The Mystery of the Saraswati - By Uday Dokras and Wasudha Korke

Saraswati - The River and the goddess Wasudha Korke and Dr Uday Dokras  INTRODUCTION The Sarasvati River (IAST: Sárasvatī-nadī́) is a deified river mentioned in the Rig Veda and later Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda. As a physical river, in the oldest texts of the Rig Veda she is described as a "great and holy river in north-western India," but in the middle and late Rig Vedic books she is described as a small river ending in "a terminal lake (samudra)." As the goddess Sarasvati, the other referent for the term "Sarasvati" which developed into an independent identity in post-Vedic times, she is also described as a powerful river and mighty flood.The Sarasvati is also considered by Hindus to exist in a metaphysical form, in which it formed a confluence with the sacred rivers Ganges and Yamuna, at the Triveni Sangam.  According to Michael Witzel, superimposed on the Vedic Sarasvati river is the heavenly river Milky Way, which is seen as "a road to immortality and heavenly after-life."[ Rigvedic and later Vedic texts have been used to propose identification with present-day rivers, or ancient riverbeds. The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda (10.75) mentions the Sarasvati between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, while RV 7.95.1-2, describes the Sarasvati as flowing to the samudra, a word now usually translated as 'ocean',  but which could also mean "lake." Later Vedic texts such as the Tandya Brahmana and the Jaiminiya Brahmana, as well as the Mahabharata, mention that the Sarasvati dried up in a desert. Since the late 19th-century, numerous scholars have proposed to identify the Sarasvati with the Ghaggar-Hakra River system, which flows through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, between the Yamuna and the Sutlej, and ends in the Thar desert. Recent geophysical research shows that the supposed downstream Ghaggar-Hakra paleochannel is actually a paleochannel of the Sutlej, which flowed into the Nara river, a delta channel of the Indus River. 10,000-8,000 years ago this channel was abandoned when the Sutlej diversed its course, leaving the Ghaggar-Hakra as a system of monsoon-fed rivers which did not reach the sea. The Indus Valley Civilisation prospered when the monsoons that fed the rivers diminished around 5,000 years ago, and ISRO has observed that major Indus Valley Civilization urban sites at Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Banawali and Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Dholavira and Lothal (Gujarat) lay along this course. When the monsoons that fed the rivers further diminished the Hakra dried-up some 4,000 years ago, becoming an intermittent river, and the urban Harappan civilisation declined, becoming localized in smaller agricultural communities.[11][f][13][12][14] Identification of a mighty physical Rig Vedic Sarasvati with the Ghaggar-Hakra system is therefore problematic, since the Gagghar-Hakra had dried-up well before the time of the composition of the Rig Veda. In the words of Wilke and Moebus, the Sarasvati had been reduced to a "small, sorry trickle in the desert", by the time that the Vedic people migrated into north-west India. Rig Vedic references to a physical river also indicate that the Sarswati "had already lost its main source of water supply and must have ended in a terminal lake (samudra) approximately 3000 years ago,”  "depicting the present-day situation, with the Sarasvatī having lost most of its water." Rig Vedic descriptions of the Sarasvati also don't fit the actual course of the Gagghar-Hakra. "Sarasvati" has also been identified with the Helmand or Haraxvati river in southern Afghanistan, the name of which may have been reused in its Sanskrit form as the name of the Ghaggar-Hakra river, after the Vedic tribes moved to the Punjab. Sarasvati of the Rig Veda may also refer to two distinct rivers, with the family books referring to the Helmand River, and the more recent 10th mandala referring to the Ghaggar-Hakra. The identification with the Ghaggar-Hakra system took on new significance in the early 21st century,] with some suggesting an earlier dating of the Rig Veda; renaming the Indus Valley Civilisation as the "Sarasvati culture", the "Sarasvati Civilization", the "Indus-Sarasvati Civilization" or the "Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization," suggesting that the Indus Valley and Vedic cultures can be equated; and rejecting the Indo-Aryan migrations theory, which postulates an extended period of migrations of Indo-European speaking people into South Asia between ca. 1900 and 1400 BCE Sarasvatī is the feminine nominative singular form of the adjective sarasvat (which occurs in the Rigveda as the name of the keeper of the celestial waters), derived from ‘sarasa’ + ‘vat’, meaning ‘having’. Saras appears, in turn, to be the compound of ‘sa’, a prefix meaning ‘with’, plus ‘rasa’, sap or juice, or water, and is defined in the first instance as ‘anything flowing or fluid’ according to Monier-Williams dictionary. Mayrhofer considers unlikely a connection with the root *sar- ‘run, flow’ but does agree that it could have been a river that connected many lakes due to its abundant volumes of water-flow Sarasvatī may be a cognate of Avestan Haraxvatī, perhaps[32] originally referring to Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā (modern Ardwisur Anahid), the Zoroastrian mythological world river, which would point to a common Indo-Iranian myth of a cosmic or mystical Sáras-vat-ī river. In the younger Avesta, Haraxvatī is Arachosia, a region described to be rich in rivers, and its Old Persian cognate Harauvati, which gave its name to the present-day Hārūt River in Afghanistan, may have referred to the entire Helmand drainage basin (the center of Arachosia). The Saraswati river was revered and considered important for Hindus because it is said that it was on this river's banks, along with its tributary Drishadwati, in the Vedic state of Brahmavarta, that Vedic Sanskrit had its genesisv and important Vedic scriptures like initial part of Rigveda and several Upanishads were supposed to have been composed by Vedic seers. In the Manusmriti, Brahmavarta is portrayed as the "pure" centre of Vedic culture. Bridget and Raymond Allchin in The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan took the view that "The earliest Aryan homeland in India-Pakistan (Aryavarta or Brahmavarta) was in the Punjab and in the valleys of the Sarasvati and Drishadvati rivers in the time of the Rigveda. Rigveda Map of northern India in the late Vedic period As a river[ The Sarasvati River is mentioned in all but the fourth book of the Vedas Macdonell and Keith provided a comprehensive survey of Vedic references to the Sarasvati River in their Vedic Index. In the late book 10, only two references are unambiguously to the river: 10.64.9, calling for the aid of three "great rivers", Sindhu, Sarasvati and Sarayu; and 10.75.5, the geographical list of the Nadistuti sukta. In the oldest texts of the Rig Veda she is described as a "great and holy river in north-western India," but Michael Witzel notes that the Rig Veda indicates that the Sarswati "had already lost its main source of water supply and must have ended in a terminal lake (samudra) approximately 3000 years ago”  The middle books 3 and 7 and the late books 10 "depict the present-day situation, with the Sarasvatī having lost most of its water." The Sarasvati acquired an extalted status in the mythology of the Kuru Kingdom, where the Rig Veda was compiled. As a goddess Painting of Goddess Saraswati by Raja Ravi Varma Main article: Saraswati Sarasvati is mentioned some fifty times in the hymns of the Rig Veda.[39] It is mentioned in thirteen hymns of the late books (1 and 10) of the Rigveda.[40] All but two of these invoke Sarasvati as a goddess without direct connection to a specific river.[citation needed] The most important hymns related to Sarasvati goddess are RV 6.61, RV 7.95 and RV 7.96. As a river goddess, she is described as a mighty flood, and is clearly not an earthly river. According to Michael Witzel, superimposed on the Vedic Sarasvati river is the heavenly river Milky Way, which is seen as "a road to immortality and heavenly after-life." The description of the Sarasvati as the river of heavens, is interpreted to suggest its mythical nature In 10.30.12, her origin as a river goddess may explain her invocation as a protective deity in a hymn to the celestial waters. In 10.135.5, as Indra drinks Soma he is described as refreshed by Sarasvati. The invocations in 10.17 address Sarasvati as a goddess of the forefathers as well as of the present generation. In 1.13, 1.89, 10.85, 10.66 and 10.141, she is listed with other gods and goddesses, not with rivers. In 10.65, she is invoked together with "holy thoughts" (dhī) and "munificence" (puraṃdhi), consistent with her role as a goddess of both knowledge and fertility.[Though Sarasvati initially emerged as a river goddess in the Vedic scriptures, in later Hinduism of the Puranas, she was rarely associated with the river. Instead she emerged as an independent goddess of knowledge, learning, wisdom, music and the arts. The evolution of the river goddess into the goddess of knowledge started with later Brahmanas, which identified her as Vāgdevī, the goddess of speech, perhaps due to the centrality of speech in the Vedic cult and the development of the cult on the banks of the river It is also possible to postulate two originally independent goddesses that were fused into one in later Vedic times. Aurobindo has proposed, on the other hand, that "the symbolism of the Veda betrays itself to the greatest clearness in the figure of the goddess Sarasvati ... She is, plainly and clearly, the goddess of the World, the goddess of a divine inspiration ". Other Vedic texts] In post-Rigvedic literature, the disappearance of the Sarasvati is mentioned. Also the origin of the Sarasvati is identified as Plaksa Prasravana (Peepal tree or Ashwattha tree as known in India and Nepal). In a supplementary chapter of the Vajasaneyi-Samhita of the Yajurveda (34.11), Sarasvati is mentioned in a context apparently meaning the Sindhu: "Five rivers flowing on their way speed onward to Sarasvati, but then become Sarasvati a fivefold river in the land."[  According to the medieval commentator Uvata, the five tributaries of the Sarasvati were the Punjab rivers Drishadvati, Satudri (Sutlej), Chandrabhaga (Chenab), Vipasa (Beas) and the Iravati (Ravi). The first reference to the disappearance of the lower course of the Sarasvati is from the Brahmanas, texts that are composed in Vedic Sanskrit, but dating to a later date than the Veda Samhitas. The Jaiminiya Brahmana (2.297) speaks of the 'diving under (upamajjana) of the Sarasvati', and the Tandya Brahmana (or Pancavimsa Br.) calls this the 'disappearance' (vinasana). The same text (25.10.11-16) records that the Sarasvati is 'so to say meandering' (kubjimati) as it could not sustain heaven which it had propped up. The Plaksa Prasravana (place of appearance/source of the river) may refer to a spring in the Siwalik mountains. The distance between the source and the Vinasana (place of disappearance of the river) is said to be 44 Ashwin (between several hundred and 1,600 miles) (Tandya Br. 25.10.16; cf. Av. 6.131.3; Pancavimsa Br.). In the Latyayana Srautasutra (10.15-19) the Sarasvati seems to be a perennial river up to the Vinasana, which is west of its confluence with the Drshadvati (Chautang). The Drshadvati is described as a seasonal stream (10.17), meaning it was not from Himalayas. Bhargava[51] has identified Drashadwati river as present day Sahibi river originating from Jaipur hills in Rajasthan. The Asvalayana Srautasutra and Sankhayana Srautasutra contain verses that are similar to the Latyayana Srautasutra. Post-Vedic texts Wilke and Moebus note that the "historical river" Sarasvati was a "topographically tangible mythogeme", which was already reduced to a "small, sorry trickle in the desert", by the time of composition of the Hindu epics. These post-Vedic texts regularly talk about drying up of the river, and start associating the goddess Sarasvati with language, rather than the river. Mahabharata According to the Mahabharata the Sarasvati River dried up to a desert (at a place named Vinasana or Adarsana) and joins the sea "impetuously".MB.3.81.115 locates the state of Kurupradesh or Kuru Kingdom to the south of the Sarasvati and north of the Drishadvati. The dried-up, seasonal Ghaggar River in Rajasthan and Haryana reflects the same geographical view described in the Mahabharata. According to Hindu scriptures, a journey was made during the Mahabharata by Balrama along the banks of the Saraswati from Dwarka to Mathura. There were ancient kingdoms too (the era of the Mahajanapads) that lay in parts of north Rajasthan and that were named on the Saraswati River. Puranas Several Puranas describe the Sarasvati River, and also record that the river separated into a number of lakes (saras). In the Skanda Purana, the Sarasvati originates from the water pot of Brahma and flows from Plaksa on the Himalayas. It then turns west at Kedara and also flows underground. Five distributaries of the Sarasvati are mentioned. The text regards Sarasvati as a form of Brahma's consort Brahmi.