Kurukshetra University centre identifies new Saraswati channel

Nitish Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, December 18

The Centre of Excellence for Research on Saraswati River (CERSR), Kurukshetra University, has claimed to have identified a major channel of the Saraswati river system, depicting a gradual westward shift of the river course on account of terrain slope modification.

Oldest civilisation

This study of the Saraswati chronology in conjunction with the archaeological studies carried out in Bhirrana establish beyond doubt that the Saraswati-nourished civilisation in Haryana is the oldest in the world. Prof AR Chaudhri, Director, CERSR

As per the study, the water in this channel from Saharanpur in UP to the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat was sourced from the Kailash-Mansarovar region. It crossed from Saharanpur in UP into Karnal in Haryana. Then, it passed through Panipat, Sonepat, Jhajjar and Mahendragarh districts.

Further, it flowed in the vicinity of Dhosi hill. Then in Rajasthan, it passed through Sambhar and Pushkar lakes, and flowed in close proximity to Nimbahera, Nathdwara and Dungarpur. In Gujarat, the channel flowed near Lunawada, Vasad and Khambhat.

Gradually, due to structural terrain modifications, this channel shifted its course and the river started flowing through Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Jind and Hisar districts before passing through Rawatsar in Rajasthan.

Subsequently, the input flow in this channel also shifted and gradually, the input from Yamunanagar increased in comparison to the Kailash Mansarovar channel.

The Saraswati paleochannel, identified as Adi Badri in Yamunanagar, passes through Kurukshetra, Pehowa, Kaithal, Jind, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts. This channel cuts across NH-44 at Pipli in Kurukshetra.

Prof AR Chaudhri, director of CERSR, said, “The oldest channel of the Saraswati river system so far identified is that of the Vedic Drishadvati river which probably, in the pre-Vedic period, was the original one. The water in this channel was sourced from the Kailash-Mansarovar region. The number of archaeological sites in southern Haryana, along the paleo-track of the Drishadvati, far outnumber the sites along the Saraswati channel passing through Kurukshetra. That suggests that this channel was possibly more ancient and robust than the Kurukshetra Saraswati channel.”