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Adi Badri, Haryana

Coordinates: 30°16′N 77°16′E / 30.27°N 77.27°E / 30.27; 77.27
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Adi Badri
Forest Area, Riverbed
Adi Badri is located in Haryana
Adi Badri
Adi Badri
Location in Haryana, India
Adi Badri is located in India
Adi Badri
Adi Badri
Adi Badri (India)
Coordinates: 30°16′N 77°16′E / 30.27°N 77.27°E / 30.27; 77.27
Country India
StateHaryana
DistrictYamuna Nagar
Languages
 • OfficialHindi
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Telephone code1732
ISO 3166 codeIN-HR
Vehicle registrationHR-02
Websiteharyana.gov.in

Adi Badri is a forest area and archaeological site in the foothills of Sivalik Hills in bhabar area situated in northern part of Yamunanagar district of north Indian state of Haryana. The Somb river passing through here is considered to be the originating point of vedic river Sarasvati (the point where the river leaves the mountains and enter plain land).[1][2][3][4]

Location

It can be reached from Jagadhri by a 40 km long all-weather road via Bilaspur, Haryana. The nearest village is Kathgarh, which is situated 2 km southwest from Adi Badri. Adi Badri has a Sarasvati kund (pond) for the worship of Sarasvati river where evening aarti is held everyday.

Legends

According to legends, this is the place where Ved Vyasa wrote Bhagavata Purana,[5] and Pandavas stayed her4 during the last year of their exile.[6]

Adi Badri Heritage Board

Meditation cell at Adi Badri

The new (2014) Haryana government, headed by Hindu nationalist party BJP, announced setting up of the Adi Badri Heritage Board and its plans to revive the sacred Sarasvati river by creating a new water channel along the supposed path of the river.[7]

Scientific Studies on Saraswati River

Main article: Sarasvati river

Research nodal agency and research committee

Kurukshetra University has been designated the nodal agency for research on Saraswati river.[8] A research fellowship program for the scientific research on Saraswati is established at the university.[9] In 2016, Haryana government constituted a committee of scientists initially for a duration of two 2 years (2016-2018) to conduct the scientific studies and a research fellowship programme for research in the field.[9] Another interstate co-ordination committee will be formed with Himachal, Uttrakhanda, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujrat states that fall in the paleochannel of Saraswati.[9] The Government of Haryana has established the "Adi Badri Heritage Board" for the revival of the Sarasvati River.[10][11]

Research studies

The government constituted committee of scientists found that Saraswati river did exist.The government constituted committee of scientists found that the Saraswati river did exist and coincides with the paleochannel in Haryana.[12][13][14][15][16] According to scholars, the Vedic River Sarasvati enter the plain at Adi Badri in Shivalik hills foothills near Kathgarh village, meandering through Yamuna Nagar district and other states.[10] Scientific studies have linked the paleochannel with of Saraswati with Hindu holy sites such as Thanesar, Vasishtha Ashram, Pehowa, Kapal Mochan and Brahma Sarovar near Kurukshetra.[17][18] It is also associated with several Indus Valley civilizational sites.[14][19][15][9] Saraswati had several channels, earlier paleochannel passed through Haryana, Rajasthan, North Gujarat, Rann of Kutch and the sea, it was researched by the government appointed panel including the paleochannel and its sediments.[15] According to Central Ground Water Board senior official the second 4,000 km long channel (change in course due to plate tectonics movements of earth) passed through Pakistan to the sea. before meeting Western Sea through Rann of Kutch.[15]

Hydrology and Geospatial analysis was done by ISRO to map the channel of Saraswati river.[9] ISRO's Jodhpur Regional Remote Sensing Centre study has indicated Adi Badri to be closely linked with the palaeochannel of ancient Sarasvati river.[20][21] Based on this, Central Groundwater Board and Rajasthan Ground Water Board bored 24 and 14 wells, following which Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) conducted Isotope analysis which showed that groundwater in the paleochannel did not match with ground water in the vicinity, thus lending credence to the evidence there once flowed a river.[9] Subsequently, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology conducted similar studies at Mugalwali near Adi badri in Yamunanagar by testing underground water samples from the paleochannel of Saraswati river, which was found to have the characteristics of river water, and another underground water sample from the vicinity did not matched with it, providing conformance with earlier results by BARC.[9]

