Water in Hindu Scriptures: Thank You, Water!

Abstract

Religion, one of the inseparable institutions of human society has guided mankind in handling and conductzing himself with respect to every aspect of life and nature throughout the history across the world. In India, the divine perceptions brought out by religion have been deeply rooted in man’s thought process. Against this backdrop, this paper throws light on the most basic and the most essential natural resource ‘Water’, its relevance and various dimensions of divinity attached to it as per the religious principle influencing better water management, exploitation of water over time and sciences that have been influenced by religion in ancient India.

Introduction

Water scarcity is affecting every continent of the globe. About 43 countries with 700 million people are witnessing water crisis, and Ethiopia takes the lead followed by Haiti and Niger where water availability is least. The UN computes that although the Millennium Development Goals for clean water supply are achieved, about 800 million people will still lack proper access to safe drinking water by 2015. And 1.8 billion people will still not have access to basic sanitation. A sustained growth of population, demand for better livelihoods and urbanisation are generating a steadily intensified water crisis worldwide. Most of the 60 million people added to the towns and cities of the world every year move to informal settlements. Women spend 200 million hours a day collecting water. The major factor determining the economic growth of several countries will be access to water resources; hence, water may assume the role of prime factor behind the wars fought in the world in future. About two million tons of waste per day is discharged to receiving waters comprising human waste, industrial wastes and chemical and agricultural wastes. More than 3.4 million people die each year globally of water, sanitation, and hygiene-related causes and degraded environment.

Growing population is causing major stress on all the natural resources. Sewage and agricultural runoff has contaminated most of the water resources. Agriculture has always been a major consumer of water and accounts for around 70% of water used. Unsustainable agricultural practices are forcing farmers into resorting to undue exploitation of water. Overuse of water in agriculture is also causing land degradation threatening future food security and livelihoods. Local varieties which are geo specific and season specific are ignored. Further increased urbanisation has added to the complexity in cities facing scarcity, pollution, inequity, etc. Water, sanitation and hygiene-related causes result in morbidity and mortality concerns besides degraded environment. There are several trans-boundary problems due to water scarcity, like Sindhu River dispute between India and Pakistan; dispute over the sharing of Nile waters between Egypt and Sudan; the issue among Thailand, Vietnam, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Cambodia, China and Myanmar pertaining to Mekong River Basin; dispute between India and Bangladesh over the sharing of Ganges waters, Egypt and Ethiopian conflict over Nile and several others.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate from Hinduism thoughts that can help promote conservation and proper water management. The role of culture plays a significant role in effective water resources management. Identifying values in Hindu scriptures is the purpose of the paper, besides drawing lessons to aid current challenges of water management. The methodology adopted is through explaining the religion in brief as protecting nature is part of Hinduism and explaining the various literature sources from where we have sourced the values and principles drawn regarding the precious resource water.

Hinduism

Hinduism is a path of life being practised from time traced back to 10,000 BC as per the records available to the mankind till date. Hinduism is more of a way of life than a religion as this path was not propounded by a single person or an incident, but has just been naturally practised by humans from time immemorial; thus, the religion is described as ‘Sanatana Dharma, the path which does not have a beginning’. As such Hinduism keeps itself away from fundamentalist attitudes , while embracing virtues from anywhere in the universe.¹ Hence, the conception of the whole world as ‘one family’² is derived, making Hinduism the most pacifist faith in the world.³

Ecology and Hinduism

The pacifism emitted by Hinduism does not get confined just to the mankind, but extends very much to the well-being of every living and inert being in the whole universe as everything in nature is equated with the almighty.⁴ God has manifested himself through the creation of this universe, so man is forbidden from exploiting nature and is bound to live in harmony with nature and recognise the divinity that prevails in all elements, including plants and animals.⁵

This is the philosophy behind Hindus worshipping everything. As such, every rite and ritual performed through this path chants coexistence with the nature, as nature happens to be the very base of existence.⁶ Thus, Hinduism has always been an ecologically insightful idea. Environmentalism is an intrinsic part of a divine world outlook in Hinduism.

Hindu Scriptures

As delineated, Hinduism, being a way of life, has branched out itself over time into various subjects and specialisations to comprehend the almighty and help humanity live in coherence with nature in all possible ways and attain the ultimate bliss.⁷ The knowledge of this apparent/mortal world is termed Avidyaa, aparaa vidya (अविद्या/अपराविद्या) and the knowledge of the cosmic world is termed Vidyaa, Paraa vidyaa (विद्या/पराविद्या).⁸ The paraa janana (परा ज्ञानम्/विद्या) has been given more emphasis but with no negligence assigned to the life in the mortal world or without compromising on the worldly life.

Vedas are the foundation rocks on which the structure of Hindu culture, life and scriptures have evolved. Vedas are the most authentic and the most ancient literature available about Hinduism. Etymologically, ‘Veda’ comes from the root verb ‘Vid’ which means knowledge; Vedas are thus a compilation of knowledge meant for guiding mankind.

The Vedas are the direct revelations made to the mankind by the supreme power as there seems to be no evidence of it being written by anybody nor is it possible for a human brain to put forth knowledge in such a perfect order.

Vedas comprise hymns fragmented into four broad chapters,⁹ namely, Rig, Yajus, Sama and Atharvana, based on the themes of hymns. The Rig Veda emphasises knowledge; the Yajur Veda emphasises duties; the Sama Veda emphasises devotion; and the Atharvana Veda emphasises physical sciences.

Each of the four Vedas has its own Samhitaa (a collection) which is, as said above, the direct revelations made to the mankind by the supreme power and is the most valid part of Hindu literature.¹⁰ Apart from ‘Samhitaas’ each Veda has been developed by human efforts with branches called ‘Brahmanas’, ‘Aaranyakaas’ and ‘Upanishads’ which are generally the records of discussions of the ‘Samhitaas’.

An Upaveda exists for every Veda . Ayurveda, the science of life, for Rig Veda; Dhanurveda, the art of disaster management, for Yajur Veda; Gandharva veda, the science of fine arts, for Saama Veda; and Arthaveda, the science of wealth, for Atharvana Veda.

There are six Vedangas or the parts of Vedas called Vyakarana, grammar of Vedas; Chandas, the prosody in Vedas; Niruktham, the thesaurus of Vedas; Shikshaa, the phonetics in Vedas; Jyoutisha, astronomy; and Kalpa, the subject dealing with the ceremonial injunctions of principles in Vedas. Both the Upavedas and Vedangas are the products of manual work.

Chart 1

Chart 2 Chart of Vedangas

All the sciences or Vidya developed by the Hindu civilisation are the extracts of knowledge provided by Vedas. The historical records mention as many as 64 different branches of knowledge that were in practice, but today the literature of the past is available only for a few subjects. The below mentioned subjects could well fit for consideration for a study of the perspectives of water in Hindu/ancient Indian literature.¹¹

Chart 3 Chart of literature considered

Water in Hinduism

Excerpts from Verses : The abundant Hindu writings explain creation in various ways and contexts, but as mentioned earlier, the most authentic of the literature, the Vedas, describes ‘Cosmology’ through a set of hymns called Naasadiiya sooktham (नासदीय सूक्तम्....ऋग्वेदः...... 10.129) in the 10th ‘Mandala’ or the section of Rig Veda. The Naasadiiya sooktham states figuratively that there was nothing called nothing/null/vacuum at the time of creation.¹² It clearly states that God did not craft this universe from nothing. There was something called Ambah,¹³ the eternal and the most primordial state of elements.

Hindu or the Vedic philosophy suggests the presence of five constituents or elements ‘Pancha Bhootas’; they are earth, water, fire , air and ether.¹⁴ These elements emerged out of the ‘Ambhah’, one following the other. This proves that Hindu ideology had inferred that matter could neither be created nor be destroyed but only could transform, in the very early period of human history. Vedas describe that everything in this world is a mixture of the above said five elements in different proportions.¹⁵

Modern science speaks of 108+ elements which constitute the universe and are categorised according to their properties/features in the periodic table. These have been described under five major heads in the ancient Indian sciences thousands of years well before the construction of the periodic table.

The Ambhah advanced from ether to form to air; air emitted fire; fire moved on to shape water which, in turn, formed earth; and earth gave birth to life.¹⁶

Fire moved ahead to form water at ‘Apraketa’ (अप्रकॆत) the subtle and ‘Prakeeta’ (प्रकॆत)¹⁷ the gross state. The ‘Praketa’ or the gross state of water is what is available to view, and hence, water is referred to as Pancheekrutha tatvam. This comes close to the proposition of modern sciences of water being a combination of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen (H₂O).

The origin of the universe has been traced to water itself in many of our ancient texts. In the Taittiriya Samhita,¹⁸ the existence of water in the beginning of creation is acknowledged, and similar declarations are made also in Satapatha Brahmana and Taittiriya Brahmana.

Several Upanishads¹⁹ advocate ‘The core of all creatures is the element earth and the essence of earth is water’.²⁰ ‘The element earth sustains all creatures and the earth is sustained by water, the water gets transformed into herbs and vegetations, they in turn become flowers and then fruits and fruits support the creatures’²¹ ‘the water is the main ingredient of herbs and plants (in particular human beings)…’.²² Every food has water as its constituent, and many times water will be a major constituent; hence, ‘water is food’.²³ Brhadarhyaka Upanishad and ‘Jaimini Upanishad’ also say water was the primary element of creation.²⁴

In ‘Manusmriti’, the book of law, Manu also cites ‘water created the life’.²⁵ This is supplemented by Bhagavad Gita which says all living beings originate from food; the food is a creation of rain that is water; rain is a derivative of Yajna and Yajna activated by Karma.²⁶

In the Shwetashvataropanishat , “God is proclaimed to be the source of five elements, the building resources of the cosmos; metaphorically, the almighty himself is professed as the five elements”.²⁷

Hence, Vedas describes water as ‘Devatha’, a synonym for God or ‘Paramatma’, the supreme soul.²⁸ Water is the light, the essence, the nectar and the god, the Brahman.²⁹

Perceived Benefits of Water

Jeevanam is a word given to water in Vedic language and Sanskrit, the language of Indian scriptures, spoken language of ancient India and the language that linked the whole of India till the spread of English education in the country and is still studied in every part of India.

The word ‘Jeevanam’ is derived from the root verb ‘jeeva’ meaning ‘Praanadharane’, embracing life. Water is given the word Jeevanam to show its wonderful importance in life. Water is thus comprehended as the elixir of life.

Water is broadly found in scriptures as an utter necessity in ‘snaana’ (bathing), ‘paana’ (consumption), ‘shoucha’ (cleansing), ‘chikitsaa’ (relieving), ‘upachaara’ (hospitality), ‘krushih’ (farming) and ‘tarpanam ’ (consoling).^{30 , 31}

India, being a peninsula, trade associated with the means of water could never be ignored not just in the past but also at present. The word navigation is derived etymologically from the Sanskrit word ‘navah’ meaning boat. The traces of maritime trade in India date back to the Vedic age where we find the description reading ‘although the water voyages are extremely dangerous the heroic people will win it’.³² Indus valley civilisation was an advanced urban civilisation that began to show visible growth in both the length and the frequency of maritime voyages by 3000 BCE.

Pic 1 Indian yacht as revealed in the Fra Mauro map (1460). Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WorldShips1460.jpg

The epic Ramayana depicts the presence of widespread waterways across the kingdom of Kosala; this is proven by the narration in the epic that Bharatha was supplied 500 different varieties of beautifully decorated strong boats by Guha to cross across Ganga with loads of commodities.^{33 , 34}

Pic 2 Satellite picture of the submerged Rama Setu Bridge constructed across Palk Straight connecting India and Sri Lanka as recorded by NASA. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Images+of+rama+sethu+along+in+the+Indian+ocean&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=UgCnUsk_yZKuB_ydgMgJ&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1708&bih=739&dpr=0.8#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=lDV8aNtVlC2mJM%3A%3BelZYm8FRvWRf-M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.hindujagruti.org%252Fnews%252Fout%252Fimages%252F1361610027_ram-setu.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.hindujagruti.org%252Fnews%252F15743.html%3B350%3B225

The maritime trade had also developed well under the rule of the predecessors and successors of Rama. Also it is well known that Rama got a viaduct erected between the mainland of India and Sri Lanka to make it to the city of Lanka to fight Ravana for bringing Sita back.

Water in India has also been employed for composition of music through a mechanism of a set of ceramic or metal cups of various volumes. This is named Jalatarang. The earliest references to this apparatus can be traced from the same epic of ‘Ramayanam’.

Pic 3 Jalatarang maestro in action. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=pictures+of+jaltarang&biw=1600&bih=828&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi3jJKF5JLNAhVJKo8KHS0EBkcQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=3KevfGqQON0glM%3A

A type of water clock called ghati³⁵ yantra was very much in use; traditionally this clock was used to set time for auspicious ceremonies; the bowl, with a small hole at its bottom, sinks after 24 min.

Pic 4 Ghati yantra. Source: Science in Ancient India, a Presentation by Michel Danino

Figuratively, the nature of water is used in several places. ‘Water that rains into a fortress runs among the hills so does the Dharma in the form of its result/effect’.³⁶

Chanakya in his treatise on conduct ‘Chanakya Niti’ has described the importance and benefits of water, so ‘in the whole world , there are only three precious pearls: water, food and the subhshitas, the adages found in Sanskrit language’.³⁷

Medicinal Properties of Water

Water, one of the five basic elements, is considered as a building material, a sustaining force and also as a curative medicine in ancient Indian culture. The earliest recorded Vedic literature, Rig Veda, describes water as the universal medicine.³⁸

Ayurveda, the science of life and a derivative of Rig Veda, has embraced the Vedic principle of the universal usage, applicability and employment of water to the fullest extent. Ayurveda advocates various treatments employing water and various methods of consuming water, defines time to consume water, says how to consume and describes the various dimensions of water such as cold water, hot water, heated and cooled water, rainwater, lake water, well water, ice and so on as a medicine or otherwise.

Ayurveda describes water as the life of all living beings. The world is predominantly watery when in health or in ill health, and there can be no life without water.³⁹ Water is used both as an independent medicine and a base medicine. Ninety percent of the Ayurvedic medicines are concoctions of water. Water, as a medicine, has both internal and external uses as per science. Hydrotherapy, a concept of naturopathy, has got its roots in Ayurveda.