[61] According to the Vamana Purana 32.1-4, the Sarasvati rose from the Plaksa tree (Pipal tree). The Padma Purana proclaims: One who bathes and drinks there where the Gangā, Yamunā and Sarasvati join enjoys liberation. Of this there is no doubt." Smritis In the Manu Smriti, the sage Manu, escaping from a flood, founded the Vedic culture between the Sarasvati and Drishadvati rivers. The Sarasvati River was thus the western boundary of Brahmavarta: "the land between the Sarasvati and Drishadvati is created by God; this land is Brahmavarta."[] Similarly, the Vasistha Dharma Sutra I.8-9 and 12-13 locates Aryavarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvati in the desert, to the west of Kalakavana, to the north of the mountains of Pariyatra and Vindhya and to the south of the Himalaya. Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya defines Aryavarta like the Vasistha Dharma Sutra. The Baudhayana Dharmasutra gives similar definitions, declaring that Aryavarta is the land that lies west of Kalakavana, east of Adarsana (where the Sarasvati disappears in the desert), south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas. Contemporary religious significance Triveni Sangam, Allahabad – the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the "unseen" Sarasvati. Diana Eck notes that the power and significance of the Sarasvati for present-day India is in the persistent symbolic presence at the confluence of rivers all over India. Although "materially missing",she is the third river, which emerges to join in the meeting of rivers, thereby making the waters thrice holy. After the Vedic Sarasvati dried, new myths about the rivers arose. Sarasvati is described to flow in the underworld and rise to the surface at some places.[19] For centuries, the Sarasvati river existed in a "subtle or mythic" form, since it corresponds with none of the major rivers of present-day South AsiaThe confluence (sangam) or joining together of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers at Triveni Sangam, Allahabad, is believed to also converge with the unseen Sarasvati river, which is believed to flow underground. This despite Allahabad being at a considerable distance from the possible historic routes of an actual Sarasvati river. At the Kumbh Mela, a mass bathing festival is held at Triveni Sangam, literally "confluence of the three rivers", every 12 years.[6][66][67] The belief of Sarasvati joining at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna originates from the Puranic scriptures and denotes the "powerful legacy" the Vedic river left after her disappearance. The belief is interpreted as "symbolic".[68] The three rivers Sarasvati, Yamuna, Ganga are considered consorts of the Hindu Trinity (Trimurti) Brahma, Vishnu (as Krishna) and Shiva respectively. In lesser known configuration, Sarasvati is said to form the Triveni confluence with rivers Hiranya and Kapila at Somnath. There are several other Trivenis in India where two physical rivers are joined by the "unseen" Sarasvati, which adds to the sanctity of the confluence.[69] Romila Thapar notes that "once the river had been mythologized through invoking the memory of the earlier river, its name - Sarasvati - could be applied to many rivers, which is what happened in various parts of the [Indian] subcontinent."[22] Several present-day rivers are also named Sarasvati, after the Vedic Sarasvati: Sarsuti is the present-day name of a river originating in a submontane region (Ambala district) and joining the Ghaggar near Shatrana in PEPSU. Near Sadulgarh (Hanumangarh) the Naiwala channel, a dried out channel of the Sutlej, joins the Ghaggar. Near Suratgarh the Ghaggar is then joined by the dried up Drishadvati river. Sarasvati is the name of a river originating in the Aravalli mountain range in Rajasthan, passing through Sidhpur and Patan before submerging in the Rann of Kutch. Saraswati River, a tributary of Alaknanda River, originates near Badrinath Saraswati River in Bengal, formerly a distributary of the Hooghly River, has dried up since the 17th century. Already since the 19th century, attempts have been made to identify the mythical Sarasvati of the Vedas with physical rivers.[11] Many think that the Vedic Sarasvati river once flowed east of the Indus (Sindhu) river. Scientists, geologists as well as scholars have identified the Sarasvati with many present-day or now defunct rivers. Two theories are popular in the attempts to identify the Sarasvati. Several scholars have identified the river with the present-day Ghaggar-Hakra River or dried up part of it, which is located in Northwestern India and Pakistan. A second popular theory associates the river with the Helmand river or an ancient river in the present Helmand Valley in Afghanistan. Others consider Sarasvati a mythical river, an allegory not a "thing" The identification with the Ghaggar-Hakra system took on new significance in the early 21st century, suggesting an earlier dating of the Rig Veda, and renaming the Indus Valley Civilisation as the "Sarasvati culture", the "Sarasvati Civilization", the "Indus-Sarasvati Civilization" or the "Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization," suggesting that the Indus Valley and Vedic cultures can be equated Rig Vedic course Vedic rivers The Rig Veda contains several hymns which give an indication of the flow of the geography of the river, and an identification of the Sarasvati as described in the later books of the Rig Veda with the Ghaggra-Hakra: RV 3.23.4 mentions the Sarasvati River together with the Drsadvati River and the Āpayā River. RV 6.52.6 describes the Sarasvati as swollen (pinvamānā) by the rivers (sindhubhih). RV 7.36.6, "sárasvatī saptáthī síndhumātā" can be translated as "Sarasvati the Seventh, Mother of Floods," but also as "whose mother is the Sindhu", which would indicate that the Sarasvati is here a tributary of the Indus. RV 7.95.1-2, describes the Sarasvati as flowing to the samudra, a word now usually translated as "ocean," but which could also mean "lake." RV 10.75.5, the late Rigvedic Nadistuti sukta, enumerates all important rivers from the Ganges in the east up to the Indus in the west in a clear geographical order. The sequence "Ganges, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Shutudri" places the Sarasvati between the Yamuna and the Sutlej, which is consistent with the Ghaggar identification. Yet, the Rig Veda also contains clues for an identification with the Helmand river in Afghanistan: The Sarasvati River is perceived to be a great river with perennial water, which does not apply to the Hakra and Ghaggar. The Rig Veda seems to contain descriptions of several Sarasvatis. The earliest Sararvati is said to be similar to the Helmand in Afghanistan which is called the Harakhwati in the Āvestā Verses in RV 6.61 indicate that the Sarasvati river originated in the hills or mountains (giri), where she "burst with her strong waves the ridges of the hills (giri)". It is a matter of interpretation whether this refers only to the Himalayan foothills, where the present-day Sarasvati (Sarsuti) river flows, or to higher mountains. The Rig Veda was composed during the latter part of the late Harappan period, and according to Shaffer, the reason for the predominance of the Sarasvati in the Rigveda is the late Harappan (1900-1300 BCE) population shift eastwards to Haryana. Ghaggar-Hakra River The present Ghaggar-Hakra River is a seasonal river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season, but satellite images in possession of the ISRO and ONGC have confirmed that the major course of a river ran through the present-day Ghaggar River. The supposed paleochannel of the Hakra is actually a paleochannel of the Sutlej, flowing into the Nara river bed, presently a delta channel c.q. paleochannel of the Indus RiverAt least 10,000 years ago, well before the rise of the Harappan civilization, the sutlej diverted it's course, leaving the Ghaggar-Hakra as a monsoon-fed river. Early in the 2nd millennium BCE the monsoons diminished and the Ghaggar-Hakra fluvial system dried up, which affected the Harappan civilisation. Paleochannels and ancient course Vedic and present-day Gagghar-Hakra river-course, with Aryavarta/Kuru Kingdom, and (pre-)Harappan Hakra/Sutlej-Yamuna paleochannels, as proposed by Clift et al. (2012) and Khonde et al. (2017).[n] See also this satellite image. 1 = ancient river 2 = today's river 3 = today's Thar desert 4 = ancient shore 5 = today's shore 6 = today's town 7 = dried-up Harappan Hakkra course, and pre-Harappan Sutlej paleochannels (Clift et al. (2012)) Main article: Ghaggar-Hakra River While there is general agreement that the river courses in the Indus Basin have frequently changed course, the exact sequence of these changes and their dating have been problematic Pre-Holocene diversion of the Sutlej and Yamuna Older publications have suggested that the Sutlej and the Yamuna drained into the Hakra well into Mature Harappan times, providing ample volume to the supply provided by the monsoon-fed Ghaggar. The Sutlej and Yamuna then changed course between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE, due to either tectonic events or "slightly altered gradients on the extremely flat plains," resulting in the drying-up of the Hakra in the Thar Desert. More recent publications have shown that the Sutlej and the Yamuna shifted course well before Harappan times, leaving the monsoon-fed Ghaggar-Hakra which dried-up during late Harappan times.[11] Clift et al. (2012), using dating of zircon sand grains, have shown that subsurface river channels near the Indus Valley Civilisation sites in Cholistan immediately below the presumed Ghaggar-Hakra channel show sediment affinity not with the Ghagger-Hakra, but instead with the Beas River in the western sites and the Sutlej and the Yamuna in the eastern ones. This suggests that the Yamuna itself, or a channel of the Yamuna, along with a channel of the Sutlej may have flowed west some time between 47,000 BCE and 10,000 BCE. The drainage from the Yamuna may have been lost from the Ghaggar-Hakra well before the beginnings of Indus civilisation. Ajit Singh et al. (2017) show that the paleochannel of the Ghaggar-Hakra is a former course of the Sutlej, which diverted to its present course between 15,000 and 8,000 years ago, well before the development of the Harappan Civilisation. Ajit Singh et al. conclude that the urban populations settled not along a perennial river, but a monsoon-fed seasonal river that was not subject to devastating floods. Khonde et al. (2017) confirm that the Great Rann of Kutch received sediments from a different source than the Indus, but this source stopped supplying sediments after ca. 10,000 years ago Likewise, Dave et al. (2019) state that "[o]ur results disprove the proposed link between ancient settlements and large rivers from the Himalayas and indicate that the major palaeo-fluvial system traversing through this region ceased long before the establishment of the Harappan civilisation."[90] According to Chaudhri et al. (2021) "the Saraswati River used to flow from the glaciated peaks of the Himalaya to the Arabian sea," and an "enormous amount of water was flowing through this channel network until BC 11,147."