River Saraswati was a cultural icon of the Hindus and part of its rich civilisation and heritage. The river appeared exactly where ancient scriptures described it. Currently, the number of discovered settlements in and around the river valley is in several thousands. The valley was a confluence of commerce and transportation, the rivers providing connectivity to the Middle East, with a great influence, said Dr S Kalyanaram, director of Sarasvati Research Centre, Chennai.
Sri Kalyanaram was speaking at the two days (27-28 January) National Seminar on “River Saraswati Through the Ages” being held in TSCAB Auditorium at Rajendra Nagar, Hyderabad as key not speaker. This seminar was organised by Itihas Sankalan Samiti ( Bharateeya), Telangana.
While explaining about the origins of Saraswati river and its archaeological findings, Sri Kalyanaram advised the scholars and researchers not to confine the research to the water body of the river, but to go beyond and explore the civilisation that served the humanity that is still echoing today as part of our heritage.
Sri Y Sudharshan Rao, former chairperson of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), said the entire Himalayan belt should be explored to find the literature and physical evidence that has immense potential in connecting our ancient civilisation that served humanity. It is the right time to bring them into the limelight using the current modern technological developments and pass it to next generations.
He also added that most of the western archaeologists and historians do not possess the kind of interest and passion in finding the roots of Hindu culture and heritage.
L Narasimha Reddy, Retd Patna High Court Chief Justice, said due to Islamic and British invasions and rule in the last 1000 years we were weakened with the knowledge about our historical icons and symbols. In our society we have some people especