Popular Hindu tradition

We wish to correct the issue of the “mythical Saraswathi” which is annually repeated in the press whenever this pilgrimage in India is reported. What the picture shows is a popular ancient Hindu tradition. The Sarasvati River does not presently exist so it is deemed “mythical.” Recent research by archaeologists has revealed that the Sarasvati River did in fact exist but due to climate changes it is now a small river. The earliest civilisation developed along the banks of this river and then spread to other areas such as along the Indus River.

Bhagwan Singh in his Vedic Harrapans wrote that “literary evidence is emphatic that the Vedic civilisation evolved and developed along the Sarasvati Valley. After having matured it expanded over a large area and urban centres on the Sarasvati shifted to the bank of the Indus and its tributaries as the Sarasvati gradually became more unpredictable and less navigable due to siltation and formation of marshlands in its course.”

SR Rao in his Dawn and Devolution of Harrapan Civilisation stated that “the fast accumulating evidence from the fresh excavations of Indus civilisation suggests that it is not invasions but natural calamity and deteriorating ecological conditions contributed to decay of the Harrapan towns and cities.” NS Rajaram and David Prawley in their Vedic Aryans and The Origins of Civilisations stated that the “Rig Veda reflects a maritime culture centred on the Sarasvati River in India as its ancient homeland.”

Clearly, tradition continues even though reality has changed in terms of the changes with the Sarasvati River.

A final point is that this ancient history is directly linked to that of Trinidad with the Indian-Trinidad presence since May 30, 1945. Many people in the country in fact carry the name “Sarasvati.”

KAMAL PERSAD
Carapichaima