Bharat's Historical maritime, riverine tradition

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Water management: Historical maritime, riverine tradition

of Bharat

Introduction

The history of science and technology in Bharat is replete with

examples of the use of

scientific water management techniques and the setting up water grid

to support a

regulated irrigation system and flood control mechanisms. Aapah,

sacred waters have

united the nation for millennia and Manasarovar, Mount Kailas has

always been the

cultural capital of Bharat.

With this Bharatiya tradition, we can confidently move forward with

the programme for

creating a National Water Grid and use of water harvesting and

conservation procedures

to ensure optimum utilization of the country's water resource and to

ensure the equitable

distribution of the resource to all parts of the country and as a

corollary, mitigate the

recurrent phenomena of twin problems of flooding in some parts and

of drought

situations in other parts. Such a national perspective in managing

the water resource will

help achieve the target of doubling of agricultural production in

the next 5 years to cope

with the anticipated growth in population. The National Water Grid

project by itself has

the potential of taking Bharat into a developed country status by

the year 2010.

Irrigation in the Sarasvati Civilization period

A profile of a Gabarband, on river Hab.

At Mehergarh Period II (Burj Basket

Market period): "The charred seeds of

wheat and barley belonging to the

species triticum sphaerococcum and

hordeum phaerococcum that,

according to L. Costantini, grow only

on irrigated fields, also were collected

from the ashy layers" of P:eriod II

(Jarrige, Jarrige, Meadow and

Quivron, 1995, Mehrgarh: Field

Reports 1974-1985, from Neolithic

times to the Indus Civilization,

Karachi, Department of Culture and

Tourism of Sindh, Pakistan,

Department of Archaeology and

Museums, French Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, pp. 318-19)"

An irrigation system used involved bunding including the

construction of a low earthen

or stone wall, known as kach or gabarband. There are many gabarbands

in Sindh

2

Kohistan, Kirthar area and Baluchistan (Gedrosia). Gabarband means

a 'Zoroastrian dam'

because gabars are Zoroastrians or fire-worshippers. Gabarbands, as

shown in the figure,

are L-shaped, were used to slow down the flow of water in a stream,

and to direct the

flood waters and to allow the build up of alluvium behind the

structures. Louis Flam

(1981, The Palaeogeography and prehistoric settlement patterns in

Sind, Pakistan,

(4000-2000 BC), PhD Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania) notes

that the gabarband

began in the Amri-Nal phase in the first half of 3rd millennium BCE.

The gabarbands

ensured the conservation of soil and created an agricultural field

with alluvial soil.

The kallanai or Grand Anicut on River Kaveri is patterned like a

gabarband.

Chola king of 11th century, who brought sacred Ganga waters to the

temple

tank, Cholaganga at Gangaikonda Cholapuram

Rajendra Chola (1014-1044). He was victorious upto the banks of

River Ganga.

Gangaikonda Cholapuram is the name of the place, 61 kms. from

Tiruchirapalli, where he

built a temple for Brihadees'vara to commemorate his victories.

Gangaikonda

Cholapuram means, `the city of the Chola who took the Ganga'.

After his

victorious

campaign,

he did not

ask for

tribute of

land or

gold or

riches; he

asked for

and brought back, water from the river 'Ganga' in a

golden pot, and sanctified the reservoir or the temple tank

called 'Ponneri or Cholaganga'. Thus he was given the

title of 'Gangaikondan'(the one who brought the Ganga).

Gangaikonda Cholapuram. Brihadees'vara temple (11th

century)

A frieze in the temple depicts King Rajendra being

crowned by Somaskanda S'iva accompanied by

Parvati. The serpent adorning the neck of S'iva

becomes the crown.

Chola king who built 2000 years ago, the world's

earliest water-regulator structure in stone at Kallanai (Grand

Anicut)

North of Gangaikonda Cholapuram is the Grand Anicut (or Kallanai) –

24 kms. from Tiruchirapalli

-- built of stone in the second century AD by King Karikaala Chola.

