provenance analysis suggest that sediment in the Markanda Valley was primarily derived from the silicate rocks of the Subathu-Dagshai-Kasauli Formations and the Siwalik Group of the Sub-Himalayas, thus implying that the river Yamuna was not connected to the ancient Ghaggar-Hakra river system (the Sarasvati) through the paleochannel Y1 during the Holocene. The Late Holocene sediment in the Ghaggar-Hakra plains (<4.5 ka), like the sediment in the Markanda Valley, was derived from the sub-Himalaya and transported through Y1, whereas the depositional pathway for the older sediment (>4.5 ka), having sources in the Himalayan hinterland, was likely the southernmost paleochannel (Y2) of the Yamuna.

Assessing the palaeohydrology of the lost Saraswati River in the Punjab-Haryana plains, Northwest India from satellite data

It has been suggested over a century ago that the Saraswati was a large river that flowed in the Sutlej-Yamuna interfluve, a region that is now devoid of any such large river system. This large river was commonly related to the Saraswati River described in the Rig-veda, and was correlated with the discovery of several Harappan sites in the region. Presently, there is only the ephemeral Ghaggar River that flows here with its limited discharge along the abandoned course of the ‘lost’ Saraswati. Also, it was hypothesised earlier that this region was drained by the waters from the drainage basins of both the glacier/monsoon-fed Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. It therefore stands to reason that this region should preserve evidence of the record of the past discharge variability that impacted this region prior to the major drainage reorganisation. This study is an attempt to reconstruct the palaeohydrology of the Saraswati River. We investigate the hypothesis, that the ancient Saraswati River used to carry a combined flow of the Sutlej, Ghaggar and Yamuna river catchments. To examine this important question, we use the channel belt width, catchment area and average annual discharge of different rivers presently flowing on Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains in the Himalayan Foreland. We use these variables to establish the empirical scaling relationships between the channel belt width and average annual discharge to the catchment area. We observed rivers having a larger catchment usually carry a higher discharge and have a wider channel belt. Finally, we use these empirical scaling relationships to estimate the channel belt width and average annual discharge of the lost Saraswati River at the time when it possibly carried the combined flow of the Sutlej, Ghaggar, and Yamuna rivers catchments. We obtained the average annual discharge of the Saraswati River of an order of 3000 m3s−1 and channel belt width of about 11 km at the location downstream of the postulated confluence of the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers at Suratgarh.

Evaluating homogeneity of monsoon rainfall in Saraswati River basin of Gujarat, India

Evaluating homogeneity of monsoon rainfall in Saraswati River basin of Gujarat, India

Saraswati River in northern India (Haryana) and its role in populating the Harappan civilization sites—A study based on remote sensing, sedimentology, and strata chronology

AbstractThe Saraswati River used to flow from the glaciated peaks of the Himalaya to the Arabian sea, covering a distance of about 1800 km. It possibly sustained the Harappan civilization in the Indian subcontinent. This river has been studied as a part of the Ghaggar–Satluj–Hakra–Nara channel system in India and Pakistan. This study investigated its independent existence and evolution in the Himalayan foothill terrain and the proximal alluvial plains. Use of satellite imagery, shuttle radar topography mission data, accelerator mass spectrometry14C dating and optically stimulated luminescence chronology is being made to identify the possible palaeo‐path of this ancient river and to characterize the trench sediment log architecture of the Saraswati River palaeochannels in northern India (Haryana). Our investigations reveal that this river formed a dense web of interconnecting channels which are continuously networked for more than 2,984 km in Haryana and their individual floodplain width varies from 1.5 to 13 km. The Harappan settlements in Haryana and Rajasthan nucleated and prospered in the fertile channel bars and interfluves of this river system. Majority of these habitation sites were located within a radius of less than 500 m from these palaeo‐water channel networks. Enormous amount of water was flowing through this channel network until BC 11,147. Sediment characteristics and their chronology reveal that flow of water in the river channel decreased with time as the glacial cover diminished. The varying thickness of clay beds in sediment logs is indicative of the fluctuations in water flow possibly as a consequence of terrain slope modifications and consequent gradual channel avulsion, climate change, and global drought events. The flow of water continued through the Himalayan foothill input channels of the palaeo‐Saraswati River in Haryana until AD 1402.