International Sarasvati Science Conference

Annual Sarasvati Science Conference is a two-day annual scientific conference and seminar on Saraswati that is held during the Saraswati Mahotsav. Scientists from over 20 nations participate in it.[22]

Sarasvati Essay Writing Competition

Annual Sarasvati Essay Writing Competition is held during the Saraswati Mahotsav across schools and colleges at district, state and national level and it entails writing on scientific and archaeological, geological and ideological aspects of Saraswati heritage.[22]

Festivals and fairs

Akha Teej fair

Adi Badri Akha Teej Mela is a large fair that takes place at the Hindu temple complex on the Akshaya Tritiya (Akha Teej) in Vaisakh around April or May.[6] All the main Hindu festivals are also celebrated at the ancient temple complex.[6]

Saraswati Mahotsav

National Saraswati Festival, also called Saraswati Mahotsav, is an annual 5-day national-level festival held in the last week of January in honor Sarasvati River, a manifestation of Hindu goddess Saraswati, believed to enter the plains from the Shivalik hills here at Adi Badri. It is simultaneously celebrated at multiple locations, including by bringing water from hundreds of rivers across India, hosting events at all government and government-aided schools and colleges as well as several district headquarters across Haryana with activities such as prayers, poetry on Saraswati, essay writing on scientific and archaeological, geological and ideological aspects of Saraswati heritage. Pilgrimage and river awareness marches are organised from various parts of the state that culminate at Adi Badri. A two-day scientific seminar on Saraswati is also held with participation of scientists of from over 20 nations. It is organised by the Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Board (HSHDB), which is also making efforts since 2015 to restore the Saraswati river channel from Adi Badri to Mustafabad.[22][23] Annual pilgrimage across is organised that travels through various ghats on religious tirthas and Indus Valley Civilization sites along the banks of Saraswati river.[24]

Archaeological site

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) carried out 9 year long excavations on this 13.5 acres site, with plans for further excavations. ASI has sent the proposal to Ministry of Culture in 2013 to notify this as the protected site.[5]

Ancient Hindu temples and sculptures

Yamuna Nagar Adi Badri Ancient Hindu group of temples is a 9th-century archaeological site. Excavations by ASI unearthed several ancient sculpture and monuments pertaining to the Vaishnavism, Shiva and Shakti traditions,[5] including late medieval Adi Badri-Narayana temple (Vishnu), Sri Kedarnath Temple (Shiva) and Mantra Devi temple as well as several 9th century CE Hindu statues of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesha were discovered here.[21]

Sharirika stupa

Statues of the Buddha at Adi Badri

Sharirika Stupa made of burnt bricks is dated to 3rd century Kushana.[5] During excavations ASI also found pottery of that era, such as bowl, lids, miniature pots, jars, cooking vessels, pitchers, storage jars and stamped wares.[5] Phase I of Period I had bricks bricks measuring (35x20x6 cm, 33x20x5 cm, 30x22x6 cm and 23x25x6 cm) organised in tapering circular manner, and the bottom 23 layers of bricks were unearthed during the 2002-03 excavation.[25]

Buddhist monastery

Adi Badri Buddhist monastery is dated to 10th-12th century.[25] There are remains of many Buddhist stupas and monasteries near the confluence of rivers Som and Saraswati in Adi Badari.[26] These stupas and monasteries, built of hard bricks, are about 1500–2000 years old.[27] Few cells, big enough to accommodate one person, and a Buddha statue suggest that this rare ancient monastery was meant for meditation.[28][29][30] Buddhist statues from 12th century CE were discovered here.[21]

