Yamuna River Home > Delhi > Attractions > Rivers And Lakes > Yamuna River

Yamuna River

The Yamuna, the second largest tributary river of the Ganges or Ganga is also known as Jamuna. Located in northern India, the river beginning from the Yamunotri Glacier, of 6,387 metres high at the slopes to the south of Banderpooch peaks, at the Lower areas of Himalayas, in Uttarakhand, moves  a total of One thousand three hundred and seventy six kilometre.

This river comes together with the River Ganga at Allahabad, known as Triveni Sangam, the place where Kumbha Mela is organised every 12 years. It passes through states such as Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as well as Delhi merging with its tributaries, such as Tons, the longest one in Chambal, at Uttarakhand, then by River Sindh, Ken and the Betwa.

In the meantime, the alluvial created at the area in Doab near to Yamuna-Ganges is lush.  About  fifty seven million persons are expected to rely on the waters from River Yamuna. The yearly flow of the river is recorded as nearly 10,000 cbm while usage is recorded at four thousand and four hundred cubic billion metres, amounting to 96% by the irrigation and over 70% 0f the water supplies in Delhi.

Yamuna, like the River Ganga is also revered in  Hindu religion and is considered as deity. According to Hindu mythology, Yamuna, the son god, Surya’s daughter, called Yami is also considered as sister of Yama, the god of death. It is believed that a dip in the sacred waters will help the individual to free from the anguish of demise.

Yamuna river with quality water is 375 km long, reaching to the place, Wazirabad, located within Delhi, commencing from the Yamunotri located at Himalayas. At the same time, the river is polluted by the waste from the households, as well as from the dumping spot by Muncipality, soil at the area is also eroding away as a result of deforestation, chemicals from fertilizers, herbiciedes and pesticides.

History

Originating from the Sanskrit name, yama meaning twin, the river flows corresponding to the River Ganga. Yamuna is mentioned in Rig veda, composed at some point during the period of Vedas from  1700-1100BC, as well as in Atharvaveda and other Brahmanas such as the Shatapatha Brahmana and Aitareya Brahmana.

The story of Yamuna, mentioned in Rig Veda talks of her extreme devotion towards Yama, her twin. Later on she goes on find Krishna, an appropriate match. Further details of the story are given at a Sanskrit hymn of the 16th century, known as Yamunashtakam, a verse by Vallabhacharya, the philosopher.

At the same time, Ganges is taken to be an essence of abstinence and higher knowledge, going on to deliver moksha. Meanwhile, Yamuna the owner of unlimited love and compasion can free us from demise, as well.  

According to surveys by Seleucus I Nicator, an officer with Alexander the Great and another from Diadochi, the river was mentioned as Iomanes (Ioames). Megasthanes, a geographer and traveller from Greece, at a later date put the river as Indica, describing area surrounding it as territory of Surasena. At the same time, in Mahabaratha, the place of Pandavas, known as Indhraprastha is said to be located by the riverside of Yamuna.

Yamuna considered an arm of the Ghaggar River (moreover called the River Vedic Sarasvati), is later expected to change its route eastward going on to become a  branch of river Ganga.

Importance of the river basin by Ganges–Yamuna as well as the area at Doab is derived based on the information that most of the great empires are located within exceedingly productive basin by Ganga–Yamuna, inclusive of the Empire of Chandra Gupta Maurya (321–185 BC), Kushan Empire (1st–3rd centuries CE), Sunga Empire (185–73 BCE), Gupta Empire (280–550 CE), Magadha (ca 600 BC), or in cities such as  Mathura and Pataliputhra.

Tributaries

Tons River, One of the largest and longest tributary of River Yamuna, mount at the height of twenty thousand seven hundred and twenty feet at Bandarpoonch mountain. The river has a big basin at Himachel Pradesh. With a large basin in Himachal Pradesh, the river merges with river Yamuna, below the Kalsi located at Uttarakhand, close to Dehradun.

River Hindon,  Starting at district Saharanpur from higher Shivalik area by the lower ranges of Himalaya, the river has a 7,083 square kilometres catchment area travelling 400 kilometres (250 mi) passing Meerut, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Noida, Muzaffarnagar District and Baghpat District, before it merges with Yamuna, just at the outskirts of Delhi.

River Ken, passing via the Bundelkhand area in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the river starts close to a village Ahirgawan at Jabalpur district travelling about  four hundred and twenty seven km distance before uniting with the River Yamuna by the village area known as Chilla, located in Uttar Pradesh close to Fatehpur, and has a general drainage basin of twenty eight thousand fifty eight sq.km.

Chambal River, better known in earlier times as Charmanvati, the river flows through Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, creating a basin for drainage of one lakh fourty three thousand two hundred and nineteen sq.km travels the entire nine hundred and sixty kilometre, beginning at its starting place, close to Mhow, at the Ranges of Vindhya prior to uniting with the river Yamuna located at the district Etawah, by the south-eastern part of Sohan Goan, trailed by the other arm of River Sindh.

Sasur Khaderi River, a tributary in Fatehpur district it is known as Sasur Khaderi.

Geography

The catchement of the river is filled with vegetations such as alpine, semi alpine, temperate and sub tropical. Vast areas covered with forests also support animal life. To the west of the Yamuna, no elephants are to be found at over 900 kilometres (560 mi) of the western Himalayas and their foothills. Forests at the lower Yamuna offer ideal corridors for elephant movement. The chief forests to be found here are of sal, khair (acacia), and sissoo (rosewood) trees, and the Chir Pine forests of the Shivalik Hills.

Related Image

home
home
home
home
home
home

Related Topics

Bhalswa Lake

Bhalswa Lake is a water body in the northwestern parts of Delhi. This lake is also known by the name of Bhalswa Horseshoe....

Naini Lake

One of the quite famous locations of Delhi, the Naini Lake is situated in the Model Town and is reasonably well maintained....

Dam Dama Lake

Dam Dama Lake is one of the very popular...

Hauz Khas Lake

When Delhi Development Authority (DDA)...