Palaeoclimatic and sea-level fluctuations from the last deglaciation to late Holocene from western India: Evidence from multiproxy studies

• At least 4 episodes of marginal marine sedimentation environments are reported between last deglaciation to the late Holocene in Western India.. • The first phase of deposition under marine influence is at ~20 ka BP, the second phase between ~11,210 and 9759 cal yr BP and third phase of sea level rise at around ~6118 cal yr BP. The final phase of marine to marginal marine conditions are noted to be of post ~2650 ± 180 cal yr BP until ~1530 ± 350 cal yr BP. • There were coeval dry climatic conditions of the Older Dryas and Younger Dryas periods besides the warm and humid conditions of the Bolling-Allerod period. • During the last deglaciation to late Holocene times, at several times the Gulf of Kachchh extended inland and the rivers debouched into these extended gulfs rather than in the Little Rann as seen at present. A sediment core from a palaeochannel distributary of the Saraswati River basin in western India was investigated through a multi-proxy study using palynology, phytoliths, sedimentology, geochemistry, magnetic mineralogy and chronology. The site is located at the eastern margin of the Little Rann of Kachchh in the northwestern part of the Gujarat Alluvial Plains. The goal was to reconstruct the paleoclimatic and sea level flucutations spanning from the last deglaciation to the late Holocene in the area. The core records suggest at least four episodes of marginal marine environment between the last deglaciation and the late Holocene. The first phase of sediment deposition under marine influence was observed post LGM. The signatures of coeval dry climatic conditions of Older Dryas and Younger Dryas periods besides warm and humid conditions of Bølling-Ållerød period are reflected in the core records. The second phase of rise in sea level occurred between ~11,210 and ~9795 cal yr BP, which falls within the period of high gradient of sea-level rise of western India. The third phase of global sea level rise in the area is at around ~5747 cal yr BP which coincides with a high sea level phase along the west coast of India. The final recurrence of sediments with predominant marine signatures post ~2650 ± 180 cal yr BP until ~1530 ± 350 cal yr BP suggests marine to marginal marine conditions in the area.

Preliminary Studies on Exploration in Middle Reaches of Ghaggar River Basin

The Ghaggar river which is also known as ancient Sarasvati river is noted for her mysterious disappearance. The scholars from different field are studying the river channel since the 18th century. Archaeologists were intrigued by the Ghaggar river channel due to the presence of archaeological sites all along the river basin. Explorations in the past resulted in locating hundreds of archaeological sites, particularly Harappan culture sites. A large number of Harappan sites along Ghaggar banks is evidence that Harappan culture flourished richly on Ghaggar river than on Indus river. The present research focuses on the middle reaches of Ghaggar river where the author conducted a systematic exploration to revisit previously reported sites and report new sites in the process. The main objective of this research paper is to discuss the site distribution pattern of explored sites in the region and to come up with probable explanations for the distribution pattern of the sites.

Khadg Singh Valdiya

Khadg Singh Valdiya, a stalwart amongst Indian geoscientists is widely recognised and highly respected for his pioneering works on Himalayan geology and environment. Besides being a recipient of the highest Civilian Awards: Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, he was the awardee of numerous prizes, awards, honours and fellowships [1]. His significant contributions to the stratigraphic, structural and tectonic evolution of the Himalaya laid the foundation for several ongoing studies in the Himalaya. Valdiya also made noteworthy contributions to the tectonic rejuvenation of the central Sahyadri mountains, and the origin and disappearance of the prehistoric Saraswati river in northwest India. Valdiya wielded enormous influence on the Indian geoscience academic community through the many books that were authored by him on Indian stratigraphy, Himalayan geology, the Saraswati river, neotectonics of the Indian sub-continent, and environmental geology.

Nationalising the Harappan Past

The Harappan civilisation that was discovered in the early 1920s became a matter of intense debate in the decades following the partition of India in 1947. As the boundaries of the newly created nation-states, Pakistan and India were drawn, almost entire excavated area associated with the Harappan civilisation went to Pakistan. And it inaugurated an era of academic politics in which Pakistani scholars and politicians claimed a five thousand years old antiquity for their nation-state based on the Harappan civilisation. On the other hand, the Indian archaeologists began searching for the Harappan sites in the valley of the Ghaggar (identified with Rigvedic Sarasvati River) – now dry, to justify India’s linkages with the same civilisation. In this academic politics, one British archaeologist, R. E. Mortimer Wheeler (the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India; from 1944 to 1948, and Archaeological advisor to Pakistan ministry; from 1948 to 1950) played a central role. Both, colleagues and several erstwhile students of this Englishman in India and Pakistan, this paper argues that participated in this academic politics. As they formulated a new national historical framework, the Harappan civilisation was transformed into a first civilisational landmark in the history of their respective countries.