Aqua is a major chemical required for digestion of food taken in. It is advisable to sip little water during meals.⁴⁰ It is an adage prevalent in Ayurveda that during indigestion the right and suitable food is water,⁴¹ preferably hot water. Water taken before meals will dampen the ‘Jatharaagni’ (the digestive power) and dilute the digestive juices, and in the long run, it results in malassimilation (ineffective assimilation). Water, when taken immediately after meal, causes obesity, and hence, it is advisable to take little water in the course of meals.⁴² The same theory is propounded in other text quoting water consumed in the middle, at the end and in the beginning results in a balanced structure, obese structure and a lean structure, respectively.⁴³ The food doesn’t get digested and assimilated if water is consumed in very high quantities. The same problem occurs when water is consumed in too low quantities. For good appetite it is essential that more water is consumed intermittently.⁴⁴ Water taken at dawn works like the heavenly nectar, and in the process of assimilation, it bestows strength; water works like poison when taken immediately after food and as a medicine when properly employed during disease condition.⁴⁵

Drink water at the end of night/daybreak⁴⁶ says Ayurveda; this is widely referred to as ‘Ushah Paana’ (उषः पानम्) (drinking of water during dawn ), performed as a routine cultural practice by Hindus.

Astaangahrudayam, a prominent ancient text of preventive medication written by Acharya Vagbhata, prescribes water to be sipped not drunk at once; water should be consumed at least 45 min before food and 90 min after food.

Charaka Samhita written by Charaka also substantiates the statements made in Ashtangahrudayam, while stating that water becomes toxic when consumed at the end of a meal.

Sushruta Samhita written by Sushruta also says that water becomes toxic when consumed in too much quantity, and it is also toxic not to have water at all.

Ayurveda identifies three main defects in the human body⁴⁷ called ‘vata dosha’, ‘pitta dosha’ and ‘kapha dosha’; a balance of vata, pitta and kapha indicates a normal/good health of the body; and an imbalance of them indicates ill health termed with the said doshas or defects. For those who suffer from ‘vata dosha’, Ayurveda advises swigging hot water, and for those anguishing from ‘pitta dosha’, drinking cool water is recommended.⁴⁸

Warm water restrains the imbalances of vatu and kapha, releases fat, increases the volume of the urine excreted (vasti shodhak) and dispels or reduces fever. It is favourable in the cases of cough and difficulties of breathing and is nourishing always.

Water boiled and reduced to a quarter of the initial quantity and then cooled removing its froth and ebullition would be light, clear and safe for everyone and helps balance the tri defects (vata, pitta and kapha) of the body. It is also known to be beneficial in treating diseases acquired by overconsumption of wine, dysentery, skin burns, bloody mucus, effects of any absorbed toxins, vomiting, catarrh, vertigo and unconsciousness.

Water boiled in the previous night is not recommended for quenching thirst as it would probably have acquired acidic taste and may cause kapha defect. The tender coconut water is grave and soothing, cool, enjoyable and delicious. It enhances urination, secretes semen and desists thirst and pitta defect.

Cold water is known to be helpful in treating epilepsy, in summer, in the condition of excessive body heat, the imbalance of Pittam, treating blood poisoning, problem associated with excessive consumption of wine, the state of unconsciousness, exhaustion, vertigo or dizziness, tamaka and nausea. Although cold water is good and is recommended to be used as medicine, its use is not advised under conditions, such as pain at the sides (pleurodynia), catarrh, rheumatism, diseases of the larynx, distention of the stomach by gas or air, cases of undigested faeces, acute stage of fever, just after the exhibition of any emetic or purgative remedy, severe cough and soon after consuming fatty or oily drinks or Snehapaana acute cold, vaatha diseases, sore throat, gastritis, constipation, fever immediately after dysentery and nausea, during hiccups and on consuming more of oily food.⁴⁹

Minimum consumption of water is advised for a person suffering from loss of savour for food, heartburn, oedema, any of the wasting diseases, weakened digestion, abdominal dropsy, skin diseases, fever, diseases affecting the eyes, ulcer and diabetes (Madhumeha, etc).⁵⁰

As already stated, in addition to internal use, Ayurveda also recommends the external use of water as a way of maintaining good health and also as a therapy. Ayurveda mandates that every human to bathe every day.⁵¹ This is also a natural requirement in India as the weather conditions are mostly hot and humid throughout the year. Further, it recommends massaging of the body and head with oil before bath.⁵² A bath increases appetite, gives strength, adds years to life, enhances agility, nourishes and helps overcome itching, toxins, fatigue, sweating, lethargy, thirst and heat.

‘Foot bath’ is generally understood as a curative measure in naturopathy, whose origin is attributed to other than Indian. But precise reference is there in Ayurveda texts about bath. Foot bath improves eyesight and pacifies the mind.⁵³ This rejuvenates the circulatory system. This foot bath is recommended for curing acute headache, insomnia, disorders related to blood pressure, etc.; for a hot hip bath, the water should be around 40°C and the duration is 10 min.

Water is just H₂O at all places and at all times. But Ayurveda takes a different view. The quality and properties of water change in a subtle way depending on the season.

The seasonal impact on water is propounded as follows. ‘Although water in the spring (वसन्त ऋतु) season is sweet, owing to the generation of an astringent taste,⁵⁴ it has a sort of dry quality’.⁵⁵ In the summer (ग्रीष्म ऋतु) season, as temperature swells, water shuns surplus emanations in the body.⁵⁶ ‘The water in the rainy (वर्ष ऋतु) season is harder and causes secretions, in addition to being sweet and fresh’.⁵⁷ The same water during autumn (शरत् ऋतु) season satiates better, is light and doesn’t aggravate secretions in the body.⁵⁸ In the snowing (हॆमन्त ऋतु) season, water is relatively heavy and bestows lubrication, power and strength and enhances comfort.⁵⁹ In the winter (शिशिर ऋतु) season, heat in the water is very little, and it will be light and conquer kapha and vaatha.⁶⁰

Fasting once in a fortnight, preferably on the 11th day, Ekaadashi, is a part of religious practice. No food is recommended for consumption on that day. Fasting to cleanse the body happens to be the spirit of the practice. In either case fasting turns out to be beneficial when sufficient water is consumed. The water consumed cleanses the entire gastrointestinal trail and eliminates the lingering faecal stuff from the large intestine and the rectum thus checking putrification. This improves appetite and reduces the toxic condition in the body. It also helps one to control one’s tongue and gluttony (palate).

The attributes of rainwater gathered prior to the contact with land are listed by Sushruta in the 45th branch of suthrasthana in his samhitha. ‘It beats the disparities caused by Vaatha, Piththa, Kapha; offers vigor, augments the seven building materials of the body known as sapthadhaathus, enhances the brain activity. Once it touches the land its quality changes according to the quality of the terrain’.⁶¹

The water of rivers, (which drain the Jangala, desert countries) flowing into the western sea is light and, therefore, wholesome. The river waters that cross marshy (Anupa) areas and join the eastern oceans are heavy, and as such its use is restricted to minimum since they increase the oily secretions of all the organs. The water of rivers , which runs into the southern sea, is neither too heavy nor too light owing to the fact of its traversing countries which have a ‘Sadharana’ (ordinary) character.

The waters sourcing from the Sahyadri mountains are unsuitable for the skin, while the water originating in the mounts of Vindhyas causes leprosy and Jaundice. The water of rivers, which rises in the Mount Malaya, begets worms and intestinal vermin, while the water sourced from the Mahendra Mount begets elephantiasis and abdominal dropsy. The water of rivers, which rises in the Himalaya, produces angina pectoris, Hridroga, anasarca, diseases of the head, elephantiasis and goitre. Similarly, the water, which drains the eastern part of the land of Avanti or flows across its western fraction, begets piles, while the water that rises in Paripatra Mount is nourishing, strength giving and favourable to health. The water in a Jangala country is free of baneful traits, ideal and acidic in digestion (Vidahi), possesses commendable qualities and is pleasing and cooling. The water of a Sadharana, a temperate country is light, cool, enjoyable and tasty or Dipanam.

The waters of swift-moving and clear rivers are light and that of slow-moving and enclosed with mosses and marine growth and are weighty. The river waters of the Murudesha, presently Marwar in Rajasthan, will be saline, bitter or sweet tasting and are easily digestible and strength giving.

The lake water quenches thirst, gives strength, tastes sweet and is also harsh. The pond or tank water produces Vayu, tastes sweet and is harsh and strong for digestion . The water from a large tank or Vapi supresses the imbalances of Vayu and Kapha and causes Pitta defect, is strong in taste and will be charged with alkaline solution. The waters of Chunti are good for digestion, cause dryness and taste sweet. The well (Kupa) water is appetising and causes Pitta defect. The fountain water will be light, appetising and enjoyable to drink and destroys Kapha defect in the body. The Artesian spring water tastes sweet and restricts Pitta defect. It acts as an antacid for digestion. The water of Vikira is supposed to be light, strong in taste and alluring and charges with Khara or potash.

Water which gets collected in an open area or on fallow area is grave for digestion and augments the tri defects of the body. So does the water of Palvalam, a king of waterbody. Seawater smells fishy, tastes saline and aggravates all the defects in the body.

All kinds of surface water must be collected early at dawn as that part of the day is coolest and fresh; these two attributes by far from the most commendable traits in water.

Waters getting in contact with the sunlight in the day and reflecting moonlight in the night doesn’t cause Kaphdosha or dryness, and as such it is equivalent to the purest form of rainwater. Rainwater collected in good container holds the virtue of suppressing the three imbalances of vaata, pittah and kapha in the body and behaves as an elixir.

The cool and limpid washings of the gem known as the Chandra kanta Mani (the moonstone) is believed to possess the supernatural powers of warding off the strikes of beasts and evils and subdues the imbalance of Pittam. They are beneficial in fever and poisoning cases marked by a burning sensation of the body, etc.

Prayers on Water

Worshipping is the most significant part of Hindu faith. The Hindu school of thought emphasises that submitting oneself and expressing gratitude to the almighty is the most vital of routines of every human being. The directives revealed in Veda Samhitaas or any other text is mostly in the form of prayers. Hence, ‘Prarthana’ or praying is a canon for a Hindu, and thus, ‘Prarthana’ is interwoven with life completely by Hindus who pray to everything everywhere and at every step of life.

But prayer, as is presumed in general, is not a moment chosen to beg God to bless us with what we need, but actually a prayer is a declaration to commit oneself to do what is required to achieve a need.⁶² Hence, everyone is required to take a pledge do the best to the nature everyday while praying for receiving all that we need from it.

Water, a very beautiful and precious part of nature, is revered with utmost devotion. There are innumerable hymns, statements and sayings in Veda Samhitaas and works affiliated to them such as Brahmanas, Aranyakas and other mythical works, such as Puranaas devoted to value the blessings that water bestows on living and command to preserve and safeguard it.

A very commonly used hymn in the Yajurveda states, ‘Oh water you are a confirmed giver of happiness. For food and strength and to equip us to face the realities of life and to make us deserve happiness, please nourish us. Oh water, you fill the needed life into the food we eat, herbs we use. You are indeed our life giver through the food we partake. Let our creativity be enriched consuming you. The loving mother nourishes her progeny with food, milk and what not, so you are, oh water we shall become strong consuming you. Oh water, you want your abuser/enemy to get defeated I shall defeat such efforts wholeheartedly. Please bestow on me the best of powers’.⁶³

Further, Yajurveda quotes, ‘Let the water on earth, in the herbs, water in the clouds, the lord of water the paramatma guide me,⁶⁴ let the thundering clouds get converted into the sought after rain’.⁶⁵ It extends further and says, ‘let the water be divine and peaceful which can fulfill our wishes, nourish us and be available for our consumption, let it shower on us from all sides to provide us health and happiness.⁶⁶ Let the water be helpful to us’.⁶⁷

Rig Veda states, ‘let the oceans be calm and peaceful and let the flowing rivers and water bodies bestow on us peace.⁶⁸ Let the clouds that move in the skies be peaceful.⁶⁹ Let the rains be helpful to us, the mankind’.⁷⁰

‘The earth which is filled with deep-seas , brooks and straits whose cultivators yield victuals and survive in concert; where each alive being toils with vitality; such our motherland may rear us with her juices’ states the Atharvanaveda.⁷¹

Shatapatha brahmana terms water as nectar.⁷²

We find plenty of Vedic literature such as Parjanya Sooktham,⁷³ Varuna Sooktham, Prithivi Sooktham, Bhoo Sooktham and Aghamarshana Sooktham dedicated to studying and praying to water. Another such prayer, also referred to as Vedic National anthem, calls for timely rain and the earth to be full of vegetation.⁷⁴

A rite called ‘Udakashanthi’ is observed along the length and breadth of India which is meant for creating a peaceful atmosphere, praying for timely and adequate rains.

Parjanya Yaaga is another religious ceremony conducted to invite rains through yagnas and yaagas that help in seeding of clouds.

Coconut plays a very important role in the Hindu worshipping. Coconut contains the purest form of water⁷⁵ that will be used as ‘Kalasham’ in which coconut will be placed on a pot containing water⁷⁶ adorned with beetle leaves or mango leaves; this arrangement occupies a very special place especially during festivities.

The initial habitat of Indians has been the basins of the seven rivers or the Saptha Sindhavah, and these rivers are Sindhu; the five rivers of Punjab, namely, Vitasta (Jhelum), Asikni (Chenab), Parushni (Ravi), Vipasha (Beas) and Satudru (Sutlej); and Saraswathi (Muller 1890, 12); the river Saraswathi is believed to have been buried underground due to certain geomorphological changes in the region. The satellite imagery indicates that the Sutlej, a tributary of Sindhu, was feeding saraswathi, which flowed through Rajasthan. On the banks of these and many other rivers of India, many hymns are chanted to show gratitude towards the waters, to conserve them and to pray for their peaceful flow.

Pic 5 Person engrossed in the ceremonial drills on the bank of a river. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Priest+engrossed+in+the+ceremonial+drills+on+the+bank+of+a+river&biw=1024&bih=622&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjswP739arNAhVFGpQKHdVBDnsQ_AUIBigB&dpr=1#tbm=isch&q=a+hindu+priest+performing+the+sandhyavandana+on+the+bank+of+a+river&imgdii=gNRVdfYVXsJ8dM%3A%3BgNRVdfYVXsJ8dM%3A%3BBVaUReN6SgY5bM%3A&imgrc=gNRVdfYVXsJ8dM%3A

Water is remembered also in the literary works in fine descriptions, and it also happens to be a mandate to make a mention of water in any literary work. Kalidasa, in his drama ‘Abhijnanashakuntala’, says water is the first of all creation.⁷⁷ Maagha, in his Shishupaalavadham, says water was the first to be given birth.⁷⁸ Bana, in his ‘kaadambari’, recognises, ‘it is trough water one can attain sanctity’.⁷⁹ Also there are a number of works available glorifying water, the most famous among them being Gangaastava of Shankaracharya and Ganglahari of Jagnnatha Pandita.