[91] IVC and diminishing of the monsoons The Helmand River, Afghanistan, known in ancient Iranian Avestan as Haraxvatī and Harahvaiti, is identified by some as the ancient Sarasvati river/ Outline of the Indus Civilization, with concentration of settlements along the Ghaggar-Hakra, which had dried-up by the time of the Indo-Aryan migrations. See Sameer et al. (2018) for a more detailed map. Many Indus Valley Civilisation (Harrapan Civilisation) are found on the banks of and in the proximity of the Ghaggar-Hakra fluvial system, due to the "high monsoon rainfall" which fed the Ghaggar-Hakra in Mature Harappan Times. Giosan et al., in their study Fluvial landscapes of the Harappan civilisation, make clear that the Ghaggar-Hakra fluvial system was not a large glacier-fed Himalayan river, but a monsoonal-fed river. They concluded that the Indus Valley Civilisation prospered when the monsoons that fed the rivers diminished around 5,000 years ago. When the monsoons, which fed the rivers that supported the civilisation, further diminished and the rivers dried out as a result, the IVC declined some 4000 years ago.[11] This in particular effected the Ghaggar-Hakra system, which became an intermittent river and was largely abandoned.[93] Localized Late IVC-settlements are found eastwards, toward the more humid regions of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, where the decentralised late Harappan phase took place. The same widespread aridification in the third millennium BCE also led to water shortages and ecological changes in the Eurasian steppes, leading to a change of vegetation, triggering "higher mobility and transition to nomadic cattle breeding," These migrations eventually resulted in the Indo-Aryan migrations into South Asia. Identification with the Sarasvati A number of archaeologists and geologists have identified the Sarasvati river with the present-day Ghaggar-Hakra River, or the dried up part of it despite the fact that it had already dried-up and become a small seasonal river before Vedic times In the 19th and early 20th century a number of scholars, archaeologists and geologists have identified the Vedic Sarasvati River with the Ghaggar-Hakra River, such as Christian Lassen (1800-1876), Max Müller (1823-1900),[106] Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943),[94] C.F. Oldham and Jane Macintosh. Danino notes that "the 1500 km-long bed of the Sarasvati" was "rediscovered" in the 19th century. According to Danino, "most Indologists" were convinced in the 19th century that "the bed of the Ghaggar-Hakra was the relic of the Sarasvati."[ Recent archaeologists and geologists, such as Philip and Virdi (2006), K.S. Valdiya (2013) have identified the Sarasvati with Ghaggar.[110] According to Gregory Possehl, "Linguistic, archaeological, and historical data show that the Sarasvati of the Vedas is the modern Ghaggar or Hakra." According to R.U.S. Prasad, "we [...] find a considerable body of opinions [sic] among the scholars, archaeologists and geologists, who hold that the Sarasvati originated in the Shivalik hills [...] and descended through Adi Badri, situated in the foothills of the Shivaliks, to the plains [...] and finally debouched herself into the Arabian sea at the Rann of Kutch."[111] According to Valdiya, "it is plausible to conclude that once upon a time the Ghagghar was known as "Sarsutī"," which is "a corruption of "Sarasvati"," because "at Sirsā on the bank of the Ghagghar stands a fortress called "Sarsutī". Now in derelict condition, this fortress of antiquity celebrates and honours the river Sarsutī." Textual and historical objections[Ashoke Mukherjee (2001), is critical of the attempts to identify the Rigvedic Sarasvati. Mukherjee notes that many historians and archaeologists, both Indian and foreign, concluded that the word "Sarasvati" (literally "being full of water") is not a noun, a specific "thing". However, Mukherjee believes that "Sarasvati" is initially used by the Rig Vedic people as an adjective to the Indus as a large river and later evolved into a "noun". Mukherjee concludes that the Vedic poets had not seen the palaeo-Sarasvati, and that what they described in the Vedic verses refers to something else. He also suggests that in the post-Vedic and Puranic tradition the "disappearance" of Sarasvati, which to refers to "[going] under [the] ground in the sands", was created as a complementary myth to explain the visible non-existence of the river. Rajesh Kocchar further notes that, even if the Sutlej and the Yamuna had drained into the Ghaggar during Rig Vedic, it still would not fit the Rig Vedic descriptions because "the snow-fed Satluj and Yamuna would strengthen lower Ghaggar. Upper Ghaggar would still be as puny as it is today."[ Helmand river Helmund river basin with tributary Arghandab River originate in Hindu Kush mountain in north Afghanistan and fall in to Hamun Lake in southern Afghanistan at the border of Iran. Helmund basin in ancient Iranian Avestan Haraxvatī and Harahvaiti, is cognate with the mythological Iranian Avestan Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā river and Sarasvati river. An alternative suggestion for the identity of the early Rigvedic Sarasvati River is the Helmand River and its tributary Arghandab in the Arachosia region in Afghanistan, separated from the watershed of the Indus by the Sanglakh Range. The Helmand historically besides Avestan Haetumant bore the name Haraxvaiti, which is the Avestan form cognate to Sanskrit Sarasvati. The Avesta extols the Helmand in similar terms to those used in the Rigveda with respect to the Sarasvati: "The bountiful, glorious Haetumant swelling its white waves rolling down its copious flood".[ However unlike the Rigvedic Sarasvati, Helmand river never attained the status of a deity despite the praises in the Avesta. The identification of the Sarasvati river with the Helmand river was first proposed by Thomas (1886), followed by Alfred Hillebrandt a couple of years thereafter. However, in the same year, geologist R.D. Oldham, refuted this Afghan Sarasvatī thesis. Rajesh Kocchar, after a detailed analysis of the Vedic texts and geological environments of the rivers, concludes that there are two Sarasvati rivers mentioned in the Rigveda. The early Rigvedic Sarasvati, which he calls Naditama Sarasvati, is described in suktas 2.41, 7.36, etc. of the family books of the Rigveda, and drains into a samudra. The description of the Naditama Sarasvati in the Rigveda matches the physical features of the Helmand River in Afghanistan, more precisely its tributary the Harut River, whose older name was Haraxvatī in Avestan. The later Rigvedic Sarasvati, which he calls Vinasana Sarasvati, is described in the Rigvedic Nadistuti sukta (10.75), which was composed centuries later, after an eastward migration of the bearers of the Rigvedic culture to the western Gangetic plain some 600 km to the east. The Sarasvati by this time had become a mythical "disappeared" river, and the name was transferred to the Ghaggar which disappeared in the desert.[24] The later Rigvedic Sarasvati is only in the post-Rig Vedic Brahmanas said to disappear in the sands. According to Kocchar the Ganga and Yamuna were small streams in the vicinity of the Harut River. When the Vedic people moved east into Punjab, they named the new rivers they encountered after the old rivers they knew from Helmand, and the Vinasana Sarasvati may correspond with the Ghaggar-Hakra river. Contemporary politico-religious meaning Drying-up and dating of the Vedas The Vedic description of the goddess Sarasvati as a mighty river, and the Vedic and Puranic statements about the drying-up and diving-under of the Sarasvati, have been used by some as a reference point for a revised dating of the Vedic culture.[6] Some see these descriptions as a mighty river as evidence for an earlier dating of the Rig Veda, identifying the Vedic culture with the Harappan culture, which flourished at the time that the Gaggar-Hakra hadn't dried up, and rejecting the Indo-Aryan migrations theory, which postulates a migration at 1500 BCE Michel Danino places the composition of the Vedas therefor in the third millennium BCE, a millennium earlier than the Identification with the Indus Valley Civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation is sometimes called the "Sarasvati culture", "Sarasvati Civilization", "Indus Ghaggar-Hakra civilisation," "Indus-Sarasvati Civilization," or "Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization" by Hindutva revisionists, referring to the Sarasvati river mentioned in the Vedas, and equating the Vedic culture with the Indus Valley Civilisation. In this view, the Harappan civilisation flourished predominantly on the banks of the Ghaggar-Hakra, not the Indus For example, Danino notes that his proposed dating of the Vedas to the third millennium BCE coincides with the mature phase of the Indus Valley civilisation, and that it is "tempting" to equate the Indus Valley and Vedic cultures Hetalben Sindhav notes that claims of a large number of Ghaggar-Hakra sites are politically motivated and exaggerated. While the Indus remained an active river, the Ghaggar-Hakra dried-up, leaving mant sites undisturbed.[  Sidhav further notes that the Ghaggar-Hakra was a tributary of the Indus, so the proposed Sarasvati nomenclatura is redundant. According to archaeologist Shereen Ratnagar, many Ghaggar-Hakra sites in India are actually those of local cultures; some sites display contact with Harappan civilization, but only a few are fully developed Harappan ones. Moreover, around 90% of the Indus script seals and inscribed objects discovered were found at sites in Pakistan along the Indus river, while other places accounting only for the remaining 10%. Revival In 2015, Reuters reported that "members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh believe that proof of the physical existence of the Vedic river would bolster their concept of a golden age of Hindu India, before invasions by Muslims and Christians." The Bharatiya Janata Party Government had therefore ordered archaeologists to search for the river.[134] According to the government of Indian state of Haryana, research and satellite imagery of the region has confirmed to have found the lost river when water was detected during digging of the dry river bed at Yamunanagar. The government constituted Saraswati Heritage Development Board (SHDB) had conducted a trial run on 30 July 2016 filling the river bed with 100 cusecs of water which was pumped into a dug-up channel from tubewells at Uncha Chandna village in Yamunanagar. The water is expected to fill the channel until Kurukshetra, a distance of 40 kilometres. Once confirmed that there is no obstructions in the flow of the water, the government proposes to flow in another 100 cusecs after a fortnight. At that time, there were also plans to build three dams on the river route to keep it flowing perennially In 2021, the Chief Minister of the State of Haryana stated that over 70 organizations were involved with researching the Saraswati River's heritage, and that the river "is still flowing underground from Adi Badri and up to Kutch in Gujarat."[ The Saraswati revival project seeks to build channels and dams along the route of the lost river, and develop it as a tourist and pilgrimage circuit.  