THE IMMORTALS OF MELUHA: A STUDY IN GEOPOLITICAL PERSPECTIVE

Geopolitics is a very sought after research topic these days. It revolves around the political issues related to geography. All the aspects about international politics and foreign policies related to the flora and fauna, mountains, valleys, rivers, demographicsetc. between nations is what geopolitics is all about. The term ‘Geopolitics’ was originally coined by the Swedish political scientist Rudolf Kjellén. Geopolitics has currently emerged to prominence because of awareness amongst the nations regarding the role that geography plays in forming foreign policies. Be it the collapse of the U.S.S.R. or the emergence of U.S.A. as a superpower after the Second World War, the events do have a connection with Geopolitics.As one of the subthemes of the conference is geopolitical issues in literature, the researcher decided to work in this field. The researcher intends to apply geopolitical issues on a currently famous mythology based novel.The novel is the first book in the Shiva trilogy, The Immortals of Meluha. The primary reason for selecting this novel is that the novel is part of the researcher’s PhD thesis. The Immortals of Meluha is all about the rise of a man from oblivion to stardom. It describes a beautiful journey of a man coming from the wilderness to achieving oneness. It describes a journey of a man destined to be a God whom future generations will be referring as Mahadev or Lord Shiva.The Immortals of Meluha certainly possesses the elements of geopolitics. Shiva is a leader of the Guna tribe in Tibet. But Shiva’s land has often been a victim of brutal attacks from Pakratis. The evil intention to misuse the natural resources is what drives the Pakratis to constantly wage attacks on the Guna tribe. Shiva receives an invitation to merge his tribe with the Suryavanshi kingdom, which he accepts. But soon he finds out that the Suryavanshi Empire itself is being devastated by constant terrorist attacks from the Chandravanshi Empire. And the main element of the conflict is the drying up of Saraswati River which in turn creates havoc in the Chandravanshi Empire. Hence, in this short overview, we see that major conflicts are taking place because of the over abuse of natural resources, selfish motives to sabotage the natural balance of the land as well as dirty politics being played on the geographic areas. The aim of the researcher is to analys the novel threadbare with the elements of geopolitical issues.

The Lost Saraswati River of Northwestern Indian Plains: Status and way forward

The Lost Saraswati River of Northwestern Indian Plains: Status and way forward

The port town of Satgaon: A case study of its prosperity and decline under the Sultanate of Bengal (13th to 16th Century)

Over the long term, Tamralipti, Satgaon and then Calcutta succeeded each other as the principal regional port in Bengal. This research note deals with Satgaon, which superseded Tamralipti, primarily due to the silting up and altered course of the Saraswati River, as the region’s trading hub from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. This significant port town had commercial connections with China, Sumatra, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Middle East and East Africa. The study is based on Indo-Persian sources of the period as well as numismatic evidence and the accounts of travellers.

Prehistoric River Saraswati, Western India:Geological Appraisal and Social Aspects

The book, Prehistoric River Saraswati , is a synthesis of data from geology, geophysics, tectonics, geomorphology, topography, sedimentology, space science and archaeology, with greater emphasis on the reconstruction of the geological history of the Saraswati basin. K. S. Valdiya initiated his studies on the Saraswati river about fifty years ago with a popular article in Dharmayug , at that time a widely circulated Hindi weekly. His periodic forays into the fundamental issues of the Saraswati river reflect on his unrelenting commitment to resolving the myth and reality surrounding the sacred river. A cursory look at his publications on this subject during the last fifty years reveals his abiding interest and commitment culminating in Prehistoric Saraswati . He says: ‘I felt the urge again to write on the geological aspects of the river that was the lifeline of the people…

Discovering ‘buried’ channels of the Palaeo-Yamuna river in NW India using geophysical evidence: Implications for major drainage reorganization and linkage to the Harappan Civilization