In the tradition of music, several tunes or ragas are devoted to invoking rains, the most famous being Amruthavarshini, Devaamruthavarshini in Carnitic stream and Meghamallala in Hindustani stream.

It should be specially noted that to achieve the happenings of all the above, a human being stands responsible to do all that those events require to happen. It would simply be a waste to pray for rains while razing down all the forests and cutting down trees. It would be totally irrational to beg God to shower prosperity while polluting the water bodies. Often atheists blame or express their mistrust in God for not delivering justice and being a mute spectator of the chaos caused in the world, but the critics conveniently forget the misusing of nature man often resorts to due to his greed and ignorance. It is necessary to understand nature as a cohesive though complex system, and a deliberate damage caused to it will result in calamities, as a consequence. It is as simple a rule as to keep oneself healthy; good practices and following a good lifestyle are a need, but if not done, one succumbs to diseases.

Qualities of Water

In the Vedic science, the whole universe is understood to be made up of the five basic elements, namely, space,⁸⁰ air,⁸¹ fire,⁸² water⁸³ and earth.⁸⁴ The characteristics of these five elements have been defined by the ancient philosophers as sound,⁸⁵ touch,⁸⁶ visibility,⁸⁷ taste⁸⁸ and smell,⁸⁹ respectively. These elements are inert in nature and are perceivable by our sense organs, i.e. the ears, skin, eyes, tongue and nose, respectively.

All that can flow down and /or is susceptible to taste has the water element. The water element in the juice of a fruit or a vegetable is apparent. A piece of jaggery or sugar candy, though solid, has an element of water in a subtle form because they can be tasted. From this broad perspective, water is present in almost everything we use. It has been the culture of the land to treat every created thing with reverence containing five elements. They are all worshipped.

The five elements earth, water, fire, air and ether are perceivable by our sense organs; the converse are those that are perceivable by our sense organs are made up of these five elements. These are inert and are without consciousness.⁹⁰ Another entity is the subjective consciousness⁹¹ which depends upon/resides in a body for its manifestation and expression, and the actions and reactions of an inert body which are visible and can be experienced imply the presence of the subjective consciousness within that physical structure. This physical structure is made up of the five elements, water being one.

Ayurveda, the science of life describes water as that which is volatile, cold, heavy, sticky, relatively slow moving and dense,⁹² and consuming it imparts to the body and mind a nature of attachment, dampness, rawness, freshness, enthusiasm and binding.

In Indian literature the qualities and the importance attributed to the water resource can be understood through a description of the words used to call it. In the language of Sanskrit, there are at least hundred words used for calling water. Sanskrit language which has its origin in the Vedic language has a very systematic procedure of developing a word. Every word is formed from a root called ‘Dhatu’ with its meaning ‘Dhatvarthah’. In this process, water has been named with a meaning, describing its qualities accorded to it in the language. Some of the words used for water in Sanskrit with their meanings are listed below. The words are taken from Nirukta, the thesaurus of Vedas and Amarakosha, a book of synonyms of Sanskrit language.

Generally, in any language, most of the words get their meaning by the force of usage and convention. But the Vedic language and Sanskrit derive a word scientifically and rationally step by step in accordance with the well laid-down rules of grammar. In this process of derivation, they imbibe different features of the concept or the person or the creature in a codified manner, employing specific prefixes and suffixes; this is unique to Vedic language and Sanskrit.

A deep study of the words derived in the above manner unfolds different concept processes and applications related to, in the present context, the Water resource (Table 1).

Table 1 Dileneation of qualities of water as described in Vedic and Sanskrit language

It is evident that water is not just H₂O, but an essential resource with many facets. As we delve deep into the meaning, usage and etymology of the above words, we’ll be more than convinced that our ancestors had a holistic view of water. When these words are used repeatedly over time, the value of water is perceived by the one who uses these words. This goes a long way to give a stance to the user to diligently use the water resource. This has been finely woven into from the mundane to cultural practices .

Mythological Anecdotes

Fictions are enchanting; they mesmerise and sometimes entertain. These form the reasons for creation of anecdotes and stories. They surround famous personalities or things inevitable. Imagination, exaggeration and unrealistic things galore in them and are devoid of any utilitarian application. However, to illustrate, a few anecdotes related to water are narrated.

The Course of Ganges to Earth (Ramayana)

King Sagara of the Surya Dynasty chose to perform the Ashwamedha yagna, but his royal agents lost track of the sacred horse. Sagara directed his 60,000 sons to trace the sanctified horse. The conceited and mercurial princes ranted and raved from corner to corner of Bharat, blazing jungles and displacing life and chattels to locate the stallion. They lastly got to a calm site where the Sage Kapila was seated in rumination. Next to him was tied the white colt. The infuriated princes slammed Kapila as a crook and striked at him. The Sage then unlocked his eyes; his enormous strength crooked the princes into ruins. Sagara’s grandson Anshuman went in search of both the horse and his uncles and converged with Sage Kapila who informed the prince on pleading that the lone way for the souls of the deceased princes to rise to bliss would be through the offering of ‘Niravapanjali’⁹³ with the waters of the holy River Ganga, which flowed only in the paradise.

Bhagiratha’s Tapasya⁹⁴: Bhagiratha, a descendent of King Sagara who ruled over the kingdom of Kosala⁹⁵; the kingdom had begun to lose its peace and prosperity on account of natural disasters due to the sins of the thousand princes multiplying in destructive energy, and Bhagiratha found the kingdom not possible at all to rule. So he turned over the empire to his ministers and set out to the Himalayas to do a grueling penance in the severe environment. For 1000 years, he carried out an agonisingly rigorous penance to please Lord Brahma to sanctify his territory with the waters of River Ganga. At the end of the penance, Brahma was pleased and made Bhagiratha aware to propitiate Lord Shiva, as just he was able to break Ganga’s plunge. Ganga had a powerful flow and it would have been impossible for anyone to restrain the devastating impact of the event apart from Shiva.

Bhagiratha took to execute a tapasya (penance) centred on Lord Shiva as outcome of which Shiva came into sight and guaranteed Bhagiratha that he would make Ganga drop on his matted locks. Ganga then surged down from heaven, as Bhagiratha and celestial spectators were horrified of the growl and amount of water approaching. But Lord Shiva came into view under the flow and confined all of Ganga in his matted locks (dreadlocks) just prior to her fall on earth. Ganga arrived to this world because of Bhagiratha’s labours, so Ganga is also named ‘Bhagirathi’.

Jahnavi, the Daughter of Jahnu

Ganga came down in a destructive flow destroying Jahnu Sage’s ashram. This angered Jahnu and took Ganga as ‘aaposhanam’.⁹⁶ Bhagiratha after that pleaded Jahnu to release Ganga and Jahnu pleased. Hence, Ganga is also called Jahnavi. Ganga then ran over the relics of the 60,000 precursors of Bhagiratha and fetch to them moksha, the bliss.⁹⁷ Ganga is still deemed to run from Shiva’s matted locks or jataa down to earth with a composed might.

River Cauvery

There are several legends about how the River Cauvery had her birth. In the Skanda Purana, Chaps. 11–14 narrate many of them. According to the most renowned account, when the grand sea was churned by the gods and the evils, in order to acquire Amrita, the elixir of life, Lord Vishnu transformed himself into Mohini, a non-peril of immeasurable prettiness, to avert the demons and bring back the elixir to the gods. Goddess Lakshmi along with Lopamudra were sent successively. Lopamudra was sent as an apsara to lend support to Mohini. After the elixir was fruitfully restored to the Devas, Lopamudra was espoused by Brahma as his inheritor.

Following this a little later, a sage of fame called Kavera implored to Lord Brahma that he sanctify him with an offspring. Brahma was pleased by his devoutness and bestowed him with Lopamudra. Lopamudra was christened as Kaveri after the Sage Kavera assumed to be her father.

Kaveri was extremely ardent that her father has all the pleasure and wealth in life and a consecrated terrain full of noble and blissful natives. So she departed to Brahmagiri and entreated Lord Brahma that she get transformed into a river and run all through the state, dispensing her blessings on the citizens and making the land rich and productive. She also requested that her waters be so divine that all those who took immersed in it might be released of all their transgressions. Brahma approved her both the boons gladly and Kaveri was truly delighted.

But something else was to occur to her shortly. Sage Agastya saw her when she was intensely meditating on the Brahmagiri hill. He fell in love with her and proposed her to wed him. Even though her courage was set on becoming a river, Kaveri couldn’t turn down Agastya. But Cauvery assured him that if ever he left her unaccompanied for long, she would encompass to disown him and get to her thoroughfare. Agastya pledged it and kept his word loyally for a short while. But one fine day, he was eventful in a philosophical debate with his followers and did not adhere to keep up to his time. Kaveri waited tolerantly and a little later, she leaped into Agastya’s unique sacred reservoir and gushed from it. As the disciples of Agastya witnessed the happenings, they attempted to obstruct her surge. But Kaveri swiftly went subversive, come into sight at Bhaganda Kshetra, flooded on the road to Valambari and at last joined the Bay of Bengal, and since then River Cauvery is adulated as sacrosanct throughout her course of flow.

There is one more fascinating faith dealing with the River Ganges and Cauvery that these two join underground on one occasion in a year, at some stage, in the month of Tula cited in the Hindu almanac, with the purpose of cleansing herself of the contamination caused by the mass of sinners who immerse in her waters all through the year. Kaveri is contemplated to be as holy as the River Ganga, with the similar power to sluice off sins.

Bhagamandala, where Cauvery unites with the rivers of Kummahole, Hemavathi, Lakshmanatirtha, Shimsha, etc., is deemed to be a much sanctified place. Temples built all along the banks here are visited by immeasurable number of devotees.

Similarly, Tungabhadra and Papanasini Rivers which flow across the south Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are held to dispel people of their transgression on plunging in them.

Promoting Conservation and Protection

Conservation, protection and enrichment of all natural resources are the key duties assigned by the ancient Indian/Vedic/Hindu school of thought to every human being.

It has specially designated the job to ‘Vysya’, one among the four occupational categories Varnas of Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vysya and Shudra as explained by Vedas.⁹⁸ These four Varnas or occupational categories demarcated in the Vedic texts are often misconceived to be castes. But this in reality is a theory proposing the necessity of four different categories of labour that are a definite and inevitable necessity of a given society.

A human society, at any point of time, will need four different kinds of labour : those who acquire knowledge and spread that knowledge, otherwise called as Brahmins; people who can physically protect society from any danger or disaster, the Kshatriyas; those who distribute the natural resources in the society, the Vysyas; and those who can help society with manual and art works, the Shudras. This is a natural division of labour and has just been indicated sociologically by Vedas. It is not a measure taken by Vedas to stratify a society.

The Vysya, in this context, gets a special reference as his basic duty is conservation, protection, enrichment and distribution of natural resources. But this does not mean that people, apart from Vysyas, do not hold any responsibility with respect to the upkeep of natural resources. Veda demands every human to perform ‘Deva Yajna’ every day. Deva Yajna refers to nothing but conserving natural resources and using the natural resources diligently and enriching them. Deva means the one who gives⁹⁹ and yajna means the best task¹⁰⁰; performing the best task to the ‘Deva’ or God who has manifested himself through nature is a duty of every person, and we all are bound to do the best to the nature that has given us whatever we want without any expectation in return.

We find in many ancient scriptures like ‘Manusmriti’, the code of ancient times in India, several guidelines given repeatedly regarding the protection of waterbodies . It was prohibited to answer the call of nature in the vicinity of a river or a waterbody.¹⁰¹ It was the responsibility of everyone to keep the river and its surroundings clean and pollution free. Manu instructs further stating ‘On the land which is ploughed, in the pyre, on a mountain, in a dilapidated temple, on an anthill never urinate or pass stools’.¹⁰² ‘In borrows of animals, while walking, whilst standing, on the banks of a river, at the peak of a hill don’t ever excrete’.¹⁰³ ‘Don’t ever defecate facing the breeze, blaze, intellectual, sun and water’.¹⁰⁴ ‘Spread some pieces of wood, soil, grass or foliage on earth, dressing the head and the higher cadaver with clothes and eliminate wastes noiselessly’.¹⁰⁵

Manu furthermore cautions ‘anybody who purges wastes facing fire, sun, moon, water, scholar, cow and breezing air will stand to lose his merits and goes insane’.¹⁰⁶

Manu also imposes codes to prohibit the poisoning of waterbodies during wars which kill innocent people and cattle who draw and drink water from them, stating ‘Also through a war, the water sources belonging to the foes should not be contaminated, as water is priceless and is property belonging to everybody’, though it is contracted to be belonging to the monarch of the land.

Vaasthuratnaakara a renowned book of Architecture says, ‘one who renovates wells, tanks, temples gets eight times results than that of constructing new structures’.¹⁰⁷ Further, it also says ‘one who destroys, wells tanks or temples is a wicked person’.¹⁰⁸

Padma Purana also rules that a person who pollutes waters of ponds, wells or lakes goes to hell.¹⁰⁹

Vasishtasamhitaa penned by Sage Vasishta also states ‘do not foul brooks, lanes, pastures, parasol and community spaces by wastes’.¹¹⁰ The reiteration of which is found in Taittariyaaranyaka that ‘no one should eject or pass urine or spit or bathe devoid of any clothes on the body in any water body’.¹¹¹

Religious Abuses and Misconceptions

It is extremely sad to find water is being polluted by misconceptions and mistaken notions in the pretext of religion which advocates strongly to keep waterbodies free of pollution. River Ganga is a classic example for the rumpus caused by Hindus for wrongly perceiving religion. Vedas have proclaimed to burn bodies on death very clearly¹¹² but this has not been adhered to by many. The dead, decaying and polluting matter is discarded into the waterbodies without hesitation, and no consideration is set to the values advocated by the great men of the past to adore the natural resources. This is very harshly condemned and is severely punishable under all circumstances in the scriptures.