Development plans

Plans entail building a dam, new airport, conversion of forests rest house to a tourist complex, revival of paleochannel of Saraswati river, Chandigarh-Kalam Amab-Adibadri-Lohgarh-Paonta Sahib-Dehradun railway line survey for which was conducted 10 around 2012.[31][32] Bilaspur-Aadibadri road is currently being widened to 21 feet and other projects are yet to commence (Jan 2018).[31][32]

Adi Badri and Pehowa are being developed as religious heritage cities and tourist destinations with funds from state and centre government schemes.[9]

Saraswati river revival

The dried paleochannel of Saraswati river meanders through yanuma Nagar, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts. It has several paleochannels, older one going to Rann of Kacch and later one towards Pakistan to Indus River.[31][33] The channel of Saraswati river is lined up with high concentration of Saraswati Valley Civilization sites, including at Kuna, Bhirrana, Banawali and Rakhigarhi.[24][34][9] Pollution will be controlled by using Seechewal river revival model, building Sewage treatment plants, and building ponds isolated from the main channel for the Śrāddha ritual of immersion of ashes.[9]

To revive the river, the dried up channel is being dug up and 3 dams will be built in the Sivalik Hills at Adi Badri, Haripur and Lohgarh on the Somb river (a tributary of Saraswati)[9] and downstream Senonar barrage (Guldehra).[33] This will help in controlling floods from Somb river, harvesting and conservation of water for irrigation and lake tourism.[9]

Course of revived Saraswati river

212 km channel is being revived, including 55 km section from Adi Badri to Uncha Chandna, 153 km section from Uncha Chandna to Kaithal and 4 km section from Kaithal to confluence with Ghaggar River in Punjab, from there Ghaggar reenters Haryana and courses through Fatehabad and Sirsa districts up to Ottu barrage.[9] All but 12 km section needs to be dug up.[9] Revenue department has acquired 1,900 acre of land from the farmers on the paleochannel of the river to revive it.[35] Pilgrimage sites, ghats, and tourist facilities will be developed along the channel to be revived.[31][33] Land for the entire channel of Saraswati river passing through Haryana is in the ownership and possession of Government of Haryana, except few patches totaling 12 km which need to be cleared of encroachment or need to be acquired (c. Aug 2016).[9] A 55 km long channel from Adi Badri to Uncha Chandna (up to west of Yamuna Nagar) is being dug up under MNREGA, of which 37 km is already revived and 12 km in patches is encroached which will be freed up and/or acquired. Downstream 153 km channel from Uncha Chandna to Kaithal is already unhindered and ready to receive the water.[9]

Haripur dam

Haripur Dam at Haripur will be built in Shivalik Hills on a tributary stream of Somb river will be built downstream from Adi Badri on the paleochannel of Saraswati river near Shahabad Markanda.[35][9] map.

Lohgarh dam

Lohgarh Dam, near historic capital and fort of Sikh empire of Banda Singh Bahadur at Lohgarh,[21] will be built in Shivalik Hills on another tributary stream of Somb river.[35][9] map.

Adi Badri dam

Adi Badri dam, downstream of Haripur Dam at Lohgarh Dam, is planned to be built in Shivalik Hills on Somb river in 400 acres of land owned by the temple between Chhalaur and Mughalwali villages.[31][32][35][9] map.

Nearby Attractions

Kapal Mochan Sarovar and Gau-Bacha Temple

Kapal Mochan is an ancient place of pilgrimage for both Hindus and Sikhs, 17 km north-east of Jagadhari town, on the Bilaspur road in Yamuna Nagar district.[36]

Nearby Bilaspur, Haryana (not to be confused with Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh) in Yamuna Nagar District which takes its name from the corrupted form of "Vyas Puri", was the ashram of Ved Vyasa rishi where he wrote the Mahabharta on the banks of Sarasvati river near Adi Badri where Sarasvati river leaves Himalayas and enters the plains.[37] On Jagadhari road lies another popular religious site of Kapal Mochan.

