The rivers in India are all holy. Our Indus, Kosi, Saryu and Yamuna are sacred to us. They all play an important role in our agriculture and promote our trade.
But this is not all. Each of them is like a temple.
For Indian, a river is like a temple. And, what is more, it is our own mother.
What is the result?
Indian rivers have produced poets, saints and philosopher.
Triveni Sangam at Allahabad is a lovely place but, more than this, it is a holy place. No wonder, out saints and thinkers of old lived and died on the banks of these rivers.
A mother, we know, has to suffer for her children. Our rivers have a similar fate. All our big rivers are born on some hill or mountain. They are fed by snow or rain or both. So, the Indus, the Ganges, the Kosi, the Narmada and the Kaveri flow all the year round. Other rivers are born only during the rains. So, they dry up in summer.
In this way, our rivers feed on ordinary water – snow water and rain water. But the water they give us is the water of life:
- They give health to our fields and forests. The silt they bring is a food for our soil. A barren piece of land is turned into a lovely garden.
- They feed not only our land and plants but also our mills and factories. River water is turned into a new power called electricity, and thus, in turn, helps our trade and industry.
How noble the Indian rivers are! How hard their journey is! But they don’t mind it at all.
They toil across all the rocks and core to us running, playing and smiling. They live their life only by giving just as a mother sacrifices all for her children.