PROLOGUE By WASUDHA KORKE THE LOST RIVER SARASWATI The first time I heard about the river Saraswati was on a visit to Prayag , Allahabad when I was very young. At the Sangam (the confluence), the two mighty rivers Ganga and Yamuna merge together and one can very distinctly see the two different rivers coming together as they have different colours. There, we were told that there is a third river which also joins them and that is the Saraswati, hence the Sangam is known as "Triveni" Sangam. On enquiring about its whereabouts we were told that she is a ‘gupta’ river and cannot be seen. In order not to sound rude it was accepted silently, albeit without being convinced. Triveni Sangam at Prayag  After more than 35 years, I encountered the Saraswati at Badrinath. About 3 km from Badrinath is a village called Mana. On the way, there is a natural rock structure which lies supine over a rivulet gurgling down the mountains. As mythology goes, when the Pandavas were on their way to reach Swarga, they encountered this rivulet. Draupadi could not cross the river and therefore Bheem lifted a big boulder and put it across the river which today is known as ‘Bhim pul’. Here the river is of course Saraswati. A few hundred meters down the line it disappears into the earth. So instead of an imaginary river here she was in reality! Bhim Pul near Mana Village at Badrinath That was more than 25 years ago. Now that I am in a more relaxed frame of mind I decided to explore things which I had never done before. Top of the list was taking a glimpse of the Vedic period and Vedic literature. The more I explored it the more fascinated I became and here I met the mighty river Saraswati  Rig Veda is the first compilation of hymns or suktas in Hindu scriptures, in fact it is the first compilation in the history of mankind. In the Rigveda, three suktas or hymns are totally dedicated to the river Saraswati. In at least 45 suktas she is showered with praise. She is called as ‘great among greatest’,‘animpetuous river’,’ one who was created vast and limitless, unbroken, starting in the mountains ‘giribhya’ and reaching the seas ‘a samudrat’ ,swift moving, one who comes onward with tumultuous roar, ‘the mother of all waters’ and many such adjectives. From being an impetuous river, in Vedic symbolism she becomes the embodiment of illumination and inspiration. All the Sages or Rishis drew inspiration and revelations while contemplating on her banks. She was described as the impeller of truth which awakens the consciousness and illuminates all thought. Saraswati was the best of mothers, best of rivers, and the best of goddesses. This was the beginning of the deification of rivers. Many centuries later in the Yajur Veda the Saraswati additionally becomes the goddess of speech. Somewhere along the line she became the ‘Mother of Vedas’. In the Rigveda the Nadi Stuthi sukta, makes the geographical location of the Saraswati very clear. This remarkable sukta starts from the Ganga and moves westward till the Indus and its tributaries. It is indeed a bird's eye view, sweeping across more than 1000 km. It is made clear that the Saraswati flows between the Yamuna and the Shutudri or Sutlej.  However, the other three Vedas (Yajur Sama and Atharva) do not add any significant descriptions. Much later in the next generation of Vedic literature, the Brahamanas, we read that the unbroken flow was interrupted and the river disappeared at a place called Vinashana, which means loss or disappearance. This place is also called Adarshana or invisible. In later literature like the Bhagwat Purana The Vinashana moves eastward, eventually reaching Kurukshetra. This means that the river’s drying up was not sudden but gradual. She finds mention in Ramayana as Ikshumati that is Brahma‘s daughter, but in Mahabharata Sarasvati remains important. It is an echo of the Rigveda. Here we find the river still flowing from the mountains to the sea but with a crucial difference. In some parts she is visible and in some parts she is not, rather broken up into separate segments or lakes. Places of reappearance are considered sacred - Tirtha,and in today’s Western Rajasthan we can identify more than 50 villages and towns having names ending in ‘sar’ which means a lake. In fact the Mahabharata also recounts Balarama‘s pilgrimage along the left bank of the Saraswati starting  from ‘Prabhas, that is today’s Somnath and proceeding eastwards, visiting hundreds of famous “tirthas'' on the way. Savants or Seers like Baudhyana, Vashishta (not the Rig Vedic Rishi)and Patanjali ( between the 6th and 2nd century BCE)mention Saraswati when they describe Aryawarta, Madhyawarta and Brahmavarta. The Puranas also have their say on Saraswati. In the latter literature like the Meghdoot as well as Abhigyan Shakuntalam, Kalidasa refers to Saraswati, So also the sixth century Savant Varāhamihira Epigraphy also has its say in this matter through the inscriptions on tablets belonging to the middle of ninth century CE which confirms the literary references we have seen so far. But today the Saraswati which is embedded in our ancient literature is physically not present. Then how did the mighty river and where did the mighty river disappear? There are many foreign as well as Indian scholars like Romila Thapar, Rajesh Kochhar and Irfan Habib who claim that Saraswati never existed in reality , or in the form it is described, except in the poetic imagination of the Rishis and in the minds of the people of India. The question of a disappearance has plagued many scholars, geographers, archaeologists and explorers world over, since the early 19th century. Their expeditions, research, surveys unearth many facets of the river and the civilization it nurtured more than 6000 years ago. They were also able to find out it’s systematic decline over a couple of millennia. This was further confirmed in recent times through satellite photography. But let us explore more of this in our next part and for the time being we remember that over centuries great rivers die because they too are living organisms, they are born, they thrive, they decline and they disappear. This may be true for our snow-fed Himalayan rivers like the Ganga ,the Brahmaputra, the Indus, where their source is fast depleting due to global warming.  All these may be myths,or history or imagination, but they are deeply embedded in our psyche as knowledge, beliefs, folklore, and rituals. And maybe that is what must have prompted our ancestors to recreate an imaginary Saraswati at Prayag, when the real one was lost. Notes: Veda simply means “Knowledge”. It is a Sanskrit word from the root “Vid”, which means finding, knowing, acquiring, or understanding. What you acquire or understand is knowledge. The term Veda as a common noun means “knowledge”. Vedic Philosophy regard the Vedas as Apaurusheya; meaning, not of a man or impersonal and also not belonging to a particular author. There are four Vedas: Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda, and all of them together are attributed to as ‘Chaturveda’. Rig Veda- is the principal and oldest of the four Vedas. Rigveda, in contemporary Hinduism, has been a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride for Hindus, with some hymns still in use in major rites of passage, ceremonies Yajur Veda, is composed of Yajus and Veda; the two words translate to ‘prose mantras dedicated to religious reverence or veneration’ and knowledge respectively. It is famous as the ‘book of rituals’. The words of Rig Veda put to music, and sungrather than to just be read or recited is elaborated in Sama Veda. It isalso the Veda of Melodies and Chants. It is the third in the series of the four principle scriptures of Hinduism. ‘Book of Songs’, -the name is derived from two words, Saman, in Sanskrit, meaning Song and Veda, meaning Knowledge. Sama  Veda, has served as the principal roots of the classical Indian music and dance tradition, The fourth and final of the revered text of the Vedas, the Atharva Veda, in short, is depicted as “knowledge storehouse of Atharvāṇas” Atharvāṇas meaning, formulas, and spells intended to counteract diseases and calamities, or “the procedures for everyday life”. A late addition to the Vedic scriptures. Vedas, before the initial codification which took place, were generationally handed over by the rich oral literary tradition, which was then a precise and elaborate technique.  IN SEARCH OF THE LOST SARASWATI Missing of a prominent river from the map is not something new (refer to the rivers Oxus and Jordan), it is attributable to the environmental changes. Changing its course, drying up, disappearing, joining other rivers are the consequences of tectonic plate movement, earthquakes, and climatic changes. Let us see what affected our Saraswati. Let us explore and reconcile what the geologists, climatologists, hydrologists, archaeologists and a plethora of scientific communities have to say about this river, compare it with what the ancient literature, legends, myths, had said about it and from there derive our conclusions. In the early 19 century, a lot of British army officials posted in the region of Rajputana, Delhi territory and Sind explored this land extensively. Their urge to know the land they governed and document all the findings very meticulously, formed sort of a basis for future studies. The first among these was one Lt. Colonel James Todd. He observed that in Rajputana,certain sand belts were elevated and had lesser layers of sand. This surface had thinly populated towns and villages. He also noted that there were songs sung by the bards which described the drying up of the Caggar River and the people deserting the settlements. Then Major Colvin, documented all the important water courses and channels natural or man-made in the region between Punjab and northern Rajasthan. He followed the bed of the ‘Chitang’ or ‘Chauthang’ a tributary of ‘Ghaggar’ and noted that there were numerous sites of towns and villages scattered over this tract, now not visible. This was followed by one Major Mackeson, who found that a path between Delhi and Sind or Bahawalpur, followed the bed of a forsaken river from Hanumangarh onwards. This bed had a continuous line of villages on its sides, with sweet water wells. His proposal of this new path was not something new, this had been followed earlier, by the various invaders with an eye on Delhi.  Half a century later the Europeans scholars were able to master the sacred Sanskrit language. It opened up a treasure chest of Hindu and Buddhist literature. A French scholar Louis Vivien de Saint-Martin, who had studied the previous reports of the three gentlemen mentioned earlier, as well as the Rigveda, took up a program to study and reconstruct the ancient geography of India from the most primitive times to the Muslim invasion. The task was immense and he had planned 12 volumes, of which he could complete three, in a span of 10 years. His first volume is dedicated to Sanskrit geography and he spent a lot of time diligently exploring the area and matching it with the Vedic locales. The streams which flowed down from the Shivalik mountains met together to form the Saraswati, and then it flowed westward. The Ghaggar, Markanda, Sarsuti, Chauthang and its tributaries are other relics of the Vedic Saraswati. He pointed out the topography of the scarred and now dry river system of the Yamuna – Sutlej interfluve and confirmed the description in the Vedas, of Saraswati as a river flowing to the sea. (Though now an arid and waterless plains between the Sutlej and the Gulf of Kutch).  C.F.Oldham’s 1893 map showing courses of Hakra. Existing rivers in continuous lines and former rivers in fitted lines. Later, R.D.Oldham a geologist and a seismologist, who headed the Geological Survey of India in 1879, studied the regions from Bahawalpur to Hisar district and came to the conclusion that the drying up of Saraswati was not due to the reduced rainfall, but due to the desertion of Sutlej and Yamuna. His studies of the region gave many important insights for future studies. The British officials’ fascination with geography of India, continued and later Major Henry George Raverty, Robert Sivewright, concluded that the Rann of Kutch was a delta of the Hakra, the lost river of Sindh. In fact these scholars also found the etymology of the word Ghaggar and Hakra. Incidentally, both names are for the same river, as they were known in Punjab and Sindh respectively. Having elaborated the various geographical evidences collected by the above-mentioned scholars, let us again revert to the traditions and folklore associated with the river Saraswati. As we saw earlier, the drying up of Saraswati left a deep imprint on subsequent literature right up to 6th century CE. Now let us see, its footprints on folklore and traditions. James Todd (mentioned earlier), and CS Oldham were struck by songs and legends related to the ruin of the region due to the drying up of the Ghaggar – Hakra. Alexander Cunningham, the first director of Archaeological Survey of India had some very pertinent observations about Saraswati. He recorded that the local tradition said that, the source of the sacred Saraswati was at Adi Badri Kunda, in Himachal Pradesh and at Kathghar the sacred river came out of the hills. This exactly matched the source of the Vedic Saraswati As we travel southwards along the banks of Saraswati till it reaches the Arabian Sea, we come across many holy sites. Let us enumerate a few of these sites.  ‘Kurukshetra –Thanesar’ has a Kunda called Brahmasar, where pilgrims from all over India come to take a dip during solar eclipse. Pehowa, where the Sarsuti is joined by Markanda, has many temples built by the Marathas dedicated to Saraswati. It is the place where rituals for the departed ancestors are performed. ‘Pushkar’ in Rajasthan is considered to be a place where the Saraswati is said to have re-emerged and halted. There is a very famous temple of Brahma there, probably the only one in India. From nearby hills a river emerges which is also known as Saraswati and later as Luni. Pushkar Lake is considered a place where Rama, Lakshmana and Sita, bathed during their ‘Vanavasa’. In the Rann of Kutch, the Luni's flow is joined by another Saraswati with its source in the southwestern tip of the Aravalli. On this Sarasvati’s bank are two important pilgrimage centers namely ‘Sidhhapur’ with its sacred pond ‘Bindusar’ and ‘Patan’ famous for its magnificent step well ‘Rani Ki Vav’. On the dried bed of this river are three temples dedicated to Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. The southernmost tip of Saurashtra has a small river called Saraswati whose source is near ‘Somnath’ and on its bank is the ‘Tirtha’ called ‘Prabhas Patan’, the place from where Balaram started his pilgrimage). These four Saraswatis may have been named in the memory of the Vedic Saraswati and its tributaries and estuaries in that part of Saraswati basin. They are clearly a part of the same tradition originating from the Vedic Saraswati. Of course, we must not forget the invisible or “Gupta” Saraswati at Prayag Allahabad. Another example of ‘transfer which we saw above. ‘Gouda‘or the northern region lying between the Saraswati and Sutlej had five Brahmin clans, of these,one are the Saraswat Brahmins. They migrated to Kashmir, Punjab in the north, to Karnataka and Kerala in the South. They have a long preserved memory of having lived in the Saraswati Valley,  till they were forced to migrate due to the drying up of the river. Hence we see tradition lives on. Western Orientalist and Indologist starting from H.H. Wilson in 1840, later Max Mueller and many others who followed, till as late as 1975, agreed that the Vedic region of Sapta Sindhu and the foundation of Hindu Philosophy originated in the vicinity of river Saraswati. Such views are also shared by many eminent Indians scholars like M.L.Bhargava, B.C.Law, H.C. Ray Chowdhury, A.D. Pusalkar, and D.C.Sorcar.to name a few. The past four or five decades have unearthed a huge amount of information on this specific topic. But the game changer was the Remote Sensing technology, through satellite photography and imagery. For the first time the dry bed of Gaggar-Hakra was revealed and the most significant finding was that, it brought out the contrast created by the richer soil and vegetation found all along the river course. It also brought to light the various Palaeo Beds crisscrossing the Sutlej – Yamuna water shed – most are invisible at ground level. Four scientists namely Yash Pal, Baldev Sahay, R.K.Sood and D.P.Agarwal, published a paper based on the analysis of the many photographs of the LANDSAT satellite. Their study showed the multitude of small channels into which the Sutlej braided before it settled in its present course – that is why it was called Shatadri in Vedic literature. In the east, they traced three ancient beds of the Yamuna. It confirmed its eastward migration and found that one of the beds coincides with that of Drishadvati.  Various Paleochannels and present drainage of Yamuna, Ghaggar, Sutlej.  Three ISRO scientist, J.R.Sharma, A.K. Gupta, and BK. Bhadra presented their findings from a new generation of IRS satellites covering the entire drainage of Saraswati. Their findings are illustrated in the figure given below.  The latest entrant in this field is Nuclear Physics, which has a wide array of dating techniques, which are utilised by geologist, archaeologist, oceanography etc. For us it is the dating of the water available in the Palaeolithic channels that is of interest. Scientists from BARC namely S.M. Rao and K.M. Kulkarni drew samples from various wells in Rajasthan, along the defunct river. Radiocarbon dates suggest that the groundwater is a few thousand years old, about 3000 to 2400 BCE. It also indicated an absence of recharge and detected its movement as very slow about 20 m a year. Groundwater levels in the Palaeochannels channels before monsoon are given below.  Let us hope, however, the exploitation of these ancient reserves is done very prudently and is accompanied by effective replenishment or it would be a case of killing the proverbial goose booze. From piecing , deductions of geomorphologists, sedimentologists, geo hydrologists, geochemists, archaeologists and remote sensing specialists, emerges this portrait of a large river originating in the Himalaya and emptying itself into the Sea, and on the way supporting vibrant progressive people in the prehistoric time. This river was known as the Saraswati [From Valdiya, 2016]. Let us now see the details of this picture by putting all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in place. The two glacial rivers from the Himalayas namely the Yamuna and the Tonk, originated at Yamunotri and Bandar Poonch respectively and they meet at Kalsi. They then flowed westward towards the Markanda-Bata Valley with a major portion flowing southward through a smaller and higher opening than today’s ‘Yamuna Tear’. The westward branch was Saraswati while the southward was Yamuna. On reaching the plains the Yamuna got divided once again and the south-west portion was called (Drishadwati - Vedic name) Chauthang. This explained the root meaning of the word ‘Yamuna’ meaning ‘twin’. At the western end of the divide the Sutlej which originated near Mount Kailash or Mansarovar,joined the Ghaggar. Many streams flowed down from the Shivalik mountains close to each other before they united in a single bed; this combined stream is then joined by Chauthang and Sutlej and has a riverbed 6 to 8 km wide, South of Patiala. This large river then had no difficulty in reaching the sea via the plains of Punjab and Haryana, then going to Rajasthan and then to Fort Abbas, Hakra – Bahawalpur area, then via Sindh to the Rann of Kutch.  What destroyed this beautiful picture? Where did this river disappear? And what happened to the beautiful population which lived along this mighty river? Cities, towns, villages must have prospered along its course. Agriculture, trade,and the various arts must have flourished. Great thinkers and philosophers must have made their ‘ashrams’ here. Where did the river go and then where did all these people go? Many such questions clamour to be answered. So let us delve into this and find the logical answers in the next part which would follow soon.  Notes: Definition of Palaeochannels: A channel that is no longer a part of an active river system and has ceased to be a conduit of water is commonly referred to as a palaeochannel. Some ancient palaeochannels may be the products of different flow regimes of the past. They may thus provide evidence for river transformation, following significant changes in flow regimes, implying river adjustments to development outside their catchment. Palaeochannels, are commonly occurring landforms in alluvial landscapes, and have an economic significance, because of their use in the exploration for freshwater resources, artificial recharge and storage of ground water; additionally, they are of importance in the location and assessment of mineral deposits such as uraniferous ores, gold, silver and other placer deposits hosted in them. Therefore, the study and mapping of palaeochannels has to be pursued using inter-disciplinary approaches that draw upon landscape analysis and remote sensing, sedimentology, geohydrology, tectonics and geophysical exploration. Kunda – a small waterbody considered to have holy waters. Normally, it is smaller than a pond, but has natural springs. It has built boundaries, rectangular in shape. Tirtha – a place of pilgrimage or a holy place. Ghaggar –initially Caggar or Gaggar  THE CRADLE OF INDIAN CIVILIZATION - THE SARASWATI The information about the Indian civilization which I found, was so immense that I got lost in it. It was extremely difficult to sort out details and put them in the form which was interesting and easy to understand. Therefore, I have set up a certain framework which I am going to follow. Firstly, I’m going to call the civilisation as Saraswati civilisation and not Indus Valley or Harappan civilisation, as it was taught and is still being taught in schools and colleges. There are many reasons, which I am not going to elaborate, but I’m sure you would realise it at the end of the story. Secondly, I am neither going to mention dates or names of the scholars as the list is unending and increasing every day, who literally dug out the information which has been put here. And thirdly, I’m going to use a lot of illustrations for you to visualise the extent of progress of the people of Saraswati. To start with let us first estimate the extent of the spread of civilization. The westernmost boundary was along the Makran coast. There was a site in northern Afghanistan and another near Jammu as far as the northern boundary goes. The eastern boundaries were up to Western Uttar Pradesh and in the South till the valleys of Narmada and Tapti in Gujarat. Altogether the area covered by the civilisation was about 8000 km Square. Which amounts to areas of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisation put together and about 25% of today’s India. This vast expanse must have offered a lot of challenges and opportunities. Opportunities with respect to a wider choice of natural resources and a richer store of human skills and experience. And the challenges were  similar to what we face today – diversity of regional cultures which needed to be integrated and effective communication channels to keep all concerned on the same wavelength or platform. There were many cultures, tribal groups in the northern hills or people beyond the demarcated territory who did not adopt the Saraswati way of life. For the civilization to spread across this whole area it must have taken a few thousand years. If we date back to the early phase of civilization, it started some time before 8000 BP/6000 BCE. Though we are enamoured by the urbanisation displayed by the civilisation, we have to remember that the urban phase was not born out of the blue. It was preceded by a long early phase wherein agricultural practices evolved and advanced, villages were formed and there was an exchange of technology amongst various smaller regions. Bronze metallurgy was perfected, pottery skills developed, construction norms finalized right from the size of bricks and a rudimentary script developed. Each of the smaller cultures had their own styles but as interaction increased the regional cultures converged and fused together to reach the urban phase. The earliest of the early phase was excavated at Mehrgarh, strategically located at the foot of the Bolan Pass in Balochistan. It was essentially an agricultural economy and around 6000 BCE had warehouses built for storage and distribution of grain. This was the time when staple cereals like wheat and barley were domesticated along with animals like sheep, goat, cattle and dogs. It also had a long-distance trade network as evidenced by exotic materials found there. In the Saraswati basin in Haryana another site Bhirrana had similar advancement with respect to agriculture as it has been carbon dated before the fifth millennium BCE. So we see that people developed in all parts of the region more or less in the same period, albeit independently initially, but later together.  Chronology of this civilization is given below: All dates in the BCE Phase (Harappan) Saraswati Bce 1. Early 6000-2600 Convergence Era 2. Mature 2600-1900 Urbanization Era 3. Late 2000-1300 Localization Era In the early urban phase there were striking innovations in the field of architecture, technologies and crafts. The most prominent of course is the town planning. Surprisingly, the mature phase people established new sites on virgin locations, and in some places like Dholavira or Kalibangan old structures were either altered to new plans or in places like Kot-Diji, Naushrao or Amri old settlements were set on fire and new construction done. The most striking feature of this phase was the sophistication of its urbanisation. Most towns big or small were fortified and distinctly divided into zones. The upper city or Acropolis had larger houses and streets aligned to the cardinal directions; the lower town houses were closer to each other and smaller. Mohenjo daro boasts of the great bath in its upper city. The fortified walls had impressive gateways controlling access to the city. All the streets had specific standardised widths depending on its usage. There were huge granaries, pillared assembly halls and common fire worship places. The word granary, Acropolis, assembly hall et cetera are arbitrary, as most of the early excavators tried to transfer the terminology from the previous experience they had had, in other civilisations.  