Lohgarh was established as capital of Sikh empire of Banda Singh Bahadur in 1710.[21]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Early Harappans and Indus Sarasvati Civilization, 2 Vols. by Sharma, D P and Madhuri Sharma (ed) 2006
  2. ^ Yamunanagar attractions Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Haryana Tourism
  3. ^ "Release Id :118384 – Excavation in search of Saraswati River". Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  4. ^ Haryana sweet water pools fire up Saraswati revival, Times of India.
  5. ^ a b c d e Adi Badri to get heritage tag for treasure trove, Daily Pioneer, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c Adi Badri, Yamuna Nagar, Haryana, Apni Sanskriti.
  7. ^ "With BJP in power, the hunt for Saraswati river is on mission mode". Times of India. 10 April 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  8. ^ Haryana govt pumps 100 cusec water to revive ‘lost’ Saraswati, Indian Express, 6 Aug 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s ‘It’s a religious issue. If you could, then give it (land) voluntarily, Indian Express, 15 Aug 2016.
  10. ^ a b R.U.S. Prasad, 2017, River and Goddess Worship in India: Changing Perceptions and Manifestations of Sarasvati, Routledge, Annexure-I.
  11. ^ Srinivasan Kalyanaraman, 1999, The River Sarasvati: Legend, Myth, and Reality, p.71.
  12. ^ K.S. Valdiya, 2002, Saraswati: The River that Disappeared, Page 23.
  13. ^ Michel Danino, 2010, The Lost River: On The Trails of Saraswati, Page 1789.
  14. ^ a b Deo Prakash Sharma, Madhuri Sharma, Kadambini Pandey, 2008, The lost Saraswati civilization, Page 1.
  15. ^ a b c d Government constituted expert committee finds Saraswati river did exist, Economic Times, 15 Oct 2016.
  16. ^ Kamlesh Kapur, 2010, History Of Ancient India (portraits Of A Nation), 1/e, Page 139.
  17. ^ Deo Prakash Sharma, Madhuri Sharma and Kadambini Pandey, 2008, The lost Saraswati civilization p.246.
  18. ^ 2000, Organiser, Volume 52, p.180.
  19. ^ F. R. Allchin, George Erdosy, 1995, The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States, p.7.
  20. ^ "Conservation of Saraswati River". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  21. ^ a b c d e Yamunanagar History, Gazatteer of Haryana: Yamunanagar.
  22. ^ a b c Haryana to celebrate Saraswati Mahotsav on Jan 28, Daily Pioneer, 7 Jan 2018.
  23. ^ Five-day Saraswati Mahotsav from Jan 18, The Tribune, 13 Jan 2018.
  24. ^ a b Today Saraswati pilgrimage will enter the district, Dainik Jagran, 19 Jan 2018
  25. ^ a b Adesh Katariya, 2007, Ancient History of Central Asia: Yuezhi origin Royal Peoples: Kushana, Huna, Gurjar and Khazar Kingdoms, pp128-.
  26. ^ Haryana misses the buddha moment, The Tribune.
  27. ^ Adi Badri to get heritage tag for treasure trove, Daily Pioneer.
  28. ^ Historical importance of adi badri area
  29. ^ One year on govt fails to promote buddhist tourism, The Tribune.
  30. ^ Kaushik, A. and Kaushik, G., 2010, January. AN ANALYSIS OF BUDDHIST FUNERARY STRUCTURES IN HARYANA: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE SITE OF ADI BADRI. In Proceedings of the Indian History Congress (Vol. 71, pp. 1079-1087). Indian History Congress.
  31. ^ a b c d e Saraswati international conference now after geeta jubilee, Rajasthan Patrika, 17 Jan 2018.
  32. ^ a b c International Saraswati Festival to be inaugurated today at Aadibadri, Amar Ujala, 18 Jan 2018.
  33. ^ a b c Haryana government revives ‘Saraswati’ river by pumping 100 cusec water through dug channels in Yamuna, India Today, Aug 2016.
  34. ^ Kunal, Bhirdana and Banawali in Fatehabad
  35. ^ a b c d After History, It’s The Turn Of Geography, Tehalka, 11 July 2015.
  36. ^ "yamunanagar.nic.in About Kapal Mochan Temple". Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ Sarasvati Sodh Sansthan Publications 2015
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