Newsletter No. 60; IRBMS
Brahmaputra is a unique river in the sense that the river drains through diverse environment, viz. cold dry plateau in Tibet, rain-drenched Himalayan slopes, the land locked alluvial plains of Assam, and the vast deltaic flood plains of Bangladesh. The state wise drainage area of the river basin is; Arunachal Pradesh – 83,740 sq. km, Assam – 71, 216 sq. km, West Bengal – 12, 585 sq. km, Meghalaya – 12, 780 sq. Km, Nagaland – 10,895 sq. km, Sikkim – 7,100 sq. km.
Mythology Like all rivers in east there are many stories associated with Brahmaputra since time immemorial. As it is one of the main river of Tibet there are stories in Tibet itself. In Hindu mythology, Amogha, wife of Sage Santanu, had a child by Lord Brahma, the creator of the Universe. The child took the form of water. Santanu placed the child right in the middle of four great mountains – Kailash, Gandhamadana, Jarudih, and Sambwartakka. He ultimately grew into a big lake Brahmakunda. Parsurama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, had committed a great sin of killing his own mother at the order of his father. So great was the sin that the axe he used to kill his mother got stuck in his hand. The sages advised Parasurama to visit holy places. At Brahmakunda, he asked down one side of the mountains, releasing the water to help the locals. This got the name Brahmaputra or son of Brahma. To Parasurama’ s great relief, the
axe came lose, and blood from the axe was washed off, leaving a reddish tinge in the river. Hence the name“ Luit”( from Sanskrit word Lohid means blood).
Another legend goes on to add that Parasurama used to plough to further furrow the soft soil to make a paths for the waters to flow to the plains. Tired, he stopped at a place near Sonargaon. Here, his plough or“ Langal” came to a standstill or“ bandh”, and this place got called“ Langalbandh”, which is considered to be a very holy place to round of a pilgrimage with a dip in the river Brahmaputra.
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Special Feature:-
Lapodia – An Example
Lapodia is a small village in Rajasthan. Nearly 25 years ago, Lapodia had been lain waste by repeated cycles of drought. Dry parched fields without agriculture, dry pastures, and dry tanks & ponds was the face of the village. Nearly all able-bodied men had to migrate to Jaipur the nearest town in search of livelihood. Even those from well-off farming families were left with little option. But in 2004 the same Lapodia is facing another rainless year, one of a cycle of six consecutive years of drought. But unlike other villages in its vicinity, it has managed to conserve its greenery. Lapodia has achieved the impossible by going back to its hoary
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Integrated River Basin Management Society