But surprisingly, there were no palaces, or monuments, or tombs or temples. Even the larger residences were low-key, unlike those of the palaces of the pharaohs or kings elsewhere. A concern for ordinary citizens was predominantly displayed.    Even the most modest house had a bathroom, which consisted of sloped platform made of close fitting fire bricks or sometimes designed clay tiles. The outer wall had a drain, which took waste waters to a collective sewer; this was connected to a network of drains made of carefully aligned baked bricks, with cesspits of soak jars provided at regular intervals, to collect sullage. Even the upper stories of a house had vertical drain pipes embedded in walls for the bathrooms there. Such a sanitary system was unrivalled in the ancient world. The Romans developed it nearly 2000 years later. Imagine the careful planning & execution which went into designing the slopes and levels of drains and the houses built to align with the slopes. Today, most of modern India’s cities and towns are eons away from such perfect planning. In addition there is evidence of toilets in many houses – something like a brick commode. There were garbage bins in streets for the citizens to throw their household refuse. With such an elaborate sanitary system it is apparent that there must have been municipal workers to inspect regularly and remove obstructions or sullage from the soak pits. And of course, such a system required an abundance of water supply. The water was drawn from wells, reservoirs fed by rivers, underground reservoirs for rainwater harvesting and check dams on rivers. The mode was as per the availability and accessibility of water. All these facilities prove that there was a very robust and efficient civic authority.  The houses were built with bricks which had standardised proportion (1:2:4; or 7×14×28 cm.) The walls were thick indicating that there were a couple of stories above. All in all we see that the finest structures were those constructed for the convenience of the citizens rather than monuments for gods and palaces for kings. This was town planning at its best. Such sophisticated construction entailed a deep understanding of mathematics. They had developed scales based on the decimal system. 10 divisions on the scale added up to 2.64 inches. Specimens of the scales were found at Mohenjo Daro, Lothal, and Kalibangan. Dholavira’s dimensions expressed in terms of a unit equal to 1.9m  The people knew how to use a compass and could produce angles. The verticality of the structures and walls was perfectly maintained. The wells had trapezoidal bricks to ensure that the soil pressure did not cave the walls in. Terracotta pulleys were used to draw water.  Around 2500 BCE, the people built the largest hydraulic structure measuring some 15 m in length 37 m in breath and 3 m deep, at Lothal. This dockyard was connected via a canal to the river Bhogawo. At high tide the boats could enter this area. There was a spillover channel to remove excess water via a sluice gate. This was the most important port for trade outside the region. With such a solid infrastructure in place it is obvious that industry and trade flourished. The civilisation had very developed pyro and non- pyrotechnics for the production of finished goods like pottery, bronze or copper alloyed tools, seeds, terracotta objects, stone objects and carvings, cloth both cotton and silk, wooden tool and objects, beads and jewelry and agricultural produce. The beauty of this civilisation is the homogeneity of material culture over such a large civilisational area.  This civilisation was a trading state that prospered and had long-distance trade relations with Mesopotamia and Egypt. They had a flourishing maritime tradition as indicated on theseals engraved with ores and boats. Trade was both overland and overseas. Numerous artefacts and ornaments produced here were popular in the Middle East and the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilisations, as a lot many are found during excavations there. Much of the raw material came from hinterland through trading links with outlying cultures. Bulk of the external trade was via river and sea craft. The boats were made from wooden planks and reads. Remarkably, the designs on the various seals and the present-day local boats in Gujarat are similar in design.  Agriculture, which was the basis of this civilization, was fine-tuned during this period. This area consisted of two distinct agricultural zones. The black cotton soil of Gujarat and Rajasthan and the alluvial soil in the Indus Saraswati region. The two different agricultural zones gave a great deal of resilience to this civilisation. As the civilisation flourished its population increased and so also its need for food and feed. This was taken care of by the introduction of a double cropping system, sophisticated agricultural implements and advanced agronomic practices. The double cropping system and many of the agronomic practices are still followed and widely practiced in many parts of India.  When people have their basic needs met, then arts and crafts flourish in their cultures. The trademark Harappan long and slender beads of carnelian, which was so prized in Mesopotamia, were a work of art and skill, as drilling a lengthwise hole for the thread entailed several days of hard work. The drill bits were specially designed to make these holes. Other beads were made of agate, amethyst, and turquoise and interwoven with discs and fillets of gold and silver, which gave a great variety of ornaments. Bangles were another category of highly prized ornaments. Some smaller sites were wholly dedicated to the bangle industry especially in coastal areas of Gujarat where shell is very easily available. Even today in that part of India, that’s Rajasthan and Gujarat, beads from where various semi-precious stones and bangles of different materials are manufactured with great designs and colours. Saraswatians had produced pottery in large quantities. These are the only objects which have survived the vagaries of climate and time.  The pottery was generally red with black intricate designs painted on it and kiln fired. Other crafts include wheel spun thread, woven into cloth both cotton and silk, stone and ivory carvings, inlaid woodwork and decorative architecture. The smithies which were located in the towns, purified the ingots of copper, mined in Rajasthan and Balochistan and varied alloys created from it by the addition of tin (bronze), lead, nickel, zinc or arsenic as required for the various final products. Bronze statues were cast with the ‘lost wax’ technique – dancing girl shown below.  Terracota and Bronze female figurines Notice the ornaments adorned by the figurines.  Naturally enough the people of this civilisation had room for dancing, painting, sculpture and music, as some evidence of stringed instruments and several statues in frozen dance positions have been excavated. Drama is suggested by a number of expensive masks and puppets. The people indulged in a possible predecessor of the game of chess. Other kinds of gaming boards have come up at Harappa and Lothal; at several sites they have found cubicle dies similar to the ones used today.   For the children there were toys like ox carts, spinning tops, marbles, rattles whistles and they also had pets like dogs, birds and squirrels. Women too enjoyed a status of some importance, as most of the terracotta figurines excavated are female forms in daily occupation. A terracotta toy cart   Terracotta figure depicting different yogic asanas  This civilization had developed a script too. But one of the persisting riddles is its writing system. The script was fully developed at the start of the mature phase. Indus signs, as they are called have been found carefully engraved on not only some 3500 steatite seals but also on hundreds of terracotta tablets, a few copper and silver pottery and ornaments and other media. Unfortunately, none of the many attempts to decipher the script has been acceptable to all concerned. That’s a very important aspect of this civilization that remains close to us. The exact use and purpose of the seals is still an enigma.  A typical seal, note the various animals surrounding the central figure seated in a yogic pose - could be addressed as Pashupatinath.  In the daily life of ordinary citizens, that is the artisans, the civic workers, craftsmen, the industrial workers, what stands out is the sense of care and organisation. This is not a spectacular civilization, but there was certainly a sense of all pervading order in every aspect of life. The next question is who imposed this order and controlled access to raw material, industrial trade and agriculture. Many scholars have expressed varied views but the bottom line is that, whether it was an empire or a confederacy of chieftains or city states, this civilisation displays an individuality of its own. It is based on decentralisation and community- based distribution of powers. These two traits, any rural Indian of today, can relate to easily. It also permitted regional variations, while integrating them to form a very cohesive cultural framework. This unity in diversity, a third typical Indian trait has had, had a very profound imprint on the history of this subcontinent. “One of the most surprising aspects of the Indus civilization is that it seems to have been a land without conflict. There are no signs of violence and no depictions of soldiers or warfare in the Indus Art” as quoted by a British archaeologist Jane McIntosh in her book on Indus civilization titled “A peaceful realm”. Does this reflect in our present day psyche, of generally remaining passive and non-aggressive? This, an egalitarian, peaceful, orderly and diverse yet closely integrated civilisation that was the Saraswati civilisation, disappeared without a trace? That’s just not possible. Then, how did this civilization disintegrate? - What are the things we have inherited? So we have to study the late phase. Another question that plagues us is, who are we? - The descendants of this civilization or are we immigrants from Central Asia? We need to find out the answers to these questions and that means one more part. So bear with me and let’s find the answers together.  Notes: The construction methodology used was what is today known as English Bond System. One line of bricks placed horizontally and the next line vertically. OVERALL DISTRIBUTION OF SITES EXCAVATED TILL DATE REGIONS OF THE SUBCONTINENT EARLY PHASE MATURE PHASE LATE PHASE TOTAL SARASWATI BASIN 640 360 1378 2378 UTTAR PRADESH 2 32 10 44 HIMACHAL,JAMMU AND DELHI 1 4 5 GUJERAT 11 310 198 519 PAKISTAN'S INDUS 385 438 12 835 From Indus to Saraswati- Textbooks often state that Mohenjodaro and Harappa were the first sites of the Indus Valley Civilization. That is not quite correct - they can be said to be the cities where the epoch and nature of this civilization was identified. Much before them another site had been substantially explored - Kalibangan in northern Rajasthan on the left bank of the Ghaggar river. - adapted from the book “The Lost River: On the trails of Saraswati by Michel Danino. Rakhi Garhi site with 550 hectares (1,400 acres; 5.5 km2; 2.1 sq mi) area is the largest IVC site in the world, which is about double the size than that of next largest site Mohenjo Daro, asserts Professor Dr. Vasant Shinde, Vice Chancellor of Deccan College and in-charge of Rakhi Garhi excavation. He further informed about the 6,000 years old pre- Harappan IVC site and 5,000 years old human skeletons found during the excavation, "the scientific data collected on the basis excavations here have strongly pointed that Rakhi Garhi, a metropolis, was perhaps the capital of its times about 5,000 years  ago. The scientists have, for the first time ever, succeeded in extracting DNA from the skeletons of the Indus Valley Civilisation. We have collected evidences of massive manufacturing and trade activities in this town, which revealed the economic organisation and the foreign links of people here. They had trade links with people in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Baluchistan and even Afghanistan. The city flourished during the early Harappan era dating back to around 3,300 BC and existed till 2000 BC. NASA and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) undertook the joint study of artifacts found at Rakhi Garhi during 2011-16 excavations, estimated to be 6,000 years old, older than 3,500 years old Harappan civilization. NASA and ISRO will also carry out a joint in-stu site inspection to verify the claims of 6,000 years old Pre-harappan phase of Rakhi Gahri IVC being the oldest and largest civilization in the world, though the joint two month long excavations by Haryana State Archaeology Department, Indian Archaeological Society and National Museum in May 2017 at much smaller nearby 7,570-6,200 BCE IVC site of Kunal were initially estimated to be 1,000 years older than Rakhi Garhi. - Wikipedia.  