3

L-shaped Kallanai or Grand Anicut on River Kaveri

This is the oldest stone water-diversion or water-regulator

structure in the world. The Lshaped

structure, 329 m. long and 60 m. wide was intended to regulate the

flow of Kaveri

river waters to the northern parts of Tamilnadu, towards Kolladam,

to bring more land of

the Kaveri delta under irrigation channels. The L-shaped structure

is comparable to the

`gabar bands' (dated to circa 5000 years before present) which were

used to fork out the

water flows on the River Sindhu to provide for regulated water

supply to the settlements;

the `gabar bands' perhaps constitute the earliest water-regulator

systems in the world. At

an archaeological settlement of Kalibangan on the banks of River

Sarasvati (tributary,

Drishadvati), a ploughed-field was also discovered attesting to the

early agricultural

systems of the civilization, using the waters drawn from the River

Sarasvati. It is notable

that Rishi Gritsamada talks eloquently about Sarasvati as ambitame,

naditame, devitame

Sarasvati, i.e. best of mothers, best of rivers and best of

divinities. She was indeed a

mother because she nurtured a civilization on her river banks and

gave raise to new

technologies related to material phenomena harnessed with due regard

to the ecological

system.

The water-regulator has stood the test of time. This 2,000 year old

water-regulator stands

firm even today and is considered an engineering marvel. Similar

water management

structures have been found in Southern Africa and it is surmised

that these were built by

the descendants of the people who constructed the Kallanai. The

stone structure is still in

use and a road bridge has been built on top where visitors can drive

through or walk

along. Another dam called the Upper Anicut, which is 685 m long, was

constructed

across the river Kollidam (Coleroon), the branch of River Kaveri, in

the 19th century.

Kallanai was built to harness the waters of River Kaveri in times of

drought. Before this

dam was built, the waters were flowing directly into the sea. The

ancient engineers of

Bharat have created irrigation system with innumerable

interconnected small resevoirs

4

with networks of irrigation channels. This system nassured supply of

water even in the

summer season and avoided devastations caused when the rivers were

in spate.

Legacy of water-management of Sarasvati Civilization (circa 5300

years

before present)

Inner layout of the North Gate,

Dholavira

http://asi.nic.in/album_dholavira2.html

(Archaeological Survey of India website)

Dholavira is an archaeological site of the

civilization in the Rann of Kutch (Gujarat). This site revealed the

most remarkable water

management systems, which are perhaps the earliest systems of their

kind in the world,

dated to about 5300 years before present.

Dholavira. Huge reservoir.

Dholavira. Covered stormwater

drain.

Dholavira. Broadway and

the drain outlet.

The following pictures depict the top-view and the inside

of a stone-lined water drain to carry water into the s.

A remarkable find at Dholavira excavation was a unique

water-harnessing system, together with a storm-water drain. A 7-

metre deep rock-cut

reservoir with a confirmed length of 79 metres was a significant

discovery. This is an

awesome structure because it has been cut through rock, together

with a storage tank and

50 stone-steps. Another, equally deep reservoir of fine stone

masonry was also found.

5

The reservoirs skirted around the metropolis which was fortified

with stone-walls while

the citadel and baths were centrally located on raised ground.

Dholavira. Rock-cut reservoirs.

Giant reservoirs at Dholavira (the largest measuring 263 feet by 39

feet and 24 feet in

depth) that together held more than 325,000 cubic yards of water.

http://www.archaeology.org/0011/newsbriefs/aqua.html

http://asi.nic.in/album_dholavira9.html

6

Dholavira. Well and other water structures.

http://asi.nic.in/album_dholavira4.html

A large well was discovered, equipped with a stonecut

trough to connect the drain meant for conducting

water to a storage tank. Circular structures found at

the site, conjoining like the figure eight are surmised

to be used for bathing. Most notable is a

bathing tank with steps descending inwards.

Water from the nearby streams were

harnessed and gathered into a reservoir and

further moved to charge the dug wells which

supplied water to parts of the metropolis.

Dholavira. Bathing tank.

These structures for effective water conservation and irrigation

management are

exemplified by the pushkarini in Mohenjodaro. The pushkarini is not

unlike the Chola

Ganga tank in front of the Brihadis'vara temple in Gangaikonda

Cholapuram and many

such pushkarinis in front of many temple all over Bharat.