Sustainable Practices

• a. Natural Farming : All the civilisations of the world flourished along river banks, with agriculture as a primary occupation. But the Indus Valley civilization did not only flourish on the banks of Sindhu River but also developed into the richest economy in the world depending on agriculture till the advent of British in India. Agriculture in ancient India was the epitome of trades being the provider of all the basic raw materials necessary for survival; this principle has been highlighted by Vedic philosophy stating ‘Oh humans toil, work on fields, the prosperity that comes in this way is most tenable and safe, so experience the riches that is procured through this course as the whole lot, do not ever succumb to stake’.¹¹³ Agriculture is the most eco-friendly vocation humans can perform even in the present day and for times forward. Only agriculture can supply food and shelter to mankind. Hence, dependence on agriculture is the only sustainable way of life. Conventionally in India natural farming acknowledged as ‘Rishi Kheti’, the method of farming followed by sages and a method of cultivation that uses least or no application of fertilizers, even natural and water, were in practice; Indian agriculture featured multi-cropping, use of local and natural varieties of seeds, maximum dependence on rain and minimum dependence on artificial irrigation by tanks and wells. This method of farming demanded an optimal utilisation of local resources, saved a lot of resources and thus was totally sustainable.

The statistical data of agricultural production in India prior to the arrival of Britons show the numbers much higher than what is being achieved today with the application of chemical fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides and sowing of hybrid or genetically modified seeds in the fields. This practice of using chemical fertilisers and hybrid or genetically modified seeds is not only degrading the soils’ quality by mineralising them but also demands higher usage of water .

• (b) Common or Community Wells : Vedas recommend people to maintain common sources of water, common eating habits, equal labour and equal responsibility so that everyone in the society moves ahead together as a wheel moves with numerous spokes stuck to it from the centre.¹¹⁴ So it was usual to find in the villages and towns of India to have common sources of water such as a village well or lake against the present-day policy of one tube well for every household. This guaranteed sustainable mining of underground water.

• (c) Joint Family System : Joint family was a striking arrangement made for an efficient utilisation and management of natural capital. The system ensured reduced burden on natural resources with a common living area at the first place. That common living area was passed on to the forthcoming generations again reducing burden on natural resources. Common hearth, the use of good quality materials that provided extremely good durability, was very much stressed upon for the purpose of passing on things to the following generations. The use of granite for constructing houses, good quality teak and high-quality metals that had medicinal properties such as bronze, brass, copper for utensils were a common practice. From a sociocultural dimension as well, joint family or at least extended families with parents, brood and grandparents would give physical, psychological and social security to all the members reducing the number of destitute in the society. Also the system spelt an unwritten law against fragmentation in the society .

Awareness Through Belief Systems

Apart from religious mandates, common belief systems also helped maintain social harmony and ecological balance in the past.

It is believed all over India that ‘water’ should never be refused to be given to anybody when asked; if done so one will take the life of a lizard in the next birth.

There is also a belief, in normal circumstances, a person should not bathe for more than once in a day and should never take a second bath in the noon because a bath at that time implies death in the family.

Making drawings and designs on floors and walls using water is prohibited; these beliefs uphold the value of water and prevent its wastage.

Similarly during festivities, during the celebration of Gauri festival in southern state of Karnataka in particular,¹¹⁵ to manage water and also time, some of the family members avoid or postpone taking ‘Abhyanjana’, a head bath, to the next day on the pretext that the goddess Gauri will have headache if taken bath on that day; this seems to have originated in joint family setups.

It is also believed that in the monsoon month of ‘Ashada’ (usually the months of July and August), no ceremonies or celebrations such as weddings, the thread ceremony or any like must be held. Since the season is monsoon season, it is recommended to concentrate on the fields and agriculture rather than celebrations to make the best use of rains and natural irrigation.

Such belief systems didn’t just help maintain economical use of water resource, but also gave respect to the physical labour of the person drawing water from wells, avoiding misuse of water.

Local Awareness Through Proverbs and Sayings

The importance of water is delineated variedly in the mythology and folklore throughout India. In the mother language of India, Sanskrit, to make one aware of the importance of water, a proverb reads, “a place where there is no financier, Vedic laureate, monarch, physician and a waterway”¹¹⁶ is not fit for survival even for a single day.

Varaahamihira in his treatise Bruhat samhitaa expresses ‘Enter a house where flowers are in abundance, arches are aplenty and embellished with pots filled with water……..’¹¹⁷

A common proverb in the vernacular, Kannada, to explain the role of water in a human’s life says ‘when someone is in town, should perceptibly fetch water’.¹¹⁸

The doctrines of maintaining water table and other intricacies of ecological balance are expressed through another proverb in the same vernacular Kannada to have at least one tree for one household and one forest for one town.¹¹⁹

Another proverb highlights the common ownership of water resources saying ‘why is the master’s order obligatory to obtain water from the lake’.¹²⁰

Water Purification Practices

The treatment of water is one of the major topics in Ayurveda. Purifying water by heating it and by adding herbs, such as lavancha (a kind of grass), tulasi, doorva and various chemicals like limestone (shankha) and alum and various metals, earthen and rock containers and in combination of the said methods are available in the texts in plenty.¹²¹ These methods were extensively employed in routine life and during special occasions . Copper vessel, soap stone ware, earthen pots, wooden ware and a few fossil stones, gold ware, silverware, iron, brass and bronze wares, etc. now could only be seen preserved as antique pieces.

Some other methods of water purification are elucidated in the Sushruta Samhita. Generally water can be purified in seven fashions immersing in the utensil containing water the Kataka fruits, the gomedha gem or other gems, lotus foliage root, marine mosses, or a semiprecious stone and tying a piece of linen around the neck of the utensil for filtration.

There are seven ways of cooling water, such as exposing a water container to currents of air, immersing the container (tied round with a piece of wet cloth) neck deep in a utensil full of water, churning it with a stick, fanning, siphoning it by means of a piece of linen, burying a water container beneath a sand bed, or keeping it hanging in a pendent bracket.

Manusmrithi, which also refers to water purification practices telling all sorts of fluids, should be filtered and consumed; the wooden materials should be pecked and smoothened to clean up.¹²² Manu also says figuratively, keep a step carefully encompassed by sight and drink water that is covered by linen.¹²³

Varahamihira, a renowned astronomer, in his treatise Bruhatsamhita, in as early as 550 AD, presented the methods of ‘phytoremediation’ or treating water with plants and their extracts and others for purifying contaminated water. Exposure to sunlight and air and immersing heated stones, gems, gold, silver along with using sand and iron also find a mention. The role of these herbs in purifying the biological contamination of water has now been recognised.

Further the technique of zoo remediation also was very much prevalent to purify water; it included treating water, particularly well water with tortoises and certain varieties of fishes.

India’s ancient wisdom stating brassware are best suitable for storing potable water has gained scientific relevance, as such water stored in brass utensils helps suppress several water-borne diseases say microbiologists.

Use of Water in Social and Religious Traditions

Hindus, being the worshippers of nature, employ the forces of nature in their life absolutely. Water, being one of them, is used extensively in the very common and occasional social and religious traditions. The holiness attached to water in the culture clearly reflects the ecological awareness percolating into routine practices. We discuss them in further detail.

Sipping of water to keep the throat wet,¹²⁴ activating the nervous system in the sense organs¹²⁵ and sprinkling of water around the altar¹²⁶ have been inevitable parts of any Vedic ritual.

It is a practice of Hindus to treat any guest in the following five ways: providing water to wash hands,¹²⁷ providing water to wash legs¹²⁸ and giving water to sip,¹²⁹ a seat to sit¹³⁰ and food to eat¹³¹; this is a common custom in the culture. Kathopanishad refers to this custom stating ‘a learned guest who visits our dwellings is gleaming similar to fire and to appease him get water¹³²’; in other words guests must be first treated with water to cleanse themselves.

In any ritual sprinkling,¹³³ to cleanse the place where the ceremony is conducted and the utensils used in the rituals with water is a must.

Water is predominantly used in the rites of Pumsavana, strengthening of foetus, Chooda, ‘shaving the head’ to remove hair acquired from birth and Upanayana, leading a boy or a girl to the teacher for acquiring knowledge and Samavarthana, the ceremony of convocation.

In the rite of strengthening the foetus in the womb, water is poured in a plate and placed on the right lap of the expectant mother indicating passing on of strength to the foetus through her, and the mother to be is then made to say that she has placed the essence of her power in the holy water.¹³⁴

The tonsuring ritual is performed on a baby aged between 12 and 18 months with a barber being asked to perform the task safely. The razor, an indirect reference to the barber, is requested not to cause harm to the child. It is directed to sterilise the shaving instruments with hot water¹³⁵ to prevent septic and infectious conditions.

In the ritual of taking a student to a teacher which is generally understood as the sacred thread ceremony, performed on a boy or a girl in the age group of 8–12 years, a procedur e is followed symbolically, called ‘Jalaanjali’,¹³⁶ where the mentor pours water into the joined palms of the disciple which the disciple holds for a while and pours it into a plate to symbolise:

• (a) The water indicating knowledge he/she shall cleanse himself/herself of bad impressions or imprints,¹³⁷ wash them off, and shall be left with good impressions and imprints

• (b) Shall collect from teacher all worthy knowledge, hold them, assimilate them, own them and shall spread it to others

• (c) Shall inherit all the natural resources and wealth of nature, water being a representative,¹³⁸ hold them, preserve and protect them and shall pass them on to the posterity as a true trustee

A lesson of this nature when bestowed/blessed upon an adolescent goes a long way in building the personality of the boy or the girl to respect the environment and that is culture.

Similarly, in the convocation ceremony which is performed at the end of the stay in the Gurukula and the abode of learning wherein the graduate will be presented before and inducted into the regular social life to mark the end of stay in a Gurukula, the student is directed to pour down a few pots of water and drench from head to toe. This symbolises that the outgoing student has drenched himself in the ocean of knowledge. It is a holy and divine bath. Then onwards he/she is referred to as one who has taken the bath ‘Snataka’.

Water is used symbolically in the act of giving anything to anybody,¹³⁹ and in the belief of consoling the dead¹⁴⁰ (consoling property of water), water has a role to play.

In almost all rituals, a pot¹⁴¹ made of mud or copper or bronze filled with water, adorned with the sacred items of turmeric, vermillion and coconut with mango or beetle leaves, is prepared for veneration.

Water is also used generously and gloriously for various sacred baths,¹⁴² and a special bath will be done in the ceremony of compensating for the mistakes committed¹⁴³ and getting rid of sins. Although a sin is committed through one’s body, mind being the root of it, the sinful orientation is at the level of soul. The soul is of course supreme and the body and mind are under its control. The soul is the master and the body and mind the tools of expression and experience of the soul. On the contrary, when the soul is not exercising its supremacy over the body and mind or exercises partially, the body and mind work erratically, and the harmony between the operator and the apparatus will be lost. Regular baths keep the body and mind in tune and well geared and obedient to the soul. This gives the soul poise to use the tool of the body in the best way devoid of sins. It’s customary in Vedic/Hindu and several other societies to take bath during overjoy and depression. A bath taken at such time balances the moods and temperaments, and the person can react to such a situation normally and in a balanced way.

Respect to Rivers in Scriptures and Mythological Descriptions

Rivers have always been an inseparable part of any civilisation. Reverence to rivers is an age-old tradition . In spite of an increasing pollution of rivers, a theoretical reverence is alive in the tradition and orthodoxy. It is believed in Hindu culture that remembering the holy rivers at the junctures of using water for bath or drinking or otherwise will make that water holy. A shloka meaning ‘Let the holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna, Godaavari, Saraswathi, Narmada, Sindhu, Cauvery may assemble, flow into the water ’ I am using now’¹⁴⁴ is chanted quite often invariably during worship; it is believed that by chanting this, the deities of the holy rivers are invited and invoked in the water that is about to be used. A few believe that chanting of this hymn showcases the cultural and territorial integrity of the diversified Indian culture.

We find in many scriptures holiness being attached to the rivers calling them goddesses¹⁴⁵ (Rig 10.75.7)¹⁴⁶ (6.45.31),¹⁴⁷ the shatapatha brahmana (13.5.4.11 and 13) and Aithareya Brahmana (39.9). In Bhagavadgita (10.31),¹⁴⁸ Krishna identifies paramatma or god with all the rivers.

The River Ganga in particular has hundreds of verses eulogising its greatness and its sanctifying power in the Ramayana and many Puranas such as the Padma, Narada, Agni and Matsya. Maharshi Vyasa describes, in the epic of Mahabharatha, the inviolability of the river Ganges, ‘this auspicious and celestial river is accessible to all times’. The Ganges water has an external value too, so one should certainly take a dip into it.¹⁴⁹ Shankaraachaarya in his ‘Gangaastotram’ says in praise of River Ganga, ‘he who drinks thy water, O mother ganga will verily attain the highest abode. Yama, the God of death, dare not even look at him who is thy devotee’.¹⁵⁰ Similarly, Jagannatha Pandita’s ‘Gangaalahari’ is another popular work dedicated to upholding the significance of River Ganga.

Like the Ganges River , the Sukumari, Kumari, Sitasi, Venika, Mahanadi, Manijala, Chakshusha and Vardhanika rivers were also considered as sacred.

Almost all the well-known rivers of India have been described in the mythological literature. Iconographical works also ascribe to them specific forms and give detailed descriptions of reverence attached to them.

Pic 6 Devotees reciting Gayatri, the guardian of the primordial energies along the bank of River Ganga. Source: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=if5BWWiEhx8C&pg=PA390&lpg=PA390&dq=Hydrology+in+ancient+India+by+the+National+Institute+of+hydrology&source=bl&ots=QTJZDWy3xx&sig=Ddn9jB6wPWcJwpoZfkmrdxBmvzQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ilDCUvnEMsq8rAeCooH4Cg&ved=0CGAQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Hydrology%20in%20ancient%20India%20by%20the%20National%20Institute%20of%20hydrology&f=false

Water Festivals

Worshipping nature and celebrating the wealth of natural resources are loftily performed by Hindus throughout the year variedly. Praying to water in particular among Hindus has taken a beautiful shape of celebration in the form of a number of festivals meant for invoking rains, showing gratitude for receiving good rains and taking oath to protect and conserve waterbodies.

Off late worship has been construed as an offering of flowers and the like to demonstrate our reverence to the divinity existing in the five basic elements. But a true worship lies in the proper use of things made up of five elements. Thus, in the culture of the yore, eco-consciousness was embedded, and pollution of the five elements in any way was shunned and abhorred.¹⁵¹

Some of the most prominent festivals where water is adored, worshipped and enjoyed are listed in the table below (Table 2).