The word Gauda or Goud may have been taken from Ghaggar, with Goud and Saraswat having the same meaning that it is an individual residing on the banks of river Saraswati. While these Brahmins are only known as Saraswats in the vast region of Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal, the term Gaud Saraswat was applied to them by the natives after the former migrated to the South. According to the Sahyadrikhanda of the Skanda Purana, ninety-six Saraswat Brahmin families belonging to ten gotras migrated to Goa from the Saraswati river basin, along with Parashurama.  Recall The excavated sites in the Saraswati Basin  ‘Gouda ‘or the northern region lying between the Saraswati and Sutlej had five Brahmin clans, of these, one are the Saraswat Brahmins. They migrated to Kashmir, Punjab in the north, to Karnataka and Kerala in the South. They have a long preserved memory of having lived in the Saraswati Valley, till they were forced to migrate due to the drying up of the river. Hence we see tradition lives on. (From the part II -In Search of Saraswati.)  THE HERITAGE OF THE SARASWATI CIVILISATION Evidence which has been collected during the last few decades has very clearly indicated that the Saraswati – Indus civilisation did not come to an abrupt end. But, rather during the period 1900 –1300 BCE, it split up into fragmented areas which were termed as the “Localisation Era’ or the late Harappan phase... Let us now examine and elaborate the continuity between the Saraswati culture and the historical Gangetic region classical culture. Excavations of historical urban centers in the Gangetic region have been very few and limited, as many of them are buried under modern cities and are largely inaccessible. Yet, the continuum between the urban planning and architecture like fortifications, street layouts, worship places, individual houses, construction techniques, construction materials and construction ratios show a lot of similarity. So also, the weights and measures, art and craft, technology, agricultural practices, objects of daily use, toiletries, ornaments, toys, games and navigation have shown similarities. The details are shown in the table enclosed in Annexure II. Now let us look at things which are not covered in the table namely the script, the religious practices and the religion. The Indus script is the most exasperating riddle which is still unsolved; it is made up of 400 signs of which only 200 have been used more than five times. As I had said earlier there are more than 4200 inscriptions, most of them on seals, tablets or pottery which have been excavated. With the present state of information and knowledge it appears that the script was born with the cities and faded away with them. The gap between the disappearance, that is 1800 BCE, and the first historical script – Brahmi is about 1700 years. So what are the pointers for the possible transmission of the Indus writing to the historical times?  The first step is the evolution of the script into simplified shapes – this is noticed in the potsherds excavated at ‘Bet Dwarka’ which is in Saurashtra. The ‘Vikramhole’ inscriptions, in Orissa give us the link in the passage of letter forms from the Saraswati script to the Brahmi script. Another big find is ‘Daemabad’ in the Godavari Valley in Maharashtra. A large hoard of sculptures was found along with a horde of buttons seals with inscriptions on it. This was again in the Localisation Era. An interesting find is at ‘Vaishali’ in Bihar which has grey round terracotta seal with three Indus signs slightly simplified. It dates back to 600 BCE.    Many epigraphists have expressed the opinion, stating that the ancient script may have ultimately developed into the Brahmi alphabet several centuries before the rise of the Mauryas in the latter half of fourth century BCE. But as of today, the script is undecipherable and a riddle. To find more about the religious practices let us imagine ourselves boarding a time machine and visiting the cities of this civilisation. What would strike us prominently is the emphasis on personal hygiene specifically for the rituals. The public baths which we would find there, would be similar to the water ‘Kunda’ of today, present at most of our religious places. If we happen to join a procession there, the lights accompanying it on its sides would be very similar to what we see today. The conch shells used for libations and also for blowing when heralding something auspicious would be very familiar. We would feel at home with symbols like the swastika, trident or Trishula, peepal leaf, drawn on walls, seals, pottery et cetera. We would also find a Lingaa or a goddess figurine similar to the ones we have seen in our lives in the present. These similarities indicate the continuity in the religious practices. If this culture was termed as pre-Aryan, then what are its similarities with the Vedic culture? The ‘Bull’ which was present on many seals of the ancient culture finds a place with various descriptions of the strength of gods in the Rig Veda. The mother goddess continues in various forms as Saraswati, Prithvi, Ushas, Ila, Aditi, and Bharathi in the Vedas. Shiva existed in the Rigveda as Rudra or sometimes fused with Soma. ‘Mahesho mriganam’ the ‘Buffalo of wild beasts’ means the god wearing buffalo horns and surrounded by wild beasts was depicted on some Indus seals. The Lord of Yoga or ‘Yogeshwar’ and also ‘Mahakaleshwar’ the Lord of time get represented on the seals of this era. The above series of concepts and attributes are in consonance with those classically associated with Shiva. Along with the presence of Lingaa shaped objects of worship, the evidence of the cult of Shiva like deity in the Saraswati-Indus plains does take a firm base.  Another important motif is the Unicorn seal from this civilisation. It can be related to the Vishnu‘s first avatar the ‘Matsya’ or fish which saved Manu from the great floods using its single horn on its head. Another avatar of Vishnu the ‘Varaha’ or boar is sometimes called ‘Ekashringa’ or one horned, who raised the submerged earth from the bottom of the ocean. The motif of a one horned, two horned or even more horns is not foreign to Hindu mythology. So also many deities in the Vedas are described as one or two or three horned. In the Vedas the horn is more than a mere glorifying device. Two more elements of the Saraswati culture throw important bridges across the Vedic night. The first was the fire worship and the second was the yogic practice. Fire temples were found across all the settlements of the Saraswati plains. In fact, the Banavali’s fire altar was identified by the Vedic scholars of today as ‘Dakshinagni’ the semicircular ones and the other two square ones as ‘Ahavaniya’ and the circular one as ‘Grahapatya’.  In fact in Yajurveda these orders and specific usage is clearly mentioned, so also in the ‘Shatapatya Brahmanas.The fire altars were found in individual homes too. Many of these altars had the terracotta ladles and jars alongside them. However, at Mohenjo Daro or Harappa these altars are absent but mother goddess figurines are quite common. We can safely assume that there was a certain regionalisation of this ancient religion and it allowed diversity of practice. As far as yogic practices are concerned the details have been already mentioned in the table. Rigveda does not use the term Yoga; it does ask our thoughts to be harnessed or yoked to a higher consciousness; this is very similar to what we know today as yogic practice. The funeral practices were of several types. The dead were buried with feet facing south, the Yama‘s direction. Sometimes they were cremated too. They did respect the dead, but did not believe in glorifying them, hence the graves are devoid of any finery except a few pots, and very seldom beaded necklaces and amulets. This culture did believe in the afterlife, but they favoured life over death. This is a typical characteristic of Indian attitude. Looking at the above mentioned similarities between the ancient Saraswati Indus culture, Vedic culture and the Gangetic culture and present-day India the old concept of Vedic night stands rejected. Still, one must not forget that the Gangetic civilisation or the historical age had its own innovations, from iron technology, to new architectural concepts and an efflorescence of various art forms. But the overarching concept of ‘change in continuity’ still prevails and in spite of spectacular changes in course of time till today, there has never been a definite gap or break in history of the subcontinent. This puts forth a very pertinent question in our minds – where does the Aryan invasion or migration fit into this whole narrative. Archaeological and literary evidence strongly deny such an event, yet arguments have been raging in our country for the past seven decades. Recent genetic studies give more clarity to the question as to who we are and what is the origin; the detailed analysis is given in the appendix below. It is left to the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.  The mosaic is now completed. We started with the Vedic literature which eulogises the river Saraswati. We have collected pieces from the traditions, geology, archaeology, climatology, satellite imagery, nuclear physics, and genetic studies to name a few. It has brought forth a few points like the testimony of ancient texts cannot be brushed aside nor can local traditions be scorned or ignored. The evidence of the existence of a mighty river has been confirmed. The growth of a civilisation from pastoral roots to a highly advanced organised structure has been reaffirmed. The decimation of the once mighty river due to the abandonment of its main tributaries was also proved. The collapse of the urban structure and the migration of its people eastwards towards the Ganges, southwards towards the Aravalli mountains and still further south to the Godavari and Narmada valleys and West ward beyond Indus, was also emphasized in the ‘Localisation era’. The people who travelled eastwards towards the Gangetic plains met with the population which was mainly agrarian but they had techniques and skills of iron smelting. The people from the Saraswati brought with them sophisticated urbanisation techniques, the bronze smelting techniques, the pottery, the fire worship and its religious practices. And when these people encountered the confluence of the rivers Yamuna and Ganga, old memories of Saraswati were revived and they could not but name the confluence as ‘Triveni’- long ago Yamuna was a part of Saraswati. Not only the Saraswati thus made to connect with the Ganga, but in the course of the time many attributes of Saraswati were passed on to her. Thus we complete a full circle.  