GANGA : THE GREAT RIVER 

                                     By Devendra Srivastava

Ganga is the only river in the whole world to be given the appellation of 'Mother'(Ganga ma) by the people.

          Since the  first human settlement  in the Ganga Basin that began around 45000 B.C. , the river has been a cradle and a silent spectator of virtually every human activity - from the early nurtur of rice gained and introduction of iron, to the second urbanisation of India after Harappas.Its very name evokes the panorama of Indian history.Religious creeds like Jainism and Buddhism evolved on its bank while kingdoms like Magadh, dynasties like Gupt and Harsh emerged, flourised and perished here.Technology and Engineering joined hands to enhance the life giving function of Ganga - water tanks were made for irrigation at Shringverpur as early as 1 B.C. ,And during Colonial period Sir Proby Cautley developed the largest irrigation system in the world, re-routing the bulk of her waters into the Upper Ganga Canal.Streams of knowledge flowed unhindered along its bank - King Suchi of Magadh wroye 'Jyotish Vedanga' and Shushrut wrote treatises covering pulse diagnosis,hernia,cataract,toxicology,psychiatry and other aspects of medicines.The current of Bhakti movement surged to produce poets libke Tulsi, Kabir, Chaitanya, Ravidas and Dadu.The literary movement cointinued to grow with Bhartendu, Harishchandra, Permchanda Shukla,Sumitranandan Pant, Nirala, Mahadevi Verma and the like.