Table 2 A list of water festivals celebrated across India (pictures sourced from google)

Technologies in Water Management

Awareness Regarding Water Cycle and Hydrology

The Vedic texts, which are more than 3000 years old, contain valuable references to the hydrological cycle. They are found scattered in Vedas in various hymns and prayers addressed to various deities. Likewise, even other Sanskrit literature has valuable discourses regarding hydrology.

Rig Veda (10.6.4)¹⁵² highlights the hydrological cycle stating ‘the water which gets divided into minute particles due to the heat of sun and are carried by the wind and after the conversion into cloud, it rains repeatedly’. The hymns (I, 27.6; I, 32.8) clarify that all the water that returns to the blue through the means of wind by the temperature of sunrays gets transformed to clouds, and then after the diffusion by sunrays, it rains to get accumulated in rivers, ponds and oceans.¹⁵³ The Veda explains also that water is never stationary and constantly gets evaporated, and due to tininess of particles, the upward movement of them cannot be seen.¹⁵⁴ More so, verses (V, 54, 2 and V, 55, 5)¹⁵⁵ give details about the cloud-bearing breeze as the source of precipitation .¹⁵⁶

Likewise Yajurveda (10, 19)¹⁵⁷ and Sama Veda (6, 607)¹⁵⁸ clearly speak of the hydrological cycle. The Chandogyopanishad also gives a vivid picture of the hydrological cycle, perhaps the first mention of it with its accuracy: ‘the rivers all discharge their waters into the sea.

Moving from one ocean to another, the clouds push them to the sky in the form of vapour and they are again released as rain’.

Numerous Puranas elucidate about several stages of the hydrological cycle. In Linga Purana, a whole chapter (I, 36) (I, 36.38-39) is dedicated to the discipline of hydrology. It scientifically explains evaporation, condensation and rainfall with suitable examples besides explaining that water cannot be destroyed; only its condition is distorted,¹⁵⁹ which means water escapes from all the bodies on earth to the atmosphere on getting vapourised by sunlight to turn clouds to rain.

Thus, a combination of smoke, fire and air is the cause behind cloud formation . These clouds cause rainfall under the guidance of Lord Indra, having 1000 eyes. The Linga Purana also states that water can neither be created nor destroyed; only its state is changed.

In Matsya Purana (1,54.29-34, Sharma, 1989) and Vayu Purana (51.14-16: Shastri, 1987), there are references to the hydrological cycle. Vayu Purana (51. 14-15-16) states like this, “the water evaporated by sun rises to atmosphere by means of the capillarity of air, and gets cooled and condensed there. After the formation of clouds, it rains by the vigor of breeze. In this way, aqua doesn’t go missing in any of these manners, but gets changed from one form to the other endlessly”.¹⁶⁰

Agriculture was a multifold activity in India encompassing a wide spectrum of branches. Evidences suggest that during Vedic period, agriculture developed as a science. Some of the treatises have been solely dedicated to agriculture written by Parashara and Surapala. Some of the important things worth noticing in it include details of ‘Krushipanchang’, particularly the methods of a standardised measurement of rain and forecasting. Alongside a high importance was placed on irrigation.

Several apparatus were developed to measure rainfall during the fourth century BC, the time of Kautilya that indoctrinated the principles of modern hydrology excepting the use of ‘Drona’, the weight measure in the place of depth measure. Indians had developed the method and instrumental devices for measuring rainfall by this time. Varshaman¹⁶¹ was the name given for the rain gauge. Kautilya says ‘at the door of store in a house, a utensil, Kunda of nearly 18 inches wide mouth could serve as a rain gauge’ (Arthasastra, Book II, Chap. V).

Kautilya was well versed with the distribution of rainfall in various areas. He furnishes a very accurate scientific account of it with statistical data.¹⁶² The amount of precipitation received in the Jangala or the desert countries is 16 dronas,¹⁶³ amounting to one half of what is received in moist countries, 13.5 dronas in the Asmakas country (the state of Maharashtra at present), 23 dronas in Avanti, the border of the Himalayas and the countries where water channels were used in agriculture. From this, it is evident that the essence of the methodology for measurement of rainfall given by Kautilya was the same as we have today with the only difference being that he expresses it in terms of weight measures, while we use a linear measure nowadays (Arthashastra, Chap. XXIV, Book II, P. 130).

Further, while discussing the geographical details of rainfall, he observes ‘if a third of the necessary measure of rain occurs during the beginning and final months of the rainy season, with two thirds in between, the rainfall can be considered very even’. Talking about the categorisation of clouds and the relationship between rainfall and farming, the author states, ‘the clouds that continuously shower for seven days; and those which pour tiny drops; and that which come into view along with the sunshine are the various kinds of clouds’.

The treatises of Brurhat Samhita (~550 AD) and Mayuracitraka produced by Varahamihira¹⁶⁴ are two very important works which are abounding with the data of climatology and meteorology . The Brihat Samhita has three chapters (21st, 22nd, and 23rd on climatology and meteorology). Chapter 21 speaks of pregnancy of clouds, chapter 22 speaks about pregnancy of air, and chapter 23 speaks of quantity of rainfall. Slokas 1 and 2 of Dakargelam (Chapter 54 of Vrahat Samhita) state the importance of the science of groundwater exploration which helps man ascertain the existence of water veins beneath the earth that resemble veins in the human body. The rainwater assumes various colours and tastes based on differences in the nature of the earth.¹⁶⁵

Varahamihira has also referred to water divining ¹⁶⁶ art and science where in the natural vegetation and terrains are observed keenly and the presence of the quantity of and also the nature of the underground water is identified. Just a few examples are given hereunder. ‘The underground water resembles the veins in the human body’. ‘The color and taste of the rain water undergoes changes owing to the difference in the nature of the land upon which it falls’.¹⁶⁷ ‘Wherever a purple berry tree¹⁶⁸ along with an anthill is found to the east of it, sugary or sweet water is indicated at a distance of three cubits to the south of the tree and at a depth of ten cubit’.¹⁶⁹ ‘A vein of good water to the west in about three cubits and at a depth of 12½ cubits is indicated where we find and Indian fig tree’.¹⁷⁰ It is further confirmed by a white snake at a depth of five cubits and the presence of a stone as dark as collyrium.

‘There will be sweet and never failing water at a depth of nearly 11 cubits at a distance of 3 cubits to the south of an indigo tree,¹⁷¹ an indigo tree with an anthill nearby’,¹⁷² ‘where bael¹⁷³ and Indian fig¹⁷⁴ tree are found together, it can be construed that there will be water at three cubits in the south direction and at a depth of 15 cubits’,¹⁷⁵ ‘palm tree or a coconut tree if covered with anthills denotes a southerly water vein at a depth of 20 cubits and at a distance of six cubits to the west of the tree’¹⁷⁶ ‘when a thorny tree flourishes in the midst of non thorny trees or vice versa, water can be found at a depth of nearly 18 cubits and at a distance of 3 cubits to the west’¹⁷⁷. Many such valuable references are found in the 54th chapter of the Bruhatsamhitaa, and study of it by itself is worth a serious research.

Jains have made a considerable contribution to the field of meteorology. The ‘Prajnapana’ and ‘Avasyaka Curnis’ supply stupendous information of a variety of winds. This tradition must have been far older than these treatises. The ‘Prajnapana’ makes a reference to snowfall and hailstorm. The ‘Trilokasara’ of Nemichandra names seven kinds of episodic clouds that shower for 7 days during the rainy season. Then there are 12 species of white clouds. They also bring rains for 7 days each. Thus, the season of rainfall extends over 133 days in all.

Buddhists too, at least before 400 BC, attempted at a very scientific classification of clouds; four varieties revealed by them are comparable with the most significant four sorts enumerated in modern meteorology. So much of a subtle observation at such an early date is an achievement of the finest order.

The references to the hydrological cycle make it abundantly clear that the ancient Indians were well aware of the different components of the hydrological cycle, the role of solar energy in sustaining the processes and also the general distribution pattern of water. The definitions of hydrological cycle found in some of the ancient works are as good as the modern definitions on this scientific concept.

The impact of the yajna, woods and tanks on precipitation, cataloging of clouds based on their colour, estimation of rainfall based on naturally visible events as the colour of the sky or clouds and the direction of the wind and lightning and the behaviour of flora and fauna all were well understood in India even before the tenth century BC. An ancient text Kadambini describes such method of forecasting of rains in detail.

Traditional Sustainable Practices

A study of history, say a few decades earlier, unfolds before us the systems of managing and monitoring and coordinating with nature in a very simple and decentralised way. The whole modus operandi was woven into the agrarian and community/social routine way of life.

Prayers are generally understood as a besceechment, entreaty or asking the divine forces for something. But, in fact, prayer means complimentary volition¹⁷⁸ and its implementation. The prayers will not be answered unless suitable steps are taken. So it implies that we, our projects and our way of life, should not intervene with the nature in general and in this context natural water cycle. On the contrary, water cycle should be sustained. So, several practices existed to maintain water cycle, some of which are mentioned below.

The link between forests and rainfall was well understood and interwoven with life and religion and took the shape of ‘Devavanam/Devara kaadu’/the temple forests. As recently as five decades ago, every temple in India had its own forest, an area which nobody owned or possessed and exercised rights upon, but today there is a severe destruction of culture by consecutive governments, and the practice is now mostly limited to a place in Karnataka called Kodagu. Panchavati or Panchavalkala forest is a miniature forest of five different trees, bael (Bilvapatra), a detoxifying tree; gooseberry large (Bettada nalli), a good immuniser; caraka (Ashoka), which is a coolant; banyan (Aala) again a coolant; and peepal tree (Ashwatha) used to be a common sight. This miniature forest used to be part of every village or locality. These trees were also part of every temple as well.

The above trees are ecologically very significant as they do not just possess medicinal and curative properties, but help maintain water tables as the roots of the trees spread very deep into the ground and upgrade the water-hoarding capacity of the earth under it. Since the branches of the trees spread a lot wider, the evaporation rate of water will also be checked to a great extent.

Apart from Panchavalkala or panchavati forests in several places, ‘Nakshatravana’, a miniature forest that used to have 27 different trees associated with 27 nakshtras or Stars mentioned in Hindu calendar; ‘Raashi Vana’, a tiny forest that used to have 12 different trees associated with 12 Rashis or zodiacs mentioned in Hindu calendar; and ‘Nagavanas’ were also there, which exist even today, but rarely.

Gomala: These were pasture or grazing lands for cattle. These used to be maintained in every village to have a constant supply of fodder for the cattle and also to prevent forested lands from being overgrazed by animals, thus passively helping the conservation of water through forests. These were grown, away from ponds and waterbodies.

Besides maintaining forests, measures were also taken to see that the water seeped into the underground levels that would help it have an upward movement. This was achieved by digging trenches and pits in the catchment area everywhere. Vegetatio n of all varieties used to be planted and grown which, in association with the roots, would check the flow of water and help in the upward movement of water. Some of the other sustainable practices were small tanks with vents—this was a simple system of Kodi (in vernacular Kannada) which determined the volume of water to be collected in a tank with the surplus water flowing out to fill the next tank. Thus, linking tanks in a chain allowed harnessing maximum amount of rainwater without causing any ill effect.

Pic 7 Small tanks with vent. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=manmade+lakes+with+vents&biw=1777&bih=930&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJxsPT-ZXNAhWJNY8KHdhiBBQQ_AUIBigB&dpr=0.9#tbm=isch&q=manmade+lakes+overflowing+in+india&imgrc=6Ku15NQmeXLxGM%3A

The top soil, the fertile layers of the land, naturally gets washed out or eroded due to rains and gets collected in the tanks as silt, thereby reducing the water-storing capacity of the tanks. During summer, when the water in the tanks was minimum/nil, de-silting used to be a major activity in villages. This used to coincide with the post-harvest season wherein the agricultural work was minimum/nil. This would be a community activity with at least one member from each household voluntarily participating in de-silting. The silt removed was ploughed back to the field, recharging, re-establishing and rejuvenating its fertility.

The benefits of concerted community activity are many and invaluable and form the basis of ecological awareness woven into the cultural fabric.

Pic 8 Compiled by Authors

Sustainable Extraction of Groundwater

The water from the wells was lifted using man/animal power, and value of physical labour and water was known. Water was drawn to the required extent and was not wasted because it meant wastage of man/animal power. There was the system of a water wheel run by bullocks

Pic 9 Water wheel run by bullocks. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Images+of+persian+water+wheel&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dsLPUsHiOIflrAfkuIGQDA&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=598#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=ICp65apO1nQn9M%253A%3BWdY1atIUtC0LhM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fepanchatantra.com%252FPT%252Fpics%252F789.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fepanchatantra.com%252FPT%252Findex.asp%253FNo%253D102%3B622%3B462; https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Images+of+persian+water+wheel&biw=1455&bih=756&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQkpbvotzPAhWKQo8KHaE_BokQ_AUICCgB#imgrc=2vQksgQX-6MA8M%3A

Pic 10 Water wheel. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Images+of+persian+water+wheel&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dsLPUsHiOIflrAfkuIGQDA&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=598#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=ICp65apO1nQn9M%253A%3BWdY1atIUtC0LhM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fepanchatantra.com%252FPT%252Fpics%252F789.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fepanchatantra.com%252FPT%252Findex.asp%253FNo%253D102%3B622%3B462; https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Images+of+persian+water+wheel&biw=1455&bih=756&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQkpbvotzPAhWKQo8KHaE_BokQ_AUICCgB#imgrc=2vQksgQX-6MA8M%3A

Or a system consisting of pulley , rope and bucket worked by oxen on an inclined plain¹⁷⁹

‘Thoobu’ as described in the vernacular Kannada is a sort of simple minor irrigation systems that ensured rationing of water by local management

Pic 11 Water pulley. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Images+of+persian+water+wheel&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dsLPUsHiOIflrAfkuIGQDA&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=598#q=Image+of+a+system+consisting+of+pulley%2C+rope%2C+bucket+worked+by+oxen+on+an+inclined+plain+to+lift+water&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=mCpmHgEre0qFVM%253A%3BRF_5jfLImLvWoM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.payer.de%252Fquellenkunde%252Fquellen0563.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.payer.de%252Fquellenkunde%252Fquellen054.htm%3B393%3B555; https://www.google.co.in/search?q=water+pulleys+in+combination+with+oxen&biw=1777&bih=930&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ1u29g5bNAhXCqJQKHTmVCw4Q_AUIBigB&dpr=0.9#imgrc=ZN4kO_gXpdscKM%3A

Pic 12 Water pulley in combination with oxen. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=water+pulleys+in+combination+with+oxen&biw=1777&bih=930&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ1u29g5bNAhXCqJQKHTmVCw4Q_AUIBigB&dpr=0.9#imgrc=ZN4kO_gXpdscKM%3A

The employment of electricity and irrigation pumps made drawing of water from irrigation wells easier and began an era of squandering of and indiscriminate use of water. Easier a thing got, carless one spends it. As a few decades passed the upper water table depleted, at this juncture instead of coming to the upper layers emphasising on rain harvesting and recharging of wells the greedy went downwards and hit the lower water tables, thanks to the bore wells and submersible pumps. In no time tanks and wells dried and bore wells went deeper and deeper. This has resulted in serious water crisis. Stringent laws checking the digging and using of bore wells and emphasis on harvesting rainwater and rejuvenating well culture are the need of the hour. It should be borne in the mind and heart that there is no other alternative. It is also worth to note that a large number of waterbodies on the surface and the upper layers of the earth help radiate substantial amount of humidity that successfully counters the greenhouse effect or global warming.

‘Etha’ was another system or equipment for lift irrigation employed for a sustainable extraction of groundwater in fields.

Pic 13 Etha. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Images+of+persian+water+wheel&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dsLPUsHiOIflrAfkuIGQDA&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=598#q=Image+of+system+water+lifting+consisting+of+pulley%2C+rope%2C+bucket+worked+by+oxen+on+an+inclined+plain&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=hsuP7i4nFgAwAM%253A%3BRF_5jfLImLvWoM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.payer.de%252Fquellenkunde%252Fquellen0553.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.payer.de%252Fquellenkunde%252Fquellen054.htm%3B693%3B548

Soaking Pits: Every household used to maintain a pit in the premises to let out the waste water generated at home; this system also used to be modified in case of availability of a larger space in the form of a backyard garden. These steps also helped maintain the water table besides maintaining cleanliness in the living spaces. Today the drains which have replaced the soaking pits are the victims of a severe negligence causing water logging, diseases and destruction of waterbodies along with other miseries.

Architectural Designs for Water Storage and Conservation

The knowledge of hydrology was deep rooted in the science of ancient India with extensive constructions made for water resource engineering . A variety of water structures were in place much before the deliberately believed Greek, Roman or other civilisations. Every province of India had unique water harvesting techniques developed to suit the local geographical and cultural condition .

Ancient India gave birth to ‘Shilpashaastram’,¹⁸⁰ a science which deals with the creation of ‘Shilpa’ or the artifacts, in a wider sense, engineering. The word Shilpa which is derived from the root Shila samaadahu means anything that pleases the mind, deviating from the popular notion of presuming only the icons or sculptures as shilpa. ‘Shilpa samhitaa’ is a compilation of rules and procedures related to shilpashastra. ‘Sthapati’ is one who has a complete knowledge of shilpashastra, an engineer or an architect.¹⁸¹

There are about 1000 Shilpasamhitaas available. The most popular of them are ‘Vishwakarma’ or ‘Mayamata’, Bhartha’s Vimanasutras and Matangavaasthu.

King Bhagiratha was actually the first irrigation engineer of India and probably even the world witnessed; he drew the path of Ganga to his kingdom to facilitate people with the waters of the river. Sage Kashyapa reclaimed the waterlogged land of Kashmir, the land of Kashyapa. Varaahamihira was the first hydrologist to predict the locations of aquifers. Sage Parashar developed astronomical methods to predict rainfall (Parashara Krushi shastram).

The properties of flowing and still water were described by sage Vasishta and sage Bhrugu much before Archimedes. Water mills were developed in India before they were adopted in Persia (अरिहत्त, rope pots, seen in the previous section). Kautilya gave guidelines for construction of dams, canals and wells, prevention of water pollution, well-organised water pricing system, etc. Various references are available in the Vedas elucidating the importance of an efficient water use so as to reduce the intensity of water scarcity and drought-like conditions. The botanical names of trees mentioned in Bruhatsamhitaa, calamas rotang rattan (vetas vet) and dalbergia latifolia sissoo tree (shishampaaa shishava),¹⁸² are employed in phytoremediation. Apart from this, several texts refer to a description of designs and qualities of ponds and tanks, (जलाश्यातक लक्षण कथनम्), arch bridges (प्रणालीसॆतु लकषण कथनम्), water forts (जलदुर्ग लक्षण), river forts, etc. (वाहिनीदुर्ग लक्षण).

In Narada shilpa shastra, the three (Jalashastra) techniques for storage of water ‘Stambham’, distribution of water; ‘Sanchetanam’, drainage of water; and ‘Samharanam’—are mentioned. Kunda, veshanta, palavala, haouda, kaasara, tadaaga, saara, mahaa saaraa, subhadraa and saagara are the ten types of tanks.¹⁸³

In ‘Amarakosha’, a thesaurus of Sanskrit language, several kinds of waterbodies and the words affiliated to them are identified such as jalanirgamaa for the valve of the tank and the channel; koopakaaha and koopaha wells; vidaarakaaha for spring; naavyam, navigable river; srootaha for the fountain head; nimnam, gabheeram, gambheeram and hradaha for a deep source of water; uttaanam, for shallow water; agaadham and talasparshe for an abyss; jalaashayaha and jalaadharaha for waterbodies; aahaava and nipaanam for small tanks for domestic animals to drink water from; dhuhu, prahihi and udapaanam for a well from which water is drawn; pushkarini and khaatam, a square manmade lake; akhaatam and devakhaatakam for a natural pond; padmaakaraha and thataakaha for a tank containing lotuses; kaasaaraha, sarasi and saraha, a lake with lotuses; veeshantaha palvalam and alpasaraha for a barrage; vaapi and deerghika for a lake; aadharaha for a channel; nadi and sarith for a river, taranginii, sahivalinii, thatinii, hraadinii, dhunii, srothasvinii, dweepavathii, sravanthii, nimnagaa and aapagaa for a river; kulyaa for a small dug river, etc.

Panini’s Ashtadhyayi, Katyayana’a Vartika and Patanjali’s Mahabhashyam have used hundreds of words which throw light on agricultural operations and irrigation prevalent in the past.

In the eleventh century AD king Bhoja came up with ‘Samaraanganasutradhara’ (समराङ्गणसूत्रधारा), combining all the other ancient works of engineering in which he speaks of Krudaartha or Yantradhara (कृदार्थ/यन्त्रधारा), fountain, Vaariyantra (वारियन्त्र), machine used to move water, Paata yantra (पातयन्त्र), water fall machine, Samanaadikaa (समनादिका), the release of water from a higher level, Paatasamuchchraaya (पातसमुच्छ्राय),

Bored columns were used to let down water from a height and to take it back through an upslant called Uchchraya (उच्छ्राय). The treatise also provides a bounty of references about the Variants of samanaadikaa, Samuchcharaya tatva (समुच्छ्राय तत्व), principle of circulation of water based on the underground canal that brought water from a remote source to a tank, bathroom with shower Dhaaragruham (धारागृहम्), Pravarshana (प्रवर्शण), the shower, Pranaala (प्रणाल) the pipe, Jalamagna (जलमग्न), the subaquatic, Jalayantraputrikaa (जलयन्त्रपुत्रिका), the sprays, Svayamvaahaka (स्वयं वाहक) automatic, Sakruth Prerya (सकृत्प्रेर्य), occasionally propelled, Antaritha (अन्तरित) and Alakshya (अलक्ष्य ), the principle of action and motor mechanism hidden from public view and Vaahya (वाह्य), a machine to be carried by another.¹⁸⁴

The Traditional Water Harvesting Systems That Are Still in Use

‘One tank, one temple and a grazing land for cattle for a village’ was the concept of our ancestors for supporting a sustainable growth. Tanks are one of the oldest designs in irrigation engineering found all over India. Water tanks served purposes such as controlling floods, checking erosion of soil, recharging groundwater and reduction of run-offs. The management of tanks was given to individuals or village communities or temples. The entire tank system was suitable for direct irrigation for agriculture and was easy to manage. Tanks were constructed using stone, cement, mud or a combination of these.

Rajasthan, an area largely covered by the Thar Desert , has had a long and the best tradition of water conservation. For example, the builders of the famous Bundi and Chittorgarh forts harnessed the natural catchments found in the forts formed by undulating hilltops. Rainwater was collected in several ways and water flowing down the hill slopes was also stored in waterbodies. Two pictures below of Bundi fort illustrate it. Picture 14 shows a water path, i.e. rainwater flowing down a hill purified by a ‘Jaal’ (sieve) between the two structures. It then flows into the waterbody and gets accumulated as seen in the picture.

Pic 14 Source: http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/Traditional-Methods-of-Water-Harvesting-and-applicability-2.aspx

Talab/Bandhis

Reservoirs natural or manmade were called by different names in various places. They were called Talabs, in general, and pokhariyan, talai and bandhi at some places. Big lakes were also named sagar and samand. These waterbodies were constructed for irrigation and supply of drinking water.

Pic 15 Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=images+of+talabs

Johads were small earthen check dams built to capture and conserve rainwater, thus improving percolation and recharging of groundwater.

Pic 16 Source: http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/Traditional-Methods-of-Water-Harvesting-and-applicability-2.aspx

Baoris/bers were community wells, found in the state of Rajasthan, that were used mainly for drinking water supply. Most of them were built by ‘Banjaras’. They could hold water for a long time because of an almost negligible rate of evaporation.

Pic 17 Source: http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/Traditional-Methods-of-Water-Harvesting-and-applicability-2.aspx

Jhalaras were artificial deep tanks, found in Rajasthan and Gujarat, essentially meant for community use and for religious rites and not potable purposes. Often rectangular in shape, Jhalaras were stepped on all or three sides. The Jhalaras gathered subterranean seepage of a waterbody located upstream.

Pic 18 Source: http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/Traditional-Methods-of-Water-harvesting-and-applicability-2.aspx

Water Temples or ‘Step Wells’

The most unique construction for harvesting rainwater in the arid regions of the country was the step well. Step wells are also known as water temples. These constructions ensured a sufficient water supply through periods of drought. Some step wells were dug near tanks to have an access to water all through the year. Step wells are also christened Vav, Vavadi, Bawdi, Bawri, Baoli and Bavadi. These structures are found amply in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Adalaj Vav is a very well-known step well located 20 kms away from Ahmedabad. It is built in the form of a temple that ends into a well. This is about six storeys below ground level.

Pic 19 Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Images+of+persian+water+wheel&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dsLPUsHiOIflrAfkuIGQDA&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=598#tbm=isch&q=images+of+adalaj+vav&imgrc=IvWqAhBse2_i9M%3A

Kunds are covered tanks used to be built to deal with drinking water shortages. Usually built using local materials, kunds were most widespread in the western parched areas of Rajasthan and in places where groundwater was inadequate and tasted saline. In such conditions, kunds provided clean and sweet water for drinking. They were also rampant in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh states.¹⁸⁵

Pic 20 The picture is of a Kund in the state of Rajasthan that is still in use. Source: http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/Traditional-Methods-of-Water-harvesting-and-applicability-2.aspx

Tanka, most dwellings in Bikaner, had underground tanks built used for storing water. Circular holes were made in the ground, lined with refined lime, in which rainwater used to get collected.

Temple architecture is a very interesting discipline for study. Although today, it has been a centre of faith and a place of idol worship, it was originally a community centre wherein people used to gather, listen to lectures and music and witness dance performances. Many a time, the programmes would go on for several days. The presence of a central dais,¹⁸⁶ kitchen,¹⁸⁷ dining hall¹⁸⁸ and parking places for vehicles of that day¹⁸⁹ in the plan of a temple proves the said as a fact. Water supply to the community was essential for cooking to ablutions, and hence, either the temples were constructed on the banks of rivers or a pond was an inseparable part of the temple precincts.

The temples in South India have huge tanks or ponds¹⁹⁰ as part of the temple premises. Some temples have more than one tank. These ponds were meant to serve the needs of the temple besides the supply of water to devotees for cleansing themselves before Darshan. These tanks even help enhance water table. The picture below shows a water tank in the Chidambaram temple, followed by the pond of Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, and the pond of Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh.

Pic 21 Chidambaram Temple, Tamil Nadu. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Chidambaram+Temple+pond&biw=1777&bih=930&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjI8qmj-JXNAhXHOo8KHUiTBj0Q_AUIBigB&dpr=0.9#imgrc=VSDRhzTvj9o-kM%3A

Pic 22 Meenakshi Temple, Tamil Nadu. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=beautiful+pictures+of+Meenakshi+temple,+Madurai&biw=1366&bih=599&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=WLGQUr3yKMLArAerwIHQDA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ

Pic 23 Venkateswara Temple pond, Andhra Pradesh. Source: http://withfriendship.com/user/fraud/tirumala-tirupati-temple-photos.php

Harvesting of water in fortresses and hillocks/catchment areas was also a common technique, and it was known to the culture of the land since ages. Two significant examples are Chitradurga Fort in Karnataka, where not even a single drop is allowed to escape.

Pic 24 Chitradurga Fort, Karnataka, and the other one are the lake at the foothill of Shravanabelagola, Karnataka. Source: http://elusive42.windforwings.com/2011_05_01_archive.html

Pic 25 Shravanabelagola, Karnataka. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Mysore

Kuls are water channels found in precipitous mountain areas like Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir. These carried water from glaciers to villages. In the muddy terrains, the kul was lined with rocks to prevent clogging.

In Assam region, big ponds were constructed for preserving rainwater. In some places, the Garh was used to channelise river water to agricultural fields. A Garh is like a big canal , where both sides have big and long embankment and the middle side is left open for water to flow.

Pic 26 Ancient canal. Source: http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/Traditional-Methods-of-Water-Harvesting-and-applicability-3.aspx

It is apparent that scores of communities in India have efficiently employed water harvesting methods to meet their water requirements. The sustaining strategies were appropriately based on the idea of land-water-vegetation . Any surplus (food, fodder, etc.) generated at the village level supported the towns and cities. The prosperity of villages could be attributed to the water harvesting structures, which assured supply of water for irrigation especially all through the year. Efficient use of water, lining of canals and construction of dams; essential needs for the construction of good tanks, bank protection methods and spillways; and additional aspects were paid due attention.

Water Management During Various Hindu Civilisations

Indus Valley Civilisation

The first major human settlements in India are believed to have begun in the valley of Sindhu or Indus River around 3000 BC in the northern and Western India. The civilisation was prominent in hydraulic engineering and had many water supply and sanitation devices that were in use and were first of their kind. Among them are the earliest known systems of flush toilets in the world. Many homes had it constructed and were connected to a universal sewerage pipe. Private wells were also commonly found. City walls served as an obstruction to floods.

