A Tale of Two Rivers

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN INDIA

Two rivers that are major lifelines to the Indian subcontinent provide sustenance for hundreds of millions of people. Born not too far apart in the glacial areas of the world’s highest mountain ranges, they each flow majestically more than 1,500 miles [2,400 km], mainly through two countries. They empty into two different seas. Each river was the cradle of an ancient civilization. Each saw the birth of a major religion. Each is appreciated by man for its gifts, and one is worshiped, even today. Their names? The Indus and the Ganges, the latter known here in India as the Ganga.

BECAUSE mankind needs water to survive and prosper, early civilizations developed around rivers. Since rivers were sometimes personified as gods and goddesses, early records can be shrouded in mythology. This is certainly true of the history of the Indus and the Ganga, also known in India as Ganga Ma (Mother Ganga).

To both Hindus and Buddhists, 22,027-foot-high [6,714 m] Mount Kailash and nearby Lake Mapam Yumco, also known in Tibet as Manasarovar, are the abode of the gods. For a long time, it was believed that four great rivers flowed from the lake out of the mouths of animals. The lion river was the Indus, and the peacock river was the Ganga.

The Tibetans did not welcome foreign explorers. In 1811, however, an English veterinary surgeon employed by the East India Company traveled through the land in various disguises. He reported that no rivers ran out of Manasarovar, though some mountain streams did run into it. It was not until the early 20th century that the headwaters of both the Indus and the Ganga were located. The Indus has its source in Tibet, north of the Himalayas, and the Ganga starts in an ice cave in the Himalayan slopes of northern India.

The Farakka Barrage, on the Ganga, ensures an adequate and stable supply of water to the river for the increased shipping near Calcutta Port.

As is true with many rivers, pollution is a major problem with the Ganga. Thus, in 1984 the ambitious Ganga Action Plan was set in motion by the Indian government. Attention was given to converting sewage into fertilizer or biogas, diverting drains emptying into the river, and building treatment plants for chemical wastes.

Moving east through India, some Aryan tribes began to settle in the plains of the Ganga. Thus the Aryan division of the subcontinent developed its unique culture in northern India, primarily associated with the Ganga River, where it largely remains today.

While Hinduism was started around the Indus, Buddhism has its roots near the Ganga. It was at Sarnath, near Varanasi, that Siddhārtha Gautama, called Buddha, preached his first sermon. It is said that he swam across the Ganga’s great width when he was 79 years old.

How Are the Rivers Today?

River water is more critical today than it was 4,000 years ago, when people were drawn to the banks of the Indus and the Ganga for sustenance. To support the great populations of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the rivers must be carefully controlled. (See the map on pages 16-17.) International agreements have been necessary, since the rivers flow through more than one country.