Mohenjodaro Pushkarini with steps

The floor of the tank is water tight due to finely fitted bricks

laid on edge with gypsum

plaster and the side walls were constructed in a similar manner. To

make the tank even

more water tight, a thick layer of bitumen (natural tar) was laid

along the sides of the tank

7

and presumably also beneath the floor. Brick colonnades were

discovered on the eastern,

northern and southern edges. The preserved columns have stepped

edges that may have

held wooden screens or window frames. Two large doors lead into the

complex from the

south and other access was from the north and east. A series of

rooms are located along

the eastern edge of the building and in one room is a well that may

have supplied some of

the water needed to fill the tank.

A brick-lined drain. Mohenjodaro

A note on the history of River Sarasvati and lessons for the

future National Water Grid

Siwalik hills were left-laterally displaced. NNW-SSE-trending

tear fault is still active. The earlier west-flowing rivers were

swung southwards, following the path of the fault. The Bata

stream which joins Yamuna from the west has a very wide valley.

[NRSA, ISRO, Hyderabad]

Earthquakes in Kutch and Saura_s.t.ra, with E-W trending faults.

Bet Dwaraka and Dholavira

are close to these faults.

[After Biswas, 1987;

Rajendran and Rajendran, 2000].

The Indian

Plate is still

active

tectonically

and is moving

at the rate of

7 cms. per

year resulting

in the continuing rise of the Himalayas at the rate of 1

cm. per year.

6000km. Journey of Bha_rata in 40-50 m. years

It is no coincidence that the majority of the Earth's glaciers

are found in the American Cordillera (Andean, Rockies,

and Alaska/BC), Alps, and Himalaya. Each of these are

areas of geologically recent (less than 100 million years)

mountain building associated with Plate Tectonics.

Mountains cause disturbances in airflow, altering global

circulation patterns. The plate tectonics result in migrations

of Himalayan river courses as evidenced by the migraitons

of Kosi and Brahmaputra rivers. The patterns of glacier

recharge also may result in variations in the quantities of

water which flow through the tributaries of River Ganga

making it essential to establish arrangements for inter-basin

8

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

Water resourcecu.m.

Brahmaputra

Mahanadi

Cauvery

Pennar-Palar

water transfers of the type contemplated by National Water

Development Agency to

ensure continued support to command area of irrigation in the Ganga

basin. This will also

help cope with the variations in water runoffs in the river basins

of the country.

Variations in Space:

An equity issue

65% used for agriculture;

8% for drinking

Assam has the highest rainfall; about 1,143 cm. (450 in.)(highest

recorded in the world)

while the desert areas of Rajasthan get less than 1207 mm. (5 in.)

of rainfall.

Brahmaputra and Barak rivers account for 32 per cent of the

country's water resources;

Ganga river accounts for 28 per cent. Both Brahmaputra and Ganga

River Basins are

prone to the recurring feature of floods.

In Brahmaputra the availability of water is estimated to be 18,000

cubic metres (cu.m.);

in Mahanadi, the estimate is 2500 cu.m. and in Kaveri river basin

and Palar-Pennar river

basin, it is as low as 650 cu.m. and 380 cu.m. respectively.

Plate X [c] Lingam in situ in Trench Ai (MS

Vats, 1940, Excavations at Harappa, Vol. II, Calcutta): `In the

adjoining Trench Ai, 5 ft. 6 in.

below the surface, was found a stone lingam [since then I have found

two stone lingams

of a larger size from Trenches III and IV in this mound. Both of

them are smoothed all

over]. It measures 11 in. high and 7 3/8 in. diameter at the base

and is rough all over.' (Vol.

I, pp. 51-52)S'iva linga is shaped after the summit of Mt. Kailas on

the foothills of which is

the Manasarovar Glacier lake which is the cultural capital of Bharat.

9

For millennia, people from all

parts of Bharat have performed

tirthayatras to these sacred

waters. The Manasarovar glacier

the source of 5 mighty rivers:

Sindhu, Sutlej, Sarasvati,

Mahakali-Karnali-Sharada and

Tsangpo-Lohitya-Brahmaputra.

