International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Systems

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Geology of the Saraswatiriver -the Lost Natural Heritage of the Indian Subcontinent.


Affiliations
1 Department of Geology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra 136 119, Haryana., India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


The Saraswati River supports the development of Vedic Civilisation in India. The river along with its tributaries constitutes the unique natural heritage of the country. Geological studies carried out to ascertain the existence of a huge paleo-river channel in the north-western alluvial plains point towards the presence of a mighty river system in near geologic past. The sedimentological characteristics of the alluvium in parts of Haryana point towards the presence of a trans-Himalayan river system. Remote sensing investigations carried out during the course of study to investigate the probable reasons for desiccation of this mega river reveal that major drainage diversions were caused due to Quaternary tectonics in the Lesser Himalayan terrain. This scientifically justified mythology, which has numerous religious monuments and structures associated with it, has a huge tourist potential.

Keywords

Natural Heritage, Saraswati River, Geology, Tourism
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • BURBANK, D.W. (1992) Causes of recent Himalayan uplift deduced from depositional patterns in the Ganges basin, Nature, v. 357, pp. 680-683.

  • CHAUDHRI, A.R. (2002) Earthquakes – A potential natural hazard. In: L.N. Gupta andG.S.Gill (Eds.), Natural Hazards and their Mitigation, Spl. Vol., Bull. Indian Geol. Assoc., v. 35(2), pp. 61-70.

  • CHAUDHRI, A.R. (2005) Shutter ridges and sag ponds along the Chandigarh Fault, northwestern Himalaya, Department of Sci. and Tech., Seism. Update, v. 1(4), p. 6.

  • CHAUDHRI, A.R. (2006), Study indicates Saraswati channel aquifer, The Tribune, Chandigarh, 1st February, 2006.

  • CHAUDHRI, A. R. (2007a) Neotectonic activities in the Himalayan foothill region - A Case Study. : In O.P. Verma, A.K. Mahajan and Vikram Gupta (Eds.), Natural Hazards, Spl. Vol., Indian Geol. Congress, pp.73-83.

  • CHAUDHRI, A. R. (2007b) `Saraswati water gushes out in Haryana village’, Times ofIndia, Chandigarh, 27th August, 2007.

  • CHAUDHRI, A.R. (2007c) Saraswati River: Research throws light on its origin, The Tribune, Chandigarh, 27th August, 2007.

  • CHAUDHRI, A.R. (2007d) Saraswati saga breaks new ground at Jind, The Indian Express, Chandigarh, 13th September, 2007.

  • CHAUDHRI, A.R. (2008a) Seismo-tectonic characterisation of the Himalayan foothill region – a case study. In : P.S. Saklani (Ed.), Himalaya (Geological Aspects), v. 5, Satish Publ., New Delhi, pp. 41-50.

  • CHAUDHRI, A. R. (2008b) Zee News exclusive program `Saraswati Ka Sach’ telecast on 17.2.2008 at 8.00 pm.

  • CHAUDHRI, A. R. (2008c) Civilization along the Saraswati River – A scientific approach, In : S. Kalyanraman (Ed.), Vedic River Saraswati And Hindu Civilization, Aryan Books Intl., New Delhi, pp. 356-377.

  • CHAUDHRI, R.S. (1971) Petrogenesis of Cenozoic sediments of northwestern Himalaya, Geol. Mag., London, v. 108, pp. 143-148.

  • CHAUDHRI, R.S. (1972) Heavy minerals from the Siwalik formations of the northwestern Himalaya, Sed. Geol., The Netherlands, v. 8., pp. 77-82.

  • CHAUDHRI, R.S. (1975) Sedimentology and genesis of the Cenozoic sediments of northwestern Himalayas (India). Geologie Rundschau, v. 64, pp. 958-977.

  • CHAUDHRI, R.S. (1984) Heavy mineral zones in the Cenozoic sequence of the Panjab and Kumaon Himalaya, Curr. Trends in Geology, v. 5, pp. 1-14.

  • CHAUDHRI, R.S. (1991) Sedimentation model of the Cenozoic sediments of the Himalaya, Publ. Cent. Adv. Stud. Geol., Panjab Univ., v. 4 (N.S.), pp. 1-32.

  • CHAUDHRI, R.S. (2000) Geology of the Siwalik Group of western and central Himalaya. In: S.P. Mittal, R.K. Aggarwal and J.S. Samra (Eds.), Fifty Years of Research on Sustainable Resource Management in Shivaliks, Publ. Central Soil andWater Consrv. Res. and Trng. Inst., Chandigarh, pp. 3-18.

  • CHOPIN, C. (2003) Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism: tracing continental crust into the mantle, Earth and Planet. Sci. Lettrs., v. 15 , pp. 1-14.

  • CLIFT, P. D. and BLUSZTAJN, J. (2005) Reorganization of the western Himalayan river system after five million years ago, Nature, v. 438, pp. 1001-1003.