The role of large rivers sustaining the civilizations across the world has long been debated. Mapping of palaeochannels using satellite images and the superimposition of known archaeological sites along them are often used as a strong piece of evidence to promote the so-called ‘river-culture’ hypothesis. The northwest India has been a hotbed of such studies where a large and wide trace of a palaeochannel (Ghaggar-Hakra channel) mapped from satellite images was linked to the Harappan Civilization, the demise of which was attributed to the decay of a large river (Sarasvati) that once flowed through the region. Recent research involving geophysical surveys and drilling and followed by the strong geochronological framework established the subsurface existence of these palaeochannels and their chrono-stratigraphic evolution. However, it was clearly demonstrated that this large palaeochannel was abandoned shortly after ~8 ka and much before the Harappan Civilization developed in this region (~4.6–3.9 ka). These findings strongly contested the contemporaneity of the large river with the Harappan Civilization and instead suggested river avulsion as a major factor for the onset and stabilization of the Harappan culture. Here, we extend this study to further east and examine the palaeochannels related to the Yamuna River that have also been considered to be important tributaries of the large Sarasvati River represented by the Ghaggar-Hakra palaeochannel. At least two of the palaeochannels of the Yamuna have been suggested to be connected to the Ghaggar-Hakra palaeochannel but very limited subsurface evidence exists till date to establish this. Here, we present new, high-resolution stratigraphic data based on vertical electrical resistivity soundings (1D–VES), multi-electrode electrical resistivity tomography (2D–ERT), and multi-probe well log surveys in one of the palaeochannels of the Yamuna to map the large-scale geometry and architecture of the valley fills of the palaeochannel system in the subsurface. The geophysical signatures recorded as VES on two transects trending NW–SE in Karnal and Kaithal districts of Haryana at 9 and 13 locations respectively, along with continuous ERT in selected transects reveal the presence of subsurface sand bodies (~10 to >30 m thick) interbedded with silty clay layers that are laterally stacked. The occurrence of thick and wide sand bodies having channel form geometry in the subsurface implies that these are the deposits of a large river system and suggests that the Yamuna was once connected to the palaeo-Ghaggar River as hypothesized by earlier workers based on remote sensing interpretations.

Holocene tectono-geomorphic evolution of Haryana plains, Western Ganga plain, India

Haryana plain is the drainage divide between the Ganga plain in the east and the Indus plain in the west. Being a part of the Himalayan foreland, its geomorphology, sedimentation processes, and tectonism are broadly controlled by the Himalayan tectonics. Soil and geomorphological mapping in Haryana plain bring out geomorphic features such as paleochannels, various active drainage patterns, and landforms such as old fluvial plains, floodplains, piedmonts, pediments, terminal fans, and eolian plains. Based on the degree of soil development, and Optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages, the soil-geomorphic units were grouped into six members (QIMS-I to VI) (Quaternary Indus Morphostratigraphic Sequence) of a morphostratigraphic sequence: QIMS-VI 9.86–5.38 Ka, QIMS-V 5.38–4.45 Ka, QIMS-IV 4.45–3.60 Ka, QIMS-III 3.60–2.91 Ka, QIMS-II < 2.91–1.52 Ka, and QIMS-I < 1.52 Ka. OSL chronology of different geomorphic features suggests six episodes of tectono-geomorphic evolution in the region since 10 Ka. Neotectonic features such as nine faults, two lineaments, and five fault-bounded tectonic blocks have been identified. Independent tilting and sagging of the blocks in response to neotectonics have resulted in modification of landforms, depositional processes, and hydro-geomorphology of the region. Major rivers like the Yamuna, the Ghaggar, and the Sutlej show different episodes of shifting of their courses. Lineament controlled few extinct channels have been recorded between 20 and 25 m depth below the surface in the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) profiles. These buried channels are aligned along the paleo-course of the Lost Saraswati River interpreted from the existing literature and hence are considered as the course of the lost river. Seven terminal fans have been formed on the downthrown blocks of the associated faults. The Markanda Terminal Fan, the first of such features described, is indeed a splay terminal fan and was formed by a splay distributary system of the Markanda River. Association of three terminal fans of different ages with the Karnal fault indicates the segment-wise development of the fault from west to east. Also, comparison with other such studies in the Ganga plain to further east suggests that the terminal fans formed by streams with distributary drainage pattern occur only in semiarid regions as in the present area and thus are indicators of semiarid climate/paleoclimate. Though the whole region is tectonically active, the region between the Rohtak fault and Hisar fault is most active at present signified by the concentration of earthquake epicenters.

Tracing the Vedic Saraswati River in the Great Rann of Kachchh

The lost Saraswati River mentioned in the ancient Indian tradition is postulated to have flown independently of the Indus River into the Arabian Sea, perhaps along courses of now defunct rivers such as Ghaggar, Hakra and Nara. The persistence of such a river during the Harappan Bronze Age and the Iron Age Vedic period is strongly debated. We drilled in the Great Rann of Kachchh (Kutch), an infilled gulf of the Arabian Sea, which must have received input from the Saraswati, if active. Nd and Sr isotopic measurements suggest that a distinct source may have been present before 10 ka. Later in Holocene, under a drying climate, sediments from the Thar Desert probably choked the signature of an independent Saraswati-like river. Alternatively, without excluding a Saraswati-like secondary source, the Indus and the Thar were the dominant sources throughout the post-glacial history of the GRK. Indus-derived sediment accelerated the infilling of GRK after ~6 ka when the Indus delta started to grow. Until its complete infilling few centuries ago, freshwater input from the Indus, and perhaps from the Ghaggar-Hakra-Nara, probably sustained a productive marine environment as well as navigability toward old coastal Harappan and historic towns in the region.