Fiver other rivers emanate from

the eastern Himalayas: Irawaddy,

Salween, Mekong, Yangtse and

Huanghe. These glacial rivers

nourish 250 crores of people in

Bharat, China, Burma, Laos,

Cambodia and Vietnam.

Vedic Sarasvati is not myth; but

bhu_mi satyam, ground-truth, 1600 km. long river, 6 to 8 kms. wide

channels, from

Manasarovar to Prabhas Patan (Somnath). Tamasa (with Yamuna) and

Sutlej rivers, and

Dr.s.advati (now represented by Chautang) were tributaries of River

Sarasvati. [After KS

Valdiya, 1996].

Himalayas are thus the Great Water Tower nourishing great

civilizations of Asia for

millennia and will continue to nourish the civilizations for many

more millennia.

Great Water Tower for 250 crore people

Himalaya is the source of major rivers for 2.5 billion people;

Manasarovar in Tibet yields

Sindhu, Sutlej, Sarasvati, Mahakali-Karnali-Sharada and Tsangpo-

Lohitya-Brahmaputra

rivers; other rivers flowing from eastern Himalaya are: Irawaddy,

Salween, Mekong,

10

Yangtse and Huanghe. Precipitation levels increase along the

Himalaya from Karakorm

(250 cm. per annum) to Cherrapunjee, Assam (1410 cm p.a.)

registering the highest

rainfall regions of the world. Since 1959, Chinese government

estimates that they have

removed over $54 billion worth of timber.

TURBINELLA PYRUM, S'AN:KHA KR.S'ANA conch-pearl bangle

Burial ornaments made of shell and stone disc beads, and turbinella

pyrum (sacred conch,

s'an:kha) bangle,

Tomb MR3T.21,

Mehrgarh, Period

1A, ca. 6500 BCE.

The nearest source

for this shell is

Makran coast near

Karachi, 500 km.

South. [After Fig.

2.10 in Kenoyer,

1998].

Parvati, wore conch

shell bangles – s'an:khaka -- created by Sage Agastya Muni and

Divine architect Vis'vakarma. S'an:kha is a Kubera's treasure –

one of the nine or nava-nidhi-s.

The bronze statue of a woman wearing bangles and holding

a small bowl in her right hand, Mohenjo-daro (DK 12728; Mackay

1938: 274, pl. LXXIII, 9-11); was made using cire perdue (lost wax)

method, a method used by vis' vakarma-s in Swa_mimalai to make

bronze figurines of deities – vis'vakarma

tradition lives on.

Kanjari : a long blouse embroidered and with

mirror work. Shell bangles are worn by a

Kutchi woman, from wrist to shoulder -- a

cultural heritage from the Sarasvati-Sindhu

civilization as evidenced by the bronze statue

found at Mohenjodaro wearing bangles in

similar style.

USES OF TURBINELLA PYRUM

(s'an:kha, conch-shell) for

libation, trumpet,

sealMohenjodaro: libation vessel

made from turbinella pyrum.

Spiralling lines were incised and

filled with red pigment. The vessel is used to anoint kings and to

dispense

sacred water or milk. Used even today for ritual oblations and to

dispense

medicinal preparations.[After Fig. 6.38 in Kenoyer, 1998; J. M.

Kenoyer,

1983, Shell working industries of the Indus Civilization: an

archaeological

and ethnographic perspective, PhD diss., UCAL, Berkeley]. 11.4 X 5.4

cmAt Bet Dwaraka...A small rectangular seal (20 x 18 mm) of conch

shell with a perforated button

at the back was found in trench UW6 of Bet Dwarka. A composite

animal moif representing the

short horned bull, unicorn and goat are engraved in an anticlockwise

direction.

11

Turbinella

pyrum

conch

shell

trumpet.

Hole at

apex is

roughly

chipped.

Used to

call people

for battle or ritually throughout South and

Southeast Asia. Essential component of Hindu and

Buddhist traditions, one of 8 auspicious symbols.

