Yamuna: The Divine Life Sustainer

Yamuna earlier called Yami, Kalindi; Yamuna is the daughter of Surya or the Sun God and sister of Yamraj the God of Death.

Yamuna is hugely venerated in Hinduism and Yami along with Ganga comes under the 7 holy rivers or the ‘Saptnadi’; this divine goddess is also called the river of heaven and it is bought to this earth by ascetic practices to please the goddess which was done by ‘Sapt Rishi’ or the Seven Great Sages, she first descended to this earth in a mountain named Mount ‘Kalinda’ this is why she is also called ‘Kalandi’.

In the ‘Purans’ it is mentioned that by bathing in Yamuna only once can make a human being break free from all the sins, suffering before death, purification of mind.

Yamuna is widely associated with lord Krishna and lord Shiva as well.

The journey of Yamuna begins from Uttarakhand where ‘Yamnotri’ glacier in ‘Garhwal Himalayas’ is situated.

By the gradual melting of the Yamnotri glacier baby Yami is born and this is her birthplace, in Hinduism called the ‘Yamnotri Dham’; Yami plays amidst the slopes of the Lower Himalayas, twisting, turning and meandering like a princess who is dancing in her own eternal joy, enjoying the ups and downs of the mountains she continues her voyage.

Then Yami enters Himachal Pradesh as she crosses ‘Ponta Sahib’ which is a venerated place for Sikhs as Ponta Sahib hosts a ‘Gurudwara’ called the ‘Gurudwara Sahib’ and this is a very auspicious place to worship in Sikhism.

Slowly Kalandi grows up and she crosses Himachal Pradesh then delicately swirling along the border of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh then Yami enters Delhi where the pollution levels of Yamuna hike enormously and the water of this divine goddess becomes extremely toxic all this is just because of the greed of human beings for money; as there are so many industrial factories discharging their toxic effluents and sewage water in to this mighty river.

Just think that Yamuna is the lifeline of so many people.

Our this behaviour shows nothing other than that we are becoming a master at manipulating nature and her resources; but don’t forget that nature will also take her toll in many different ways like this year in summers the water of Yamuna was on the brim to dry and so many people struggled due to the shortage of water but this is not the fault of the lay man alone but the major fault is also of the wealthy people.

It is just so much shocking to know that the 22 Km stretch of Yamuna from Wasirabad and Okhla Barrage in Delhi covers the 80% of pollution of the Yamuna river making Yamuna the most polluted in Delhi; till Yami reaches Uttar Pradesh she becomes less polluted.

Thus it needs to be addressed because the situation will become more and more worse every year and all this is becoming an emergency now.

Afterwards Kalandi flows through Uttar Pradesh getting a bit tired after this 1376 Km long herculean voyage.

Here she also meets the world famous monument Taj Mahal.

Finally, Kalandi goes to meet her best friend the sacred river Ganga. Kalandi merges finally with Ganga concluding this epic saga.

The merging point of Ganga and Yamuna is very auspicious in Hinduism is called the Triveni Sangam and it is said that the creator Brahma performed a great Yagya here and bathing in these holy water frees on from the cycle of rebirth or Moksha.

In every 12 years there is a huge Hindu Pilgrimage called the Kumbh Mela and numerous people come to take bath in Sangam and it has high significance to bathe in Triveni (which is in Prayagraj) during this period of time.

Therefore, this is the epic saga of the mighty river Yamuna.