Question

The most sacred river in ancient India was river
1. Ganga
2. Sarasvati
3. Brahmaputra
4. Indus

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 2 : Sarasvati

• The Saraswati River mentioned in superlative terms in the ancient Indian scriptures like the Rig Veda has been a subject of scientific curiosity for over a century.
• The Nadistuti sukta  "hymn of praise of rivers", is hymn 10.75 of the Rigveda.
• The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda (10.75) mentions the Sarasvati between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, 
• Considered sacred by devout Hindus, it is described as “surpassing in majesty and might of all other rivers, pure in her course from the mountains to the ocean”. No other river is glorified thus in the Rig Veda.
• Rigvedic and later Vedic texts have been used to propose identification with present-day rivers, or ancient riverbeds.
• Book 6 of the Rig Veda includes a hymn called the ‘Nadistuti Sukta’, which sings praises of the Saraswati as being “perfect mother, unsurpassed river, supreme goddess”.

 

• There is an ongoing debate regarding the origin of the river Sarasvati.
• The Saraswati river is sacred for Hindus due to its mention in the Vedas.
• Given Saraswati’s importance in Hinduism —it forms the Hindu holy triumvirate along with the Ganga and Yamuna, and their hypothetical confluence in Allahabad is the site of the world’s biggest gathering every 12 years during the Kumbh Mela 
• A number of archaeologists and geologists have identified the Sarasvati river with the present-day Ghaggar-Hakra River, or the dried up part of it.