Pic 27 Rivers and sites of early civilisations of India. Source: http://books.google.co.in/books?id=if5BWWiEhx8C&pg=PA390&lpg=PA390&dq=Hydrology+in+ancient+India+by+the+National+Institute+of+hydrology&source=bl&ots=QTJZDWy3xx&sig=Ddn9jB6wPWcJwpoZfkmrdxBmvzQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ilDCUvnEMsq8rAeCooH4Cg&ved=0CGAQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Hydrology%20in%20ancient%20India%20by%20the%20National%20Institute%20of%20hydrology&f=false

Dholavira , an important site of Indus Valley, contained several tanks for gathering rainwater. ‘The system of Harappans of Dholavira was very efficient in conserving, harvesting and storing water. The unique features of Dholavira are the sophisticated water conservation system comprising of channels and reservoirs used for storing freshwater of rains and storing the water diverted from two nearby brooks. This came in the wake of the desert climate of Kutch, where several years could pass without precipitation. A seasonal stream running across the site was dammed at numerous points.

Pic 28 Water reservoir with steps at Dholavira. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dholavira

Lothal is located close to the village of Saragwala in the Dholka Taluk of Ahmedabad. Dating back to 2400 BCE, the dock of Lothal was the earliest known dock in the world linking the city with the track of the Sabarmati River on the trade route between Harappan cities and the Saurashtra Peninsula. It was a significant and flourishing trade centre at that time.

In the excavation which resumed in 1961, archaeologists discovered trenches sunk in the northern, eastern and western borders of the stack, bringing to light the cove conduits and ravine and connecting the waterfront with the river. The discovery comprises of a mound, a township, a marketplace, and the dock.

In Lothal in Gujarat, Inamgaon in Maharashtra and other places in the north and western parts of India, small bunds were extensively constructed for harvesting rainwater.

Pic 29 An old well in Lothal. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothal

Pic 30 The dock, with a canal opening to allow water to flow into the river, thereby maintaining a stable water level. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothal

The Harappans, the ancient people who lived in the Indus Valley from about 3300 BCE to 1600 BCE, were far ahead of their time, especially in architecture. Although not every Harappan house had a well, they were quite common and comprised one of the most identifiable feature of Harappan urbanism. Gradually, the streets and houses were heightened due to amassing of rubbish. This is why tall wells are commonly seen at Harappa and in the neighbouring areas.

Mohenjo Daro is the most studied settlement of the Indus Valley civilisation featuring the Great Bath, the first of its kind in the primitive period. The cisterns at the centre of a courtyard are rectangular structures. Across the lane to the north of the great bath, there is an eight-block bathroom arranged in two rows, one on either side of a drain. A well that is double ringed is seen in one of the rooms meant for supplying water to the bath which is reached by a flight of steps on the sides. This antique city also had about 700 wells, and almost all houses had one private well.Indus Valley Civilisation: Mohenjo Daro

Pic 31 Great Bath, Mohenjo Daro. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohenjo-daro

Water Management During Various Dynasties

Vedic Period

Vedas recommend a common source of water, common food habits and an equal burden of labour so that everyone in the society could move ahead together¹⁹¹ sowing the seeds of community living which is the actual philosophy of modern communism centuries before Karl Marx. Intervention of law and governance though was warranted many a time to exercise a good control over water management.

Progress of unfailing sources of water such as reservoirs, ponds, lakes, irrigation canals and others came to be observed as an indispensable part of quality governance. Monarchs and rulers not only got a variety of waterbodies built but also encouraged village communities and individuals to build these on their own. Wide-ranging decrees were passed for regulating their construction and preservation as also the proper distribution of water.

During the period of Rig Veda (VI, 24.6),¹⁹² the relationship between slope and velocity of flow was known reflecting the understanding about the physics of flow. Atharvana Veda (II, 3.1)¹⁹³ states that the rivers having their birth in the snow-clad mountains keep flowing in summer also; all the major rivers flowing from the Himalayas were perennial since they were fed by rains during monsoon and snow melt during summer. Atharvana Veda (2.3.1) also quotes so regarding management of water that ‘if brooks, wells, pools and others are appropriately used and looked after, will lessen the intensity of drought and scarcity of water’.

Ramayana (7000 BC) King Bhagiratha , the ancestor of Srirama, was the first irrigation engineer who tailored the path of Ganga to the empire of Kosala, presently Awadh in Uttar Pradesh. His efforts are well known as ‘Bhagiratha Prayatna’ like the Herculian task in English.

The Era of Mahabharatha (3139 BC)

People in the time of Mahabharata saved water in big tanks. After suffering to get water in the country, King Yavakri constructed many ponds and tanks. Wells were constructed in various places and houses for an easy and adequate supply of water. The King also ordered the digging of wells on the sides of big Rajamargas/prominent roads for the comfort of the travellers.

Rules for preserving purity and sacredness of water (as rivers, lakes, tanks, ponds, etc.) and description of several rivers, lakes, tanks, etc. are found in the epic of Mahabharata.

In the Kingdom of Chedi, lakes in the forests were full of clean waters. The Gandhamardana mountain lakes were neat with clean banks, and its water had good healing power because of the presence of cane trees around it.

Sage Narada asks Yudhishtira if he has built reservoirs for storing rainwater for irrigation purposes, saying agriculture should not depend on rains alone.

The largest inland salt lake of India, the Sambhar Lake is a bowl shaped encircling the Sambhar Lake Town located 96 kms from the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan. Sage Shukracharya was known to have lived in this region. The Shukraniti, written by the sage, prescribes that the king should construct wells, tanks and reservoirs to store water for agriculture.¹⁹⁴ He also states that the land revenue should be set on the basis of the irrigational facilities available on it.¹⁹⁵ If a farmer has got wells and water canals constructed on his own, he should be exempted from land taxes till the income is double the cost of cultivation.¹⁹⁶ The sage also uses words referring to artificial lake (कृत्रिम नदी),¹⁹⁷ and there is also a mention of a machine called Udayanayantram (उदयनयन्त्रम्) which probably was something like bucket wheel.

Mauryan Empire (322 to 185 BCE)

Chanakya or Kautilya, the kingmaker, laid the foundation of Mauryan Empire and penned ‘Arthashastra’, a book of political economy of ancient India. Arthashastra gives an extensive account of dams and bunds that were built for irrigation during the reign of the Mauryas. The water supply systems were well organised in a framework of stringent policies. Various types of levis were collected from the farmers based on the nature of irrigation. The rate of tax was 25% of the production in case the water was drawn from natural sources such as rivers, lakes and springs. If water was obtained from storages constructed by the Monarch, the rate of tax differed with the method of drawing; it was 20% of the production for water taken manually, 25% for water pulled by bullocks and 33% for that diverted by means of channels. Taxes were exempted if a farmer built or improved irrigation facilities himself. The exemption period was 5 years for new tanks and bunds, 4 years for restoration of old structures and 3 years for clearing overgown weeds along the constructed irrigation amenities.

Kautilya states of all the irrigation works perennial flow is the best and among the perennial projects, that which can irrigate a vast area is most valuable (Chapter 52.3). Arthashastram (2.1.20) reads ‘reservoirs should be built using natural springs and water brought from other places’. ‘Shades, courtyards, latrines, fire places, places for pounding grains and open spaces are to be used as common properties’ Arthashastram (3.8.28).

Chapter 8 of Arthashastra gives an extensive account of laws pertaining to buildings and their architecture.¹⁹⁸ This chapter reads laws that were enacted to design discharge mechanism of waste and waste water from every house, and from each house a water track of adequate gradient at a distance of 3 padas or 1.5 aratnis from the adjacent spot shall be built so that water flows from it in a constant line or falls into the drain. Violators of this shall be penalised with a fine of 54 panas. If a ditch, strides, water track, ladder, manure hill or anything else of a dwelling bothers outsiders hampers others’ delight or causes water to get collected and thus damage the wall of an adjoining house, the violator shall be penalised with a fine of 12 panas. If the displeasure is owing to faeces and urine, the fine shall be doubled. The same fine should be meted out also to a tenant who, even when asked to evacuate, lives in the house, along with the owner.

It is also seen from the ancient treatise on administration that a specific officer was responsible for irrigation works. Waterbodies like reservoirs, bunds and tanks were also privately owned, and the owner was free to sell or mortgage them in expectation for a share in the production. Waterbodies had to be maintained by the inhabitants of the village in the absence of the owner.

The first version of the water law is also found in this ancient document. It talks of a set of sentences lay down for breach of water laws like:

• Damage other’s ploughed or sown field by letting water flood from a tank or a reservoir.

• Causing damage to gardens, parks and bunds.

• Owner of a higher tank preventing the filling of a lower tank

• Failure to maintain the waterbody.

• Out-of-turn drawing of water from a tank.

• Building a well or a tank on someone else’s land.

• Selling or mortgaging a waterbody meant for charitable purposes.

• Penalty of death was ordered for breaking a reservoir filled with water.

Development During the First Century BC

Satvahanas who ruled between first century BC and second century AD in southern India pioneered the concept of brick and ring wells. Lake and well irrigation were developed at a large scale in the reigns of Pandyas, Cheras and Cholas also in south India between the first and third century AD, and large constructions were made across the rivers of Cauvery and Vaigai. The renowned Cauvery anicut was a work of this epoch. Tataka, tanks for tapping rain water, were also built on a large scale. Natural depressions were also developed into irrigation tanks.

Pic 32 This oldest dam in the world, Grand Anicut (Kallanai), is located in Tamil Nadu built by the Chola King Karikalan in the first century AD. Source: http://www.tamilspider.com/resources/3363-Grand-Anicut-Kallanai-Tamilnadu.aspx

The Gupta Empire (320 to 550 AD): The Golden Age of Gupta reign was marked by colossal progress in every aspect of civilisation that shaped up the elements of what is in general branded as Hindu culture. Water resources development on a large scale took place during this period.

Drought was common in the Gupta Empire, so irrigation was essential and taxes were levied on water. Every month people gave a day of labour to maintain wells, irrigation, ditches, reservoirs and dams. The province had a very profitable trade through the Mediterranean Sea.

The Bruhatsamhita (54.118; Achyntananda Jha, 1988), attributed to 550 AD, the period of Gupta Reign, describes the utility of ponds for effective storage of water: ‘A pond constructed facing west from east holds water for long while that built from north to south gets spoilt by the waves raised by winds’. The shores of such tanks must be protected by planting of certain trees, the species of which are spelt out; one is tempted to compare this with the catchment treatment measures recommended in modern times for soil and water conservation.

Irrigation in Karnataka was properly taken care of right from the Ganga Dynastic rulers’ times in the ninth century with the ‘Bittuvatta’ system (the tradition of setting some piece of land in every village as ‘Bittuvatta’. Persons enjoying such land were charged with the responsibility of the upkeep of the village’s irrigation facility) for their proper upkeep.

The Rajput Period (Ninth to Twelfth Century AD)

The Rajput dynasty (1000–1200 A.D.) highly promoted works in the area of irrigation in northern India which is very much evident in the state of Rajasthan which still have innumerable canals, dams, and reservoirs built in their time still in use. Rajputs also got built the beautiful temples at Khajuraho and also many well-known temples in Gujarat and Western Rajasthan in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Their architecture represents a pleasing blend of Hindu and Muslim styles. Among the more notable are forts at Chitor, Gwalior and Jodhpur and the ‘Palace of Winds’ (Hawa Mahal) in Jaipur. Jai Singh II, the King of Jaipur, got astronomical observatories constructed in Jaipur and Delhi in the early eighteenth century.

Pic 33 Ana Sagar lake. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=ana+sagar+lake&biw=1600&bih=828&tbm=isch&imgil=RCqVxCFEcN2BdM%253A%253BtGx8tV2eZ9PzlM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.columbia.edu%25252Fitc%25252Fmealac%25252Fpritchett%25252F00routesdata%25252F1100_1199%25252Fmuinuddin%25252Fanasagar%25252Fanasagar.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=RCqVxCFEcN2BdM%253A%252CtGx8tV2eZ9PzlM%252C_&usg=__q9ygqJAq5Xe9_9euhUrmWpjualk%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjH-M_q8ZLNAhUBQY8KHcjFD6sQyjcIMA&ei=uCdVV8e8EoGCvQTIi7_YCg#imgrc=RCqVxCFEcN2BdM%3A

Ana Sagar is a manmade lake sited in the Ajmer city of the state of Rajasthan. The grandfather of Prithvi Raj Chauhan , Anaji Chauhan, got it built in 1135–1150 AD and was named after him. Local populace built the catchments. Jehangir got the Daulat Bagh Gardens made along its banks, and Shahjahan got the Baradari or the pavilions built for it. The lake covers an area of over 13 square kms.

Pic 34 The Mansagar lake. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=man+sagar+lake&biw=1600&bih=828&tbm=isch&imgil=RCqVxCFEcN2BdM%253A%253BtGx8tV2eZ9PzlM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.columbia.edu%25252Fitc%25252Fmealac%25252Fpritchett%25252F00routesdata%25252F1100_1199%25252Fmuinuddin%25252Fanasagar%25252Fanasagar.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=RCqVxCFEcN2BdM%253A%252CtGx8tV2eZ9PzlM%252C_&usg=__q9ygqJAq5Xe9_9euhUrmWpjualk%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjH-M_q8ZLNAhUBQY8KHcjFD6sQyjcIMA&ei=uCdVV8e8EoGCvQTIi7_YCg#imgrc=RmCjLZZWr_bd7M%3A

During 1596 AD, when there was a severe famine in the Rajput province, there was a consequent acute shortage of water. The monarch of Amer was then motivated to have a dam built for collecting water to beat the severe adversities caused by the crisis. A dam named Man Sagar was built, across the eastern valley between Amer hills and Amagarh hills with earth and quartzite. The dam is about 300 m long and 28.5–34.5 m wide at present. Three sluice gates are provided for it for release of water to the downstream area. The dam and the palace in its centre have gone through renovation under various rulers numerous times, but the last renovation was taken up by Jai Singh II of Amer in the eighteenth century. The king also got numerous other constructions made of historical and religious significance, some of which being the forts of Amer, Jaigarh, Nahargarh, Khilangarh and Kanak Vrindavan Valley, which lie in the vicinity.

