Scientists from the IIT Kharagpur have claimed to have found the remnant of the lost mythical river ‘Saradha’ in Odisha’s Puri district, which is famous for its historic antiquities, architectural grandeur and Jagannath temple.
The researchers studied the traces of a palaeo-channel beyond and within the heart of Puri town with the help of geology, satellite images and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey and concluded that it (paleo-channel) was a river that once existed between the two temples — 12th century Shree Jagannath temple and Gundicha temple.
In their study ‘Palaeo-channel bisecting Puri town, Odisha: vestige of the lost river ‘Saradha’IJ’ published in the latest journal of Current Science, the researchers said it might be the Saradha river. A palaeo-channel, is a remnant of an inactive river or stream channel that has been filled or buried by younger sediment.
Researchers Subhamoy Jana, William Kumar Mohanty, Saibal Gupta, Chirashree Srabani Rath and Priyadarshi Patnaik said in the study that various satellite imagery manipulation techniques — band combination, NDVI, MNDWI, linear spectral un-mixing algorithm, density slice and spatial profiling — indicate the existence of water components along with vegetation bands, and the presence of a sinusoidal palaeo-channel trace.
“This is interpreted to represent the remnants of an extinct river valley. The GPR survey also suggests that a subsurface river valley, about 128 m wide, existed across parts of the Grand Road. A large, sinusoidal water body near the sea beach at Puri, may represent the last remains of the dried-up channel. Integration of all these features suggests that a river once existed between Jagannath and Gundicha temples in Puri town,” they said.
They argued that it may correspond to the ‘lost’ Saradha river described in ancient literature. According to ancient texts, like Skanda Purana, Brahma Purana and Kapila Samhita, King Indradyumna of the Vaishnava tradition constructed a temple on the top of the Blue Mountain (Neelachala/ Neelashaila). As guided by the lord, he found a wooden log floating on the seashore and installed the wooden idols of lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra in the temple at Puri, as per the mythology.
Besides reference to the Jagannath Temple in many Puranic texts, the name of the ancient river Saradha finds mention in the Madala Panji, an official chronicle of the Jagannath temple.
Similarly, the Katakarajavamshabali, a compiled work from old historical records, prepared and preserved in the temple archive since the early part of 19th century, refers to the existence of a river in between the Jagannath Temple and Gundicha Temple, cutting across the present-day Grand Road between the two temples.
According to these texts, six chariots were used during the Ratha Yatra (car festival), three on each side of the river channel, to carry the idols on either side of the river. Another folklore refers to lord Jagannath appearing in the dream of Saradha Devi, wife of Puri Gajapati Narasingha Dev, and instructing her to close the river by filling it with sand in order to make the Ratha yatra smoother.
The riverbed is also referred to in various poems of the 16th-18th century poets, which mention the sacredness and purity of the holy sand (Saradha Bali) of the river bed in the vicinity of the Gundicha Temple. In Odiya, Bali is sand. Remnants of the original river, in the form of water body and wet lands, still exist to the north of the Grand Road, says the study.
A few years ago, another team of researchers from the same institute had identified another palaeo-channel of another river of possible historical significance, the ‘Chandrabhaga’, in proximity of Sun Temple at Konark.
The findings hold importance given that the identification of such abandoned river channels is important as they may help in identifying freshwater pockets within the densely populated areas of the city in the coastal region, assert the researchers.
In addition, the findings also show potential natural pathways for channeling of the drainage system. From a geological perspective, this study highlights that a number of palaeo-channels exist in the delta region.