EPILOGUE We started with the search for the lost river and now ended by reasoning out its existence through its memories. It has been a long journey through several ups and downs, with several controversies which are still raging – like the invasions or migrations of Aryan from Central Asia, the origin of the Indian population et cetera. I am not going to dwell on them as my quest for the ‘Saraswati’ ends here. . The reader is free to draw his or her own conclusions from the various materials provided along with this article. I sincerely hope that I was able to express myself coherently so as to kindle a small spark of interest in you. Let me end with a ‘Sukta’ from Rigveda praising the river Saraswati. May purifying Saraswati With all the plentitude of its forms of plenty, Rich in substance by the thought, Desire our sacrifice. She, inspires the true intuitions, The awakener in consciousness to right thoughts, Saraswati, upholds our sacrifice. Saraswati by the perception Awakens in consciousness the great flood And illumines entirely all the thoughts. – Rigveda Notes: Vedic Night: period between the decline of the Saraswati-Indus Urban Phase and the rise of the Gangetic civilisation. References: Michel Danino, Sanjeev Sanyal, Maj. Gen G.D. Bakshi  APPENDIX - I Similarities between the ancient Saraswati - Indus Civilization and the classical historical civilization of the Gangetic plains and the continuity found all over India in present times. TANGIBLE SIMILARITIES Description Places in Saraswati-Indus Basin Places in the Gangetic Basin/ other parts of India Comments I Town planning and public Architecture a. Fortification and moats surrounding them. Kalibangan, Dholavira, Mohenjo-daro, Harrapa, Banavali and other prominent cities. Mathura, Kaushambi, Rajghat near Varanasi, Rajgir and Vaishali in Bihar, Shisgupalgarh in Orisa, Ujjain near Indore Kautilya’s famous treatise on governance – ‘Arthashashtra’ written in 4th century BCE gives details of the same. Ujjain’s fortification is 75m wide, 14m tall and ran a length of 5km. b. Internal city planning based on grid plans i. Layout of streets Kalibangan, Dholavira Kaushambi, Thimi near Kathmandu Direction and width standardized. Specifics mentioned in ‘Arthashastra’ ii. Garbage bins along the streets Many cities Taxila’s ( Takshashila) Bhir mound Iii Drainage system Many cities Taxila, Hastinapur, Kaushambi, Mathura and other cities Due to limited excavations only drains of bake bricks and parts of the sewage system has been unearthed. iv. Pillared halls Mohenjo-daro Pataliputra or Patna. v. Apsidal Temple Banawali Atranjikhera about 90km east of Agra. The ratios , shape and layouts have been maintained. vi. House plan Al the towns Bhita near Allahabad. Still Central yard with rooms on three sides and a wide  and cities found in almost all parts of rural India entrance on the fourth vii. Construction techniques vii a Flooring mixes to keep the moisture and insects away Kalibangan Still found in neighbouring villages, 4500 years later. A mixture of terracotta pellets and charcoal. vii b Pattern of four levels of niches Mehrgarh, Pirak Abandoned houses in Pakistan occupied by Hindus before partition. The niches were symmetrically arranged on the wall vii c Well All places Many sites even in south India Trapezoidal bricks vii d Construction Ratios of all major structures were fixed Dholavira and other major sites. Dholavira’s master ratio was 5:4 for all major structures. Kaampilya ( DrupadKilla), capital of Panchala.( Drupad was the father of Draupadi from Mahabharata) Ratios pertaining to various structures including the Mahavedi were specified in the ancient texts on geometry- Shulbhasutra a few centuries later and also in Vastushastra and Brihat Samhita written by Varahmihira a couple millennium later than Dholavira, A continuity between the ancient civilsation, Vedic concepts and classical town planning becomes evident.  II Weights and Measures Description Places in Saraswati-Indus Basin Places in the Gangetic Basin/ other parts of India Comments a. Weights Shaped as cubes or truncated spheres made of chert ( sedimentary rock) or semi precious stones Silver coins punch marked with motifs found in the Indo- Gangetic plains and particularly in Taxila dated about 500 BCE, weighed in much the The ancient weights start from below a gram and stop over 10kgs.with 14 stages in between growing initially in a geometric progression till the seventh part and then multiples of lower weights. same balances and much the same sort of weights. Even till the mid 20th century, they were used in traditional markets of India and Pakistan. Such a double series is also described in Arthashastra , with the smallest weight ‘gunj’ b. Linear scales Scales found at Lothal, Mohenjo- daro, Harappa and most importantly at Kalibangan Iron Pillar of Delhi is based on angulas and dhanus. And the cardinal ratio of 5:4 is evidenced between its entire length and the portion above ground level. This was made in 4th century CE. Sircap near Taxila Thimi near Kathmandu Arthashastra 8 grains of barley =1 angula 108 angulas = 1 dhanus or 1 danda 1 dhanus = height of a tall man as stated in Brihat Samhita. 1 angula=1.76cm 10 division of Lothal scale = 1.78cms. 1 rajju= 10 dandas 1 paridesha=2 dandas.  III Technology and Craft Description Places in Saraswati- Indus Basin Places in the Gangetic Basin/ other parts of India Comments a.. Bronze casting method of ‘lost wax casting’ Practiced all over the Saraswati – Indus plains Still used in present Tamilnadu b. Blue glazed ceramic ware All over the ancient civilisation Traditional potters in Western India Use the same copper oxide pigments. Bead making Near Lothal and Dholavira Khambat in Kutch Techniques of drilling, bleaching and colouring long beads made from semi precious stones. c.. Bangle making Sites in Gujerat Rajasthan and Gujarat d. Working with shells and ivory Various sites in Kutch and other parts of the Saraswati basin All over India e. Articles of daily use Many sites in the ancient civilsation Present India. Toiletry articles, frying pans, kamadalu, writing tablet - the wooden takhti, game, children’s toys, Ornaments like nose rings, earrings, bangles, anklets, kamarbands, Sindur in the hair parting. Amulets worn by men on their right arm  IV Others Description Places in Saraswati-Indus Basin Places in the Gangetic Basin/ other parts of India Comments a Agriculture Various sites like Banawali or Kalibangan Gangetic plains, Punjab – Haryana- Rajastan Ox cart design remains the same. Agricultural practices remain same. Plough share design is the same except material has changed b Navigation Remains found at Lothal and other internal ports Today’s Sindhi boat on the Indus has the same shape No remains of seafaring boats found. c Script Detailed analysis is given below.  INTANGIBLE SIMILARITIES Description Places in Saraswati- Indus Basin Places in the Gangetic Basin/ other parts of India Comments I Symbols and Motives - They bridge the gap between tangible and intangible a. Swastika Hundreds of Harrapan tablets Depicted on pottery at several historical sites, punch marked coins, Ashoka’sedicts and early inscriptions and even today is considered auspicious. It symbolizes auspiciousness, harmony and growth. b. Endless knot Typical common symbol In Gujarat, in several inscriptions of 9th century CE. Today in rangoli’s( kolams) in south India c. Intersecting circles Pottery, floor tiles Bodhi throne in Bodh Gaya dated 3rd century BCE. d. Mythical Unicorn facing a ritual stand Indus seals Historical coins with an addition of elephant. e. Pipal leaf and tree On seals Bodhi tree Pipal tree is regarded as sacred even in Vedas as ‘ashvattha’.  II Iconography Description Places in Saraswati-Indus Basin Places in the Gangetic Basin/ other parts of India Comments a. Pashupati seal Mohenjo-daro and many other places. Common motif in Jain and Buddhist iconography Yogic posture on a low platform, has three faces- similar to later Hindu gods,- Yogeshwar and Mahakaleshwar. Tricorn head dress is reflected as nandipada or triratna in many Buddhistart and coins b. Majestic humped bull Indus seals Precursor of Nandi , Shiva’s moint. Mother Goddess Harrapan Statuary figurines Mauran period statuettes Similar ornaments, flowers garlands c. Female centaur Harappan deity Kinnari or Gandharvi d. Standing god Standing between branches of branches of pipal tree. In classical art – a seated Buddha or a standing Shiva between pipal branches of pipal tree. e. Art on pottery sherds Lothal Remain as folk tales even today Story of two crows and a fox.  III Yoga Description Places in Saraswati- Indus Basin Places in the Gangetic Basin/ other parts of India Comments a Proto Shiva Mulbandhasana which helps to awaken theKundalini b Various Asanas Harappa, Mohenjo- daro and Lothal Terracota figurines depicting asanas c Namaskar Harrapan figure of a man sitting cross legged with hands joined in Namaskar d Priest King Mohenjo-daro Half shut eyes looking fixedly at the tip of his nose in deep meditation. Also called Shramana – ascetic person rather than Priest King.      Appendix - II The Genetic Analysis Almost all genetic information that humans need is parked into 23 pairs of chromosomes that lie within the nuclei of our cells. The only exception is the microcondial DNA or Mt. DNA which stays outside the cell nucleus. This Mt. DNA performs a critical function, as it contains a code which converts the chemical energy from food into a force that the cell can use. Mt.DNA is a powerhouse of a cell. No person can do without the Mt.DNA, however, every woman can function without the Y chromosome. Mt.DNA is inherited from our mothers. Fathers too have Mt.DNA inherited from their mother, but it is not passed onto their offspring. They transmit the Y chromosome that comes exclusively from their fathers. The sex pair of chromosomes can be XX female or XY mail. The migration history of individuals and populations is tracked by the mutations that accumulate over time and thus carry a track record of all that happened to the patrilineal/matrilineal lineage of that person. Whole genome analysis and sequence of the sequencing of the population gives a more comprehensive observation. A study of the ancient DNA of the people of a region throws light on its ancient ancestry. In 2009 very eminent scientists from the US and India together concluded that the initial settlement of humans took place in South Asia some 65,000 years ago. These humans initially settled in the South and the Andaman Islands and became a group called ancestral South Indians or ASI. Later, some 40,000 years ago the ancestral North Indian population (ANI) emerged via the land route migrations. The origins of both these populations was the same except that some came first and others later. Both these groups mixed and formed the total Indian population. Therefore, there was nothing to mark out the people of North and South India as genetically distinct and separate.  Now let us understand the significance of a haplogroup. In genetic terminology a haplogroup is a group of individuals that share a common ancestor with a particular genetic mutation. Haplogroup pertains to a single line of descent which typically dates back several thousands of years. A haplogroup therefore is a large extended family or clan, all of whom or whose members have a shared ancestor. There are two types of haplogroups Y- chromosomal patrilineal haplogroup Mt..DNA matrilinealhaplogroup These haplogroups are identified by letters of alphabets A, B, C et cetera. And the subgroups are denoted by letters and numbers A1, A1a et cetera. The Y chromosomal or the patrilineal haplogroup R1a1a is also known as R– M17. It is the world's most successful extended family with more than 1 billion members. It is widespread across Eurasia, with high concentration in Russia, Poland and Ukraine as well as the Indian subcontinent and the Tuva region in Siberia.  This haplogroup is identified to represent Indo-Aryan people. This means all people have descended from one common male ancestor. In 2009 a research paper concluded that Indian population are genetically unique & harbour second highest diversity after Africa. Next in 2010 a paper was published that ruled out any significant patrilineal gene inflow from East Europe to Asia including India at least till mid Holocene period that is 7000 to 5000 years ago. This suggests that the R1a movement, if any, had taken place around 7000 to 5000 years ago and not thereafter. A research paper published in 2013 states that there was no major gene inflow into India from outside in the last 12,500 years as the Mt.DNA reveals. There have also been migrations of Austro Asiatic speakers as the Munda but the time horizon of the migration is indeterminate. Finally, there is the migration of Tibeto- Burmese speakers like the Garos who migrated from East Asia but again the age of their arrival is indeterminate. But it is said they brought the knowledge of rice cultivation to India. A study published in 2015 substantiates the findings of previous scientists and scholars and claims that the oldest samples of the haplogroup R1a are found in the Indian subcontinent and are approximately 15,450 years old. To understand details of genetic studies of Indian population please listen Dr. GyaneshwarChaubey’s lecture The link to the lecture is given below. भारतीयमूलकीएकयात्रा - आनुवाांशिक (DNA) आधार | The Narrative https://youtu.be/WXoR6JRch68 Prof. Dr. Vasant Shinde from Deccan College Pune, explains about his find at Rakhigarhi Man who cracked India's oldest DNA speaks to NewsX. https://youtu.be/3rF_HMoZ3mQ Page 84