Talk:Sarasvati River

Entry

I have moved sources and links into the entry, since no one else has done so. The statement " TheHelmand River in Afghanistan, which historically bore the name 'sarasvati' " does not tell us who gave it this identification with the Rig Veda river, nor when. Was it so called by locals at an early date? Or was the identification made by an Indian or Arab geographer? Why should we think this has relevance? This is pabulum as it stands. Wetman 01:36, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Plaska

In the Mahabharata, Skanda Purana and other texts the Sarasvati is associated with the Plaska tree. Some have argued that Plaska could be a Ficus species, probably ficus lacor or ficus infectoria. Kalyanaraman, S. (1999) The River Sarasvati: Legend, Myth and Reality

Sutlej Flowed to the Southwest to join Beas not Saraswati

Vipasa or beas was a much longer river until about a 1000 years ago, when Sutlej changed course abandoning its old channel in southwestern Punjab near Bathinda and took a westerly turn from east of Ludhiana towards Harike beyond there it now flows in the old channel of Beas down to Pakistan, there is a dried up channel from the old Beas river bed just to the west of Ferozepur as the Beas now joins Sutlej at Harike instead of taking a U-turn like bend from Kasur before coming back to the present Sutlej channel(old beas channel) south-west of ferozepur as it did about a millenium ago, people living downstream from the confluence of sutlej and beas still call the river Beas, even though Sutlej is clearly the larger river, also they call the dried up channel west of ferozepur near Kasur, sukka Beas(dried up Beas). Geologists have discovered that Beas joined Satluj west south-west of Abohar near Sulemanke and Hindumalkot before Sutlej changed its course towards Harike to meet Beas several hundered kilometers upstream. Saraswati was clearly Ghaggar as is clear from the enormous course of Ghaggar which is several kilometers wide even in the mountainous Shivalik belt which is very unsual for a small seasonal river, Saraswati has been wrongly identified by some vested interests as originating from adi badri in Yamunanagar district of Haryana.

Kurukshetra is a mythical battlefield said to be hundered kilometers in area, it is true if we look at the present day drishdavati and ghaggar but not the present day Saraswati which was known as Sarsa(there is another river named sarsa near present day bilaspur/anandpur in Himachal/Punjab) until a few decades ago when swamis and politicians that are busy destroying the ancient heritage with their own hands with their theories.

There was never a town named Kurukshetra, the town that is now called Kurukshetra is holy part of the city of Thanesar, where there existed several tirths or temples, the place was called Sthaneswar which is mentioned in several ancient Indian texts and was the site of one of the biggest temples that was destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni, it was also the capital of Harsha and later on of the Hindu Shahis after they lost afghanistan and western punjab to Mahmud. After 1947 some people with the active abetment of the government of Punjab and later Haryana started calling the town kurukshetra which is very dishonest and an insult to Indian heritage as Kurukshetra was a vast battlefield between Saraswati and drishdavati and not a small town.

Now the question of Saraswati/ghaggar/hakra having such a large channel right from the lower hills to the Rann of Kutch. Geologists have uncovered evidence of a large earthquake in the region where Ghaggar originates, it is very close to the point where Giri a river that originates from himalayan glaciers in himachal takes a sharp south-easterly turn after flowing westward much of its course. It then goes on to join Yamuna just before it enters the plains. This eathquake seems to have blocked the course of Saraswati between the glaciers and the present day source of Ghaggar, so Giri could very well be the old channel and waters of Saraswati that flowed into present day ghaggar channel down to the plains. This is nothing new geologists and archeologists have known this for more than half a century now.

So, yes Saraswati was a major river, and it is possible that it flowed all the way to the Rann of Kutch via the Nara channel in Sindh as ghaggar/hakra flowed west and then southwest before turning south to flow into the present day Nara Channel. It should also be noted that the entire dried up river bed of Hakra/Nara lies in Pakistan briefly touching the Bulge of indo-pak border west of Jaisalmer and did not re-enter the present day Rajasthan after leaving Ganganagar district as some of these people are suggesting. Some have even gone to the extent of bringing it down to Bikaner and Jaisalmer itself, when the river bed is clearly to the north and west. The Nara channel continued on to the west of Dholavira(indus valley site) in Gujarat and finally entering Kutch and the sea. March 24, 2007

Also, Sthaneswar/thanesar which is now called kurukhsetra is one of the 51 shaktipeeths as Sati's(Wife of Lord Siva) ankle fell there, 'Sthanu' is the manifestation of Shiva that has been worshipped at Sthaneshwar since time immemorial. The huge temple/tirth that was destroyed by Mahmud contained the shrine dedicated to this manifestation.

False information

This is a problem that I noticed with this article. It says that the Sarasvati is a myth, but NASA and ISRO have proven that there was a huge basin through which the river flowed. I myself do not know how to add citations. So I am asking you people to fix it. Badlucksuks (talk) 06:14, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

You're right, it should be "mythologized." I've corrected it. Regards, Joshua Jonathan - Let's talk! 08:48, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

thank you Badlucksuks (talk) 17:39, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

I tend to agree with Badlucksuks, the Seronge River, appears on several old maps, see my query below here (next).

I suspect, that what we've got here, is a dried up river, that's never been allowed to recover. Likely a fairly minor river to begin with, compared to the Ganges. A growing population and developed agriculture have seen it off. Continued and regular publication of permanent records for this kind of thing did not come about till British mapping and exploitation.

If I'm right, it would have been dry by the early 18th century or even the 17th, before or at the very start of concentrated British presence. Hence the mythology.

I have just uploaded a map created by Thomas Kitchin and Robert Orme, that references it. That's compelling.

Perhaps, if we referenced the basin as described, and the old mapping (I've seen it, on at least two maps); we could leave the question noted, but open! Rather than just blowing it away as a myth. Broichmore (talk) 20:02, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Seronge River

This river appears in this map. Is this the river Sarasvati. Is Prayagraj actually Helebas? Broichmore (talk) 13:02, 14 July 2024 (UTC)