9.66 X 5.1 cm. Harappa; Lahore Museum, P501

A Askilled sawyer and shells ready for sawing,

Calcutta.

Turbinella pyrum shell bangle manufacturing process. [a to f]:

preliminary chipping and

removal of internal columella; [g to k]:

sawing shell circlets; [l to n]: finishing

the shell blank; [o]: final incising

[After Fig. 5.23 in Kenoyer, 1998]

KR.S'A_NU = A BOWMAN?

Shell-cutter with a bow saw

With those aids by which you

defended Kr.s'a_nu in battle, with

which you succoured the horse of the

young Purukutsa in speed, and by

which you deliver the pleasant honey

to the bees; with them, As'vins, come willingly hither. [Kr.s'a_nu

are somapa_las,

vendors or providers of Soma; hasta-suhasta-kr.s'a_navah, te vah

somakrayan.ah

(Taittiri_ya Sam.hita_1.2.7); kr.s'a_nu = agni; purukutsa was the

son of Mandha_ta_ and

husband of Narmada_, the river; the text has only 'of the young',

Purukutsa is added] (RV

1.112.21). S'AN:KHAH KR.S'ANAH = PEARL SHELL WON FROM THE OCEAN

AND WORN AS AN AMULET (AV 4.10.1)

Rigveda: 1.112.21

yai->? k«/zanu/m! As?ne Êv/Sywae? j/ve yai-/roe yUnae/ AvR?Nt/m! Aav?

tm!,

mxu? ià/ym! -?rwae/ yt! s/rfoe_y/s! tai-?roe ^/ ;u ^/iti-?roe Aiñ/na

g?tm! .

12

Sandstone

sculpture of

S'iva Bhairava,

holding a conch

in his left hand,

11th cent.

S'ivapuram,

South Arcot

Dist., Bha_rata

(Dept. of

Archaeology

and Ancient

History, MS

Univ.,

Vadodara).VIS.N.U BLOWING S'AN:KHA TRUMPET

"valampuri por-itta ma_ ta_n:ku tat.akk kai" (mullaippa_t.t.u:

2) "the long arms with finger prints

of valampuri [conch with clockwise turns] and embracing Tirumakal.

(or Laks.mi)" The terracotta

plaque is at the Brooklyn Museum, U.S.A. On stylistic grounds it can

be ascribed to the fifth

century and and also be presumed to have originally belonged to the

brick temple of Bhitargaon,

Kanpur District, Uttar Pradesh. The plaque has been described by Dr.

Army Poster (Figures in

Clays from Ancient India, No. 52, Brooklyn, 1973) and by Dr.

Pratapaditya Pal (The Ideal Image:

The Gupta Sculptural Tradition and Its Influence, Fig. 28, p.81, the

Asiatic Society, Inc. 1978).

Vishnu's fight with the Rakshasas led by Malyava_n, Ma_li and

Suma_li as narrated in the

Uttarka_n.d.a of the Ra_ma_yan.a (Cantoes VI-VIII). [A Terracotta

Panel from Bhitargaon

Showing a Ramayana Scene By P. Banerjee

http://ignca.nic.in/pb0020.htm]

Water-based coastal s'ankha indus try and a riverine civilization

Rishi Gritsamada in Rigveda adores River Sarasvati in ecstatic terms

as: ambitame,

naditame, devitame Sarasvati (best of mothers, best of river and

best of divinities).

This is emphatic evidence that even in the days of the Rigveda (ca.

5000 to 7000 years

Before Present), River Sarasvati had attained the status of a

divinity and was venerated as

an apri devata in the yajnas. She was adored because she nurtured a

civilization on her

banks and saw the emergence of new arts and crafts, a bronze-age

civilization and a

writing system to transport artefacts made by artisans across large

distances in a

maritime, riverine cultural setting. This is exemplified by the Amri-

Nal phase of the

civilization along the coastline of Gulf of Khambat, Gulf of Kutch

and Makran Coast.

The s'ankha (turbinella pyrum) industry which was in vogue in 6500

BCE continues even

today in Kizhakkarai, Tiruchendur in Gulf of Mannar. A valampuri

s'ankha is priced at

Rs. 25,000 and there is an office of the West Bengal Development

Corporation which

buys the s'ankha picked up from the shallow coastls; an average

s'ankha is priced at Rs.

