Yamuna - यमुना नदी

River Name Yamuna River Length of River 1,370 km Course Uttarakhand Starting Point Yamunotri glacier near Banderpoonch peaks in the Mussourie Ending Point merging with the Ganges at Allahabad Points of Interest Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi Starting Coordinates Major Tributaries Chambal, Betwa, Sind & Ken Wikipedia Links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamuna

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"Simply by bathing in the Yamuna, anyone can diminish the reactions of his sinful activities." (Krishna Book, Chap 38) Yamuna is a major river of northern India, with a total length of around 1370 km. It is the largest tributary of the Ganga. Its source is at Yamunotri, in the Uttaranchal Himalaya. It flows through the states of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, before merging with the Ganges at Allahabad. The cities of Delhi, Mathura and Agra lie on its banks.

Origin

The holy Yamuna River begins from Yamunotri, which is north of Haridwar in the Himalayas Mountains. Amniotic, which is north of Hardware in the Himalayas Mountains . Technically the source of the Yamuna is Saptarishi Kund, a glacial lake.

Mythological History

According to legend, the Yamuna is the daughter of Surya and Sharanyu and the twin sister of yama, the god of Death. It is said that Sharanyu, unable to bear the lustre of the quivering Surya, closed her eyes upon which he cursed her. It was then that Yamuna was born. The Yamuna is thus also known as the quivering river.

Dip in the Yamuna

Yamuna is considered more pious than Ganga because it was here that Krishna played and swam. One who takes bath in the river Yamuna is freed from all past sins and contamination of this material world. That person will also gradually become a pure devotee and achieve liberation.

Its Journey

The river Yamuna, a major tributary of river Ganges, originates from the Yamunotri glacier near Banderpoonch peaks (38o 59' N 78o 27' E) in the Mussourie at an elevation of about 6387 meters above mean sea level in district Uttarkashi (Uttranchal). It flows through a number of important towns, Delhi, Mathura-Brindaban, and Agra to name some. Since ancient times, the Doab region, where the Ganga and the Yamuna flow, has been considered one of the most fertile areas in the subcontinent. The Tons, largest tributary of the Yamuna, has some magical spots in it's upper reaches. Forests of Alder and Blue pine lead to the famous Har-ki-Dun catchment area, source of another tributary, the Rupin.

Dump Ground For Pollution

Today however, this majestic river is polluted with domestic waste, silt, and industrial waste. The 22-km stretch between Wazirabad and the Okhla barrage in Delhi is only 2% of the catchment area, but it contributes about 80% of the river's total pollution load. The Hindon Canal also discharges waste from Uttar Pradesh in this stretch. Among the many casualties are birds and fish. There was a time when bird watchers had identified as many as 30 species of birds near the Yamuna, many of them exotic, such as the red-crested pochard and the godwit.

Yamuna Action Plan(Yap)

In recent years the river has become grossly polluted due to various causes affecting human health and bio-diversity of the eco-system. One of the main causes of pollution of the river is discharge of untreated domestic wastewater and other wastes into the river from the towns located along its banks. To arrest river pollution, certain measures of cleaning river have been taken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, of the Government of India.

History & Mythology

The Yamuna and the Ganges are considered the most sacred rivers in India. Yamuna, according to the legends, was the daughter of Surya, the Sun God, and sister to Yama, the God of Death. Consequently, popular belief is that those who take a dip in its holy waters are not tormented by fears of death.

The river yamuna is intimately connected to Lord Krishna's pastimes. The Lord Krishna sanctified the River Yamuna from the beginning of His transcendental pastimes in the world. While His father Vasudeva was crossing the Yamuna with baby Lord Krishna for a safe place at Gokul on the other bank of the river from Mathura, the Lord fell down in the river, and by the dust of His lotus feet the river at once became sanctified.

Yamunotri, which is north of Haridwar in the Himalayan Mountains, is the source of the Yamuna. The river Yamuna, a major tributary of river Ganges, originates from the Yamunotri glacier near Banderpoonch peaks (38o 59' N 78o 27' E) in the Mussourie range of the lower Himalayas at an elevation of about 6387 meters above mean sea level in district Uttarkashi (Uttranchal).The track along the river bank is quite magnificient dominated by wide panorama of mountains. It is said that the temple of Yamunotri was built by Maharani Gularia of Jaipur in the last decade of the 19th century. In 1923, this was destroyed, with only the idols left, and was rebuild. It was once again damaged in 1982. A hot water pool at Yamunotri is used for the prepartion of "PRASAD". Normally, rice and potatos are cooked in cloth bags by dipping them in the hot water. In its first 170 km stretch, the tributaries Rishi Ganga Kunta, Hanuman Ganga, Tons and Giri join the main river.

The Tons, largest tributary of the Yamuna, has some magical spots in it's upper reaches. Forests of Alder and Blue pine lead to the famous Har-ki-Dun catchment area, source of another tributary, the Rupin. Har-ki-Dun is a spectacular valley high up, an amphitheatre ringed on three sides by spurs of the Great Himalaya. A wonderland with vast grassy alps that inspire a sense of solitude that only the high Himalaya can inspire. The Rupin makes a spectacular precipitous descent through a narrow valley.

Fortunately the valley of the Tons has been protected, by whatever fates, from the surrounding human depredations. In the upper reaches of the Tons river is situated the Gobind Pashu Vihar Sanctuary, a high altitude preserve and is approached from the Rupin valley near Natwar. This spectacular sanctuary, ringed by high peaks and hemmed in on three sides by ice fields and snow beds, this amphitheatre is the source of the Tons river and home to many high altitude bird species like snow cock, snow partridge and the Monal pheasant.

Another little known fact about the Yamuna is that it is the frontier of the Indian elephant. West of the Yamuna, there is no elephant in 900 Km of the western Himalaya or its foothills. The forests of the lower Yamuna offer ideal corridors for elephant movement and the principal forests to be found here are of Sal, Khair Sissoo trees and the Shivalik chir- pine forests.

Arising from the source, river Yamuna flows through a series of valleys for about 200 Kms, in lower Himalayas and emerges into Indo-Gangetic plains. In the upper reaches, the main valley is overlooked by numerous hanging valleys, carved by glaciers during the last ice ages. The gradient of the river is steep here and the entire geomorphology of the valley has been influenced by the passage of the river. In the upper stretch of 200 Km, it draws water from several major streams. The combined stream flows through the Shivalik range of hills of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal states of India and enters into plains at Dak Pathar in Uttranchal where the river water is regulated through weir and diverted into canal for power generation. From Dak Pathar it flows through the famous Sikh religious place of Poanta Sahib. On the right side of the Yamuna basin is the Mussourie spur-along which, lies sprawled, the hill station of Mussourie. Flowing through Poanta Sahib it reaches Hathnikund/Tajewala in Yamuna Nagar district of Haryana state, where the river water is again diverted into Western Yamuna canal and Eastern Yamuna canal for irrigation. During dry season, no water is allowed to flow in the river downstream to Tajewala barrage and the river remains dry in some stretches between Tajewala & Delhi. The river regain water because of ground water accrual and contributions of feeding canal through Som nadi (seasonal stream) upstream of Kalanaur. It enters Delhi near Palla village after traversing a route of about 224 Km.