Saraswati River is believed to have drained the north and northwest region of India, including Haryana and Punjab, in ancient times, supporting a large number of settlements. There are numerous references to the river Saraswati in the ancient Indian literature of the Vedic and post-Vedic period. Rig Veda, the most ancient of the four Vedas, describes Saraswati as a mighty river with many individually recognized tributaries. The sacred book calls Saraswati as the seventh river of the Sindhu-Saraswati river system, hence the name 'Saptsindhu' for the region bounded by rivers Saraswati in the east and Sindhu (Indus) in the west. Rig Veda hymns also describe life and times of the people residing in the Saraswati river valley. Rig Veda describes Saraswati as Ambitamé, the best of the mothers; Naditamé, the best of the rivers; and Devitamé, the best of the goddesses. Ancient sites in Kunal and Banawali, in district Fatehbad, has been found on the banks of the dried river bed of Saraswati.
Saraswati is believed to have originated from the Har-ki-Dun glacier in west Garhwal (Uttaranchal). It flowed parallel to the river Yamuna for some distance and later joined it, proceeding south as the Vedic Saraswati. The seasonal rivers and rivulets, including Ghaggar, joined Saraswati as it followed the course of the present river through Punjab and Haryana. River Sutluj, the Vedic Shatadru, joined the river Saraswati as a tributary at Shatrana, approximately 25 km south of Patiala. Saraswati then followed the course of Ghaggar through Rajasthan, Gujarat and Hakra in Bhawalpur before emptying into the Rann of Kutch via Nara in Sindh province, running parallel to the Indus River. It has been established that the river Saraswati, carrying the waters of three perennial and numerous seasonal rivers, was a mighty river in the Vedic times.
As of today, a part of the river exists as Ghaggar in Haryana; the rest of it has disappeared in the fringes of the desert of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Sindh. The perennial rivers Sutluj and Yamuna were once the tributaries of the Saraswati. It is believed that subsequently some tectonic movements may have forced the Sutluj and Yamuna to change course and hence Saraswati dried up in a period spread over a few hundred years possibly between 2000 and 1500 BC. It is probable that desertification of Rajasthan would have taken place at that time. The present dried bed of the Ghaggar was thus part of a major river, anciently known as Saraswati. Analysis of satellite imagery supports the above hypothesis regarding the course of the 'lost' Saraswati.
The major rivers of the north west India (Punjab, Sindh, Rajasthan, and Gujrat ) were : Saraswati, Sindhu (Indus ), Shatadru (Sutlej ) Vipasa (Beas), Parushni (Ravi ), Asikni (Chenab), Yamuna, Drishadwati ,and Lavanavati. All rivers have changed their courses since vedic times. Of these, three rivers: saraswati, Drishadwati, and Lavanavati no longer exist.
In vedic times the rivers Beas Jhelum, Ravi and Chenab joined the Sindhu to form one channel from Himalayas to the Arabian sea. Saraswati and her tributaries: Yamuna sutlej Drishadwati and Lavanavati formed the other channel from Himalayas to the Arabian Sea. Saraswati was a huge river . Her bed was as vast as 10 km in some places. In the early days, Saraswati river met the Arabian sea at the Rann of Kachh. After the level of Rann increased, she crossed the Rann to join the Arabian Sea at the gulf of Khambat. It was on the banks of this vast river system that the vedic ashrams thrived .It was the waters of the saraswati that gave rise to vedic culture. Thus Saraswati was called the goddess of knowledge. The epitome of knowledge. something like the Havard or the Oxford of modern times.
During the late vedic period tectonic movements pushed up the Aravali hills, in northern Rajasthan, changed the drainage pattern of the Northwest India dramatically. Saraswati lost her major tributaries ie Yamuna And Sutlej. Sutlej turned west and joined the Beas-Sindhu system. Yamuna started migrating east to join Ganga. Yamuna now was basically caring the saraswati water and bringing it to the Ganges. Because the Yamuna was bringing the water of Saraswati to the Ganges, it was now becoming the confluence of the three rivers namely Yamuna, Ganga, Saraswati and hence the term “Tribeni Sangam”
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