10 and the s'anha kris'aana works on the s'ankha to produce bangles,

conch-trumpets and

oblation vessels. The s'ankha adorns the hands of Narayana and

Bhairava symbolising the

treasures of the waters as do the images of samudra manthanam

painted on a cave in

Ellora and on a frieze in Ankor Wat temple in Cambodia.

13

Samudra or ks.i_rasa_gara manthanam, 'Churning of Ocean of Milk'

Deva and Da_nava

churn the ocean, using Va_suki, the serpent as the rope and Mandara,

the mountain as the

churning rod. Ganesh Lena, Ellora, ca. 11th cent. AD.

Bas relief of the 12th-century temple of Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

Stone step-wells of Bharat

An outstanding achievement of Bharatiya civilization is the

architecture in stone adorned

with stone sculptures and rock-cut viha_ra-s and many forts built in

stone. Breath-taking

are the stepped wells of Gujarat and Rajasthan many of which are

over 1,000 years' old.

Over 120 such wells are founding Gujarat. These are called bawari or

baoli in Rajasthan.

[cf. ba_vi stepped well (Telugu)] "From the 5th to the 19th

centuries, the people of

western India built stone cisterns to collect the water of the

monsoon rains and keep it

accessible for the remaining dry months of the year. These

magnificent structures -

known as stepwells or stepped ponds - are much more than utilitarian

reservoirs. Their

lattice-like walls, carved columns, decorated towers and intricate

sculpture make them

exceptional architecture, while their very presence tells

much about the region's ecology and history."

14

Panna Mia stepped-pond. [After Morna Livingstone, Milo Beach,

2002, Steps to Water; The

Ancient Stepwells of India.]

Vasant Garh stepped-pond,

Rajasthan [After Morna

Livingstone, Milo Beach,

2002, Steps to Water; The

Ancient Stepwells of India.]

Hadi Rani Well, Toda Raisingh, Rajasthan [After Morna

Livingstone, Milo Beach, 2002, Steps to Water; The

Ancient Stepwells of India.]

Rani-ki-vav, Patan, Gujarat [After

Morna Livingstone, Milo Beach,

2002, Steps to Water; The Ancient Stepwells of India.]

Nimrana stepwell, Rajasthan [After Morna Livingstone, Milo Beach,

2002, Steps to Water;

The Ancient Stepwells

of India.]

Stepped well in S'iva vadi temple, Bikaner

[After Morna Livingstone, Milo Beach, 2002,

Steps to Water; The Ancient Stepwells of

India.]

Cistern, Nahgarh fort, Jaipur [After Morna Livingstone,

Milo Beach, 2002, Steps to Water; The Ancient

Stepwells of India.]

The architectural excellence finds an early, utilitarian

expression in the rock-cut reservoirs of Dholavira and

the tradition continues in the building of step-walls in

many parts of the country. "Water. It is revered

whenever it's hard to find, in places where the dry and

draining heat burns for months on end, where monsoon rains visit

only in summer, then

vanish. To cope with this parched life, the people of western India

more than a 1000

years ago built wells. But not the holes in the ground we know as

wells, these were

ornate, magnificent, maze-like structures made of stone, some 90

feet deep. Stepwells;

respite from the heat and hallowed receptacle for that essential

water. A place to bathe, to

15

drink, and to pray." [cf. Morna Livingstone, Milo Beach, 2002, Steps

to Water; The

Ancient Stepwells of India."]

The historical tradition of social dharma in Bharat, connoted by

samudra manthanam, the

dharma of cooperative enterprise will help organize for optimum

utilization of water

resources in the country for many years to come.

16

National River Network including Rebirth of River Sarasvati

Dr. S. Kalyanaraman, Sarasvati Nadi Shodh Prakalp, Akhil Bharatiya

Itihasa Sankalana

Yojana; Associate: Rashtrotthana Research and Communication Centre,

23/4 Temple

Avenue, Chennai 600015 Tel. 044 22350557; kalyan97

18March 2003