Gomati River

With its recognition of being an important tributary to the sacred Ganga River of India, the Gomti River remains one of the major rivers in this country in terms of its religious values and sacredness. Hindu mythological relevance of this river is worth understandable. It is said that on the day of Ekadashi or the 11th day of Sanatana Dharma Hindu calendar, a daughter of Sage Vashist bathed in the Gomati waters.

This myth still prevails that if anyone baths in this river on that particular day then ones sins are literally washed away. Perhaps such facts and references of the sacredness of this river have been mentioned in the Srimad Bhagavatam as well therefore the identity of Gomati River on the religious grounds remains apart. It is considered one of the India’s mystical rivers and is always respected by the Hindu community.

Course

Gomal Taal and also famous as Fulhar Jheel, is a place of the origination for Gomti River nearby Pilibhit’s Madho Tanda region. This river flows further for the next 900 kilometers from there and moves ahead in the many other parts of Uttar Pradesh state of India to finally merge into the sacred Ganges River. The merging of these two rivers nearby Saidpur, Kaithi in Ghazipur is an important location for the Hindu community for worships.

Lucknow has a major association with the Gomti River hence both are most often identified with each other. The small river named Gaihaaee merges into Gomti just after 20 kilometers from the latter’s origin. The river looks like a small stream until it flows further for the first 100 kilometers till reaching the Mohammadi Kheri in the state’s Lakhimpur Kheri district where many several types of tributaries start and merge with this river.

Tributaries

Prominent tributaries namely Sukheta, Choha and Andhra Choha merge into Gomti River from the Lakhimpur Kheri district while rest tributaries linking to it come in between. Other tributaries are Kathina and Sarayan in the Sitapur district’s Mailani and in adjacent villages respectively. While this river reaches up to the other important city namely Jaunpur and one more prominent tributary, named Sai River links to it. The merging of Gomti with the Ganges is the holy place where prominent Markandey Mahadeo Temple had been constructed for all the visitors and devotees for spiritualism.

Present Scenario

Upon crossing approximately 240 kilometers, Gomti River finally reaches nearby the city of culture and civilization and state capital, Lucknow. It remains highly meaningful for it being part of states administrative city and most importantly due to the increased religious value. The major aspect for      this river remains in the limelight in Lucknow is the water supply into the entire city from this river itself. In the ending at Gomti barrage while moving forward, it takes the shape of a lake.

Historically Gomti River has its unique relevance in the region due to the prominent cities of Uttar Pradesh namely Lucknow, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sultanpur and Jaunpur having their association with this river. All these cities are located on Gomti River banks. In total 15 major towns of the state out of that the above mentioned names are situated on the banks of this river and hence remain prominent cities.

By the time Gomti River reaches Jaunpur, it starts widening and literally dividing the city into two parts due to its position in the midst. Unfortunately this sacred river is polluted and remains under the 'assault' at several stages while crossing the state to complete its total journey of 900 kilometers from the start to end. Various types of polluted materials from all the 15 cities which this river touches are dumped into it. They usually include the industrial wastes as well as all sorts of domestic discharges. They are enough to pollute this river which still has special status as highly respected river in the country.

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