Pic 35 Balsamand Lake. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=images+of+Balsamand+Lake&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=8LWmUrHhJ4exrgeEg4CwCw&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=599#tbm=isch&q=balasmand+lake&imgrc=MTJGRzM7r3TqOM%3A

Balsamand Lake is located 5 km from Jodhpur, Rajasthan along the road of Jodhpur Mandore Road. The lake was built by Balak Rao Parihar in the year 1159 AD. It was planned to fulfil the water needs of the people of Mandore. The lake stretches to a length of one km and a breadth of 50 m and is 15 m deep.

Pic 36 Rajsamand Lake. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=images+of+Rajsamand+Lake&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=8LWmUrHhJ4exrgeEg4CwCw&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=599#tbm=isch&q=Rajsamand+Lake&imgrc=i5_5-CfIlQXBqM%3A

Rajsamand Lake is a lake situated near the town of Rajsamand in the state of Rajasthan. Located at 66 km off from the north of Udaipur, the lake lies between the cities of Rajnagar and Kankroli. The lake is also known by the name of Rajsamudra Lake in Rajasthan. Built by Maharana Raj Singh in 1660, the width of the lake is about 2.82 kms, the length is about 6.4 kms, and its depth is 18 m. The lake has a catchment area of close to 196 sqm as it is built across the rivers of Gomati, Kelwa and Tali. Rajsamand Lake is one of the five popular lakes of Mewar. This lake also has the pride of a magnificent dam built in seventeenth century. A huge embankment is built in white marble on the southern end of the lake. The marble terraces and stone steps touch the waters of the lake. Here, the five toranas (weighing arches) are also found, where Maharana Raj Singh and his descendants arranged Tuladan in which Kings used to weigh themselves in gold before distributing it among the Brahmans.

In eastern India Pal and Sen Kings (760–1100 A.D.) got a number of large tanks and lakes constructed in their empires. Kalhana’s Rajtarangini gives a thorough description of the development of irrigation systems in Kashmir in the twelfth century.

The Vijayanagara Empire (Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century AD)

The rule of Krishnadevaraya witnessed several diversion works across Tungabhadra River with the construction of numerous canals of extensive irrigation and water supply to the palaces of the kings and the capital city that was thickly populated. The royal centre of the palace consisted of bath structures and temple tanks. These systems continue to supply water to agricultural fields even to this day, with some changes from time to time. The important channels still functioning are the Raya and the Basavanna canals supplying water to the fields of Hospet and Kamalapuram near Tungabhadra River. The canals were constructed during the medieval period. Currently, the modern Tungabhadra Dam at Mamallapuram feeds the canals as the original diversion structures remain submerged by the Tungabhadra reservoir. The low-lying canal of the Tungabhadra Dam gets integrated with the old Raya canal. The Basavanna canal had originally irrigated large tracts of agricultural land between Vallabhi Puram and Amaravati (Bhavanishankar, 2007).

Madhava Manthri, a Vijayanagara officer at Talakad, raised the famous Madhava Manthri Katte between the places Hemmige and Muduktore across the River Cauvery in about the year 1341, and a record of the year 1638 speaks of it as Madarasa Vodeyara Katte Kaluve. There is an old anicut at Dhanagere across Cauvery in Kollegala Taluk and another at Ganiganur across Suvarnavathi River (Bhavanishankar, 2007).

Around Hampi, the capital of the empire, are the remains of ancient aqueducts and canals as seen in the picture below and were used for bringing water from the Tungabhadra River to the tanks and baths. Water inside the temples was usually supplied by underground aqueducts.

Pic 37 Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=Aqueducts+of+Vijayanagara+empire&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=sq6lUu_7MciJrQf2sYHYBQ&ved=0CDwQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=599

Pic 38 Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=temple+ponds+in+the+vijayanagara+empire&biw=1600&bih=828&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjwmrWa9ZLNAhWLo48KHbjmC90Q_AUIBigB

Pic 39 A canal linking to a small tank at Hampi. Source: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=A+canal+linking+to+a+small+tank+at+Hampi&biw=1600&bih=828&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9qsO79ZLNAhUHQI8KHZnNCBUQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=vMl8sb0kYzwfYM%3A

The Wodeyars (1399–1947 AD)

The Wodeyars who ruled the princely state of Mysore from the fifteenth century onwards built a number of irrigation diversion works across the River Cauvery in South India, and many structures are in existence even today working very well. The Bangara Doddi Kaluve aqueduct, carrying a distributary across the River Cauvery, more than four centuries old, is in good working condition and probably the oldest aqueduct in service in the world.

There are many epigraphical records that indicate that irrigation had been practised from historical times in the erstwhile Mysore State, now merged in Karnataka. The inscriptions of the Ganga, Cholas, Hoysalas and the Vijayanagara and Mysore rulers not only speak of tanks, canals, sluices and other means helpful to facilitate irrigation but also mention about the steps taken for the conservation of such means of irrigation like repair of embankment, desilting of tanks, etc.

The creation of a canal by directing the flow of the Lakshmana Tirtha River, a tributary of Cauvery, is mentioned in a record of the year 1669 with the tank named ‘Kanteerava Samudra’. Tipu Sultan, the popular Muslim ruler of Mysore State in those times, raised a bund of 70 ft high in Anandur in Mysore Taluk. In the days of Dewan Purnaiah, a renowned minister during the rule of Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, the Sagarkatte Dam, was raised across Lakshmana Tirtha. At Devanur, the construction of a tank, Devarakatte, is spoken of during the nineteenth century. Chunchanakatte has an old dam ascribed to one Chuncha. The Mysore rulers of those times, Kanthirava and Chikka Devaraja, had undertaken a number of irrigation works.

The Mysore rulers of the recent times have constructed the major irrigation works of the present Karnataka state, the most notable of them being The Krishna Raja Sagara Dam (in the picture) built across Cauveri River during the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV as a life-giving river for the Mysore and Mandya Districts, in 1924. Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya served as the chief engineer during the construction of this dam.

Pic 40  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna_Raja_Sagara

Vani Vilasa Sagara Dam was also built in pre-independence time across the river Vedavathi.

The dam is a beautiful piece of architecture, a marvel of engineering, providing water to lots of surrounding cities, towns and villages, which are largely dry lands belonging to the Deccan area of Central Karnataka.

Pic 41 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vani_Vilasa_Sagara

Budikote Dam , located 125 km off from Bengaluru, was one of the popular dams in the late 1980s, serving eight villages close by.

Pic 42 Source: http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://i.ytimg.com/vi/reTWHCG8Pic/0.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.digplanet.com/wiki/Kolar_district&h=360&w=480&sz=21&tbnid=YLkQI3LexNjHnM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=169&zoom=1&usg=__azbiiSqHDYE1JLULpZG25ki0nmk=&docid=cOiVELIfDqBYRM&sa=X&ei=WBDVUsOWJsW5rgfKq4D4Aw&ved=0CC0Q9QEwAA

Kempe Gowda who ruled Bengaluru and its neighbouring areas in the state of Karnataka in the fifteenth century had a number of tanks built. The most well known among those were the Kempambudhi, Dharmambudhi, Sampangi and Siddakatte Kere tanks.

Role of Communities and Individuals: In yester centuries, the village communities and individuals were encouraged to build their own water harvesting structures to meet their domestic water requirements. The communities being closely knit had a strong culture of providing voluntary labour and material contributions towards building these facilities for the welfare of all. The social norms of the community members helped in maintaining these facilities, conserving and protecting water from pollution and guaranteeing just distribution. It is discovered that there was no problem of water scarcity wherever the communities were strong, and people on their own built water harvesting structures. On the contrary, situations were bad where the people depended entirely on the state for water .

Some Observations

Water is inert, without consciousness, and is indifferent to an expression of our gratitude or ingratitude, but the traditional perspective is that water is divine and is invaluable. In our ancient culture, we look at all the natural resources and forces of nature as ‘Deva’ or ‘Devatha’. These words never mean god or goddess as construed today. Deva is a Vedic word, meaning ‘that which gives’. Once we receive something, we are indebted to the Deva or Devatha,¹⁹⁹ and a feeling of indebtedness and preparedness to clear the debt is termed as ‘gratitude’.²⁰⁰ If it is a person who has given, it is reciprocated by giving something similar or something else immediately or at times of need. If it is nature which has given, a sense of gratitude is defined as:

a) Using it diligently and deliberately avoiding misuse/abuse of it, that is, preventing pollution at any scale

b) Protecting it to be benefitted time and again in return

c) Sharing the benefits with fellow beings and creatures and perpetuating it for the benefit of generations to come

d) To enrich it wherever and whenever possible

It is apparent that a person with a sense of gratitude is aware of the importance and value of the thing or person towards which he/she expresses gratitude. Alternatively a person without gratitude will squander the thing that has bestowed benefits on him and shows disrespect towards a person who has helped. This is what is happening with respect to water and other natural resources in the present context.

Losing this gratitude in the present-day context has been the main cause behind all the disasters and chaos in relation to water in particular and natural resources in general. But, gratitude, in fact, liberates the one who expresses gratitude. This is one of the foundation stones of Indian/Human/Vedic culture. Thus, an expression of gratitude makes one deserve and enjoy perennial fruits. The ungrateful will miss all this for oneself and put others also on tenterhooks. This is the present scenario.

An in-depth analysis of the problematic scenario and a sincere implementation of the remedial measures are the need of the hour, and this is a verbal sketch of the above. This is guided by an awareness of ecology and scientific exposition, an inseparable part of Indian culture.

Finally, it is the duty of every human to identify the purpose of this mortal life and mortal world which is a beautiful path that leads the soul towards the divine bliss in the super soul which could never be achieved causing wreckage in this world. Submission to God is obvious to attain bliss, but submission to God means not just believing in the existence of almighty, but also respecting his creations and leading life in coherence with the laws of the nature.

This is the story of our glorious tradition of water harvesting in short reflecting the wisdom of our ancestors who thought harvesting of water and managing it effectively is an essential element of culture and life with community. This meant that these systems were perceived by the common man as his sacred duty as also the communities as part of a good local self-governance and social responsibility. This ancient knowledge at every level of society ensured an equitable distribution of water, which, in turn, formed the basis for an all-round development and prosperity. Let us revive and extend this old knowledge for the advantage of all our people especially those in the rural areas. We can do it. We, the authors, humbly submit that the subject has not been covered exhaustively. There are many other facets to the subject and we have tried our best just to give a bird’s eye view of the subject. The final message could be Thank You Water, we shall preserve you.

Appendix

S N	Subject	Popular texts
1	Medicine/Ayurveda	1. Ashtaanga hrudaya (अष्टाङ्गहृदयम्)
		2. Astanga sangraha of Vaagbhata,
		3. Charaka samhita(चरखसंहिता) of Charakhaachaarya,
		4. Sushrutha Samhitha(सुश्रुतसंहिता) of Sushrutha and
		5. Vrukshaayurveda of Surapala
2	Prosody/Chandas	1. Pingala’s Chadashshastra
3	Thesaurus/Nighantu	1. Nirukta (निरुक्तम्) of Yaaskacharya
		2. Amarakosha (अमरकोशः) of Amarasimha
4	Upanishads	There are more than 100 Upanishads found but mostly 10 are considered which are
		1. Esha (ईश)
		2. Kena (कॆन)
		3. Katha (कठ)
		4. Munda (मुण्ड)
		5. Mandukya (माण्डुक्य)
		6. Prashna (प्रश्न)
		7. Taittariya (तैत्तरीय)
		8. Aithareya (ऐतरॆय)
		9. Chandogya (छान्दॊग्यम्)
		10. Bruharaaranyaka (बृहदारण्यकम्)
5	Grammar/Vyakaranam	1. Ashtadyaayi (अष्टाध्यायी) of Paanini
		2. Varthika (वार्तिका) of Katyaayana or Vararuchi
		3. Mahabhaasya (महाभाष्यम्) of Patanjali
6	Political economy/Arthashastram	1. Arthashastra (अर्थशास्त्रम्) of Kautilya
		2. Shukraniti
		3. Naradaniti
		4. Viduraniti
7	Engineering/Shilpashastram	1. Samaraanganasutradhaaraa (समराङ्गणसूत्रधारा) of Bhoja
8	Architecture/Vaastushastram	1. Matangavaastu
		2. Maya samhitaa
		3. Vaasthuratnaakara
9	Law/Dharmashastram	1. Manusmrithi(मनुस्मृति) of Manu
		2. Naradasmriti
		3. Parashara Smrithi
10	Chemistry/Rasashastram	1. Rasahrdayatantra by Govind Bhagwatpad
		2. Srasaratnakara by Siddha Nityanatha
		3. Rasarnava by an unknown author
		4. Srasendracudamani by Somadeva
		5. Rasaratnasamuccaya by Vagbhatta
		6. Rasaprakasasudhakara by Yasodhara
		7. Rasarajalaksmi by Ramesvara Bhatta
		8. Rasendracintamani by Dhundukanatha
		9. Rasendracintamani by Ramacandra Guha
		10. Rasasara by Govind Acarya
		11. Rasakaumudi by Sarvajnacandra
		12. Rasabhesajakalpa by Surya Pandita
		13. Rasasamketakalika by Camunda
		14. Lohapaddhati by Suresvara
		15. Kankaligrantha by Nasirshah
		16. Rasamuktavalina by Devanatha
11	Literature/Sahitya	1. Raghuvamsham(रघुवंशम्) &
		2. Kumarasambhavam(कुमारसंभवम्) of Kalidasa
		3. Kirataarjuniyam(किरातार्जुनीयम्) of Bharavi
		4. Shishupaalavadham(शिशुपालवधम्) of Magha
		5. Naishadheeyacharitham(नैशधीयचरितम्) of Sriharsha
		These are called the 5 ‘Mahakaavyas’ or the greatest among the available ample literary works. The other prominent poets are Bhasa, Bana, Bhavabhuthi, Dandi, Shudraka, Bhatti, Vishaakhadutta, Bhartruhari, etc.
12	Epics/Akhyayika	1. Srimadraamaayanam (श्रीमद्रामायणम्) by Maharshi Valmiki
		2. Srimanmahabharatham (श्रीमन्महाभारतम्) by Bhagawan Vyasa
		3. Astaadashapuraanaani (अष्टादशपुअराणानि) by Bhagawan Vyasa
13	Astronomy/Jyoutisham	1. Bruhatsamhitha (बृहत्संहिता) of Varaahamihira
		2. Aryabhateeyam
		3. Surya Sidhdhanta
		4. Lilavathi