  • DECONTO, R. M. and POLLARD, D. (2003) Rapid Cenozoic glaciation of Antarctica induced by declining atmospheric Co2, Nature, v. 421(6920), pp. 245-249.

  • FRAWLEY, D. (1999) The myth of Aryan invasion in India. In: B.P. Radhakrishna and S.S. Merh (Eds.), Vedic Saraswati – Evolutionary History of A Lost River of Northwestern India, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, No. 42, pp. 57-62.

  • GARZANTI, E., VEZZOLI, G., ANDÒ, S., LAVÉ, J., ATTAL, M., LANORD, C. F. and DECELLES, P. (2007) Quantifying sand provenance and erosion (Marsyandi River, Nepal Himalaya), Earth and Planet. Sci. Lett., v. 258, pp. 500–515.

  • GUPTA, A.K., SHARMA, J.R., SREENIVASAN, G. and SRIVASTAVA, K.S. (2004) New findings on the course of River Saraswati, Jour. Indian Soc. Rem. Sensing, v. 32(1), pp. 1-24.

  • GUPTA, A.K., BHADRA, B.K. AND SHARMA, J.R. (2008) Saraswati drainage system of Haryana – satellite based study, In: S. Kalyanraman (Ed.), Vedic River Saraswati And Hindu Civilization, Aryan Books Intl., New Delhi, pp. 46-64.

  • HILLEBRANDT, A. (1891) Vedic Mythology, Motilal Banarsi Das Publ. Co., Delhi. MACDONNEL, A.A. AND KEITH, A.B. (1912) Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, Motilal Banarsi Das Publ. Co., Delhi.

  • OLDHAM, C. F. (1886) On probable changes in the geography of the Punjab and its rivers an historic-geographical study, Jour. Asiatic Soc., v. 55, pp. 322-343.

  • PARRISH, R. R., GOUGH, S. J., SEARLE, M.P. and WATERS, D.J. (2006) Plate velocity exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure eclogites in the Pakistan Himalaya, Geology, v. 34(11), pp. 989-992.

  • RADHAKRISHNA, B. P. (1999) Vedic Saraswati and the dawn of Indian Civilization In: B.P. Radhakrishna and S.S. Merh (Eds.), Vedic Saraswati – Evolutionary History of A Lost River of Northwestern India, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, No. 42, pp. 5-13.

  • SAHAI, B. (1999) Unravelling the Lost Vedic Saraswati. In: B.P. Radhakrishna and S.S. Merh (Eds.), Vedic Saraswati – Evolutionary History of A Lost River of Northwestern India, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, No. 42, pp. 121-142.

  • STEIN, A. (1942) A survey of ancient sites along the Saraswati River, The GeographicalJournal, v. 99 (4), pp. 173-182.

  • VALDIYA, K.S. (1996) River Piracy – Saraswati that disappeared, Indian Acad. Sci., Bangalore, Resonance, v. 1(5), pp. 19-28.

  • WAKANKAR, V. S. (1999) Where is the Saraswati river ? Fourteen historical findings of the Archaeological Survey. In : B.P. Radhakrishna and S.S. Merh (Eds.), Vedic Saraswati – Evolutionary History of A Lost River of Northwestern India, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, No. 42, pp. 53-56.

  • YASH PAL, SAHAI, B., SOOD, R.K. and AGARWAL, D.P. (1980) Remote sensing of the lost Saraswati river, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., Earth and Planet. Sci., v. 69, pp. 317-331.

  • YE, K., LIU, J. B. , CONG, B. L. , YE, D. N., XU, P., OMORI, S. and MARUYAMA, S. (2002) Ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) low-Al titanites from carbonate-bearing rocks in Dabieshan-Sulu UHP terrane, eastern China, Amer. Mineralogist, v. 87, pp. 875–881.


Abstract Views: 366

PDF Views: 0




  • Geology of the Saraswatiriver -the Lost Natural Heritage of the Indian Subcontinent.

Abstract Views: 366  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

A. R. Chaudhri
Department of Geology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra 136 119, Haryana., India

Abstract


The Saraswati River supports the development of Vedic Civilisation in India. The river along with its tributaries constitutes the unique natural heritage of the country. Geological studies carried out to ascertain the existence of a huge paleo-river channel in the north-western alluvial plains point towards the presence of a mighty river system in near geologic past. The sedimentological characteristics of the alluvium in parts of Haryana point towards the presence of a trans-Himalayan river system. Remote sensing investigations carried out during the course of study to investigate the probable reasons for desiccation of this mega river reveal that major drainage diversions were caused due to Quaternary tectonics in the Lesser Himalayan terrain. This scientifically justified mythology, which has numerous religious monuments and structures associated with it, has a huge tourist potential.

Keywords


Natural Heritage, Saraswati River, Geology, Tourism

References