History beckons: On the trail of the lost Saraswati

Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology aims at establishing the likely origin and course of the mystical river.

The confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mystical Saraswati in Allahabad. File photo: PTI

Bags of sand, gravel, silt and samples of water, possibly from the “long lost” Saraswati river, lie in a room at the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) here, ready to be sent to a testing laboratory.

“We are investigating whether these sediments could be linked to the Himalayas,” says Santosh Rai, fluvial geochemist at WIHG. He is part of a team of scientists formed by the Director of the institute Prof. A.K. Gupta when the Haryana Sarawati Heritage Development Board (HSHDB) approached the institute for assistance in its quest for the “lost” river. The team took its first field visit to Haryana in September and collected river water and sediment samples between Adi Badri and Bilaspur. Its aim is to establish the likely course and the origin of the mighty river which finds mention in the Rig Veda.

“According to available information, the river may have originated at Adi Badri (on the Haryana-Himachal Pradesh border),” Mr. Rai said. However, the river being perennial would have had some constant source to feed it. To find that source, we will compare the analytical results of our samples with those collected from Lesser and Higher Himalayas.”

In August this year, the Haryana government had pumped 100 cusecs of water from tubewells into a recreated channel of the river Saraswati. However, the actual course of the river is yet to be ascertained.

“We have to identify patches of the lost river and then connect them through continuous dredging and excavation to give it a proper shape. We will also look into the tectonic implications that could have led to the river drying up,” Mr. Rai said.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has delineated the river course through remote sensing. While the institute is using the ISRO maps for reference, it is also doing field work for establishing the river course. “To establish the river course we are also looking at religious practices too,” Mr Rai said adding that during the field visit the team from WIHG found small crematoriums along the river course which helped establish the actual river channel since according to the Hindu religious practices crematoriums are placed along the river banks.