Sarayu river, flows through Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and confluences with Mahakali and Karnali rivers in Bahraich District of UP. Mahakali forms the southwestern part of India-Nepal border. Some mapmakers consider the Sarayu to be just a section of the lower Ghaghara River. Saryu is considered sacred in Hinduism. Ayodhya is situated on the banks of river Sarayu. On Ram Navami, the festival that celebrates the birthday of Lord Rama, thousands of people take a dip in the Sarayu River at Ayodhya.
Background
Etymology
The name is the feminine derivative of the Sanskrit root सर् sar "to flow"; as a masculine stem, means "air, wind", i.e. "that which is streaming".
The river is mentioned three times in the Rigveda. The banks of the Sarayu are the location of the slaying of two Aryas at the hands of Indra in RV 4.30.18. It is listed together with western tributaries to the Indus: Rasā, Anitabha, Kubha, Krumu and the Sindhu itself as obstacles crossed by the Maruts in RV 5.53.9. In this verse, Purisini appears as its epithet. At this stage of the earlier Rigveda, it apparently was a river west of the Indus system that corresponds to Iranian Harayu, the Hari River. It is invoked together with Sindhu and Sarasvati in the late hymn RV 10.64.
While the Sarayu river plays an important role in Rigveda and Atharvaveda along with Ramayana. Ayodhya, capital of King Rama is mentioned on the banks of Sarayu river. Sarayu river is mentioned in great details in Ramayana, Ayuthya, as locally called, is the ancient capital of Shyam Desh and king of Thailand is still revered decedent of King Rama of Ramayana. It is a tributary of the Ganges which meets two other rivers at the confluence in Uttar Pradesh. According to the regional versions of the Ramayana written in different Indian languages, especially in Ram Charit Manas by Goswami Tulsi Das 1.5.6, the Sarayu flowed beside the ancient city of Ayodhya, which is in modern day Uttar Pradesh. It is a tributary of the Ghaghara. This Sarayu played a vital role in the city and life of Ayodhya, and according to the Ram Charit Manas, Rama, the seventh Avatar of Vishnu immersed himself in the river to return to his eternal Mahavishnu form, after he retired from the throne of Kosala. His brothers Bharata and Shatrughna also joined him, as did many devout followers. The Sarayu is also the river on whose banks King Rama was born. In Ramayana, the banks of the River Sarayu is also the place where King Dashratha accidentally killed Shravan Kumar, and Shravan's aged parents had cursed the king that he too will die from the grief of loss of son. Ramayana mentions that Laxman first and then Rama too, left their human body by entering into Sarayu river. Aciravati was one of the tributaries of the Sarayu, has been identified with the modern Rapti river. Ancient city ofSravasti, once capital of Kosala Kingdom, stood on the western bank of the Achirvati. The river was a tributary of the Sarayu. It was one of the five great rivers that constituted the Ganges group of rivers and one of the sacred rivers of the Buddhist midland.
was a princess of Ayodhya, who married king Suro of Geumgwan Gaya of Korea. In 2008, her memorial was built by the Korean government on the west bank of Sarayu river, and Ayodhya was declared as sister city of Incheon.
Hydrology
The Sarayu rises at Sarmul, which is located in the extreme north of the district Bageshwar of Uttarakhand on the southern slope of a ridge of the Nanda Kot. It flows through the Kumaonhimalayas, and passes by the towns of Kapkot, Bageshwar and Seraghat before flowing into the Mahakali at Pancheshwar. The Sarayu forms again at the confluence of the Karnali and Mahakali in Bahraich District at. It initially flows into south eastern direction till it reaches Ramnagar, where it takes a turn towards the east and flows towards the towns of Faizabad and Ayodhya. It continues flowing eastwards and passes through the towns of Tanda and Barhalganj before receiving the Rapti from its left at. It flows into the Ganges near the town of Chhapra at.
In fiction
Sarayu is also the name of the river that flows by the fictional town of Malgudi created by the Indian writer R. K. Narayan. Sarayu is the name given to the personification of the Holy Spirit in "The Shack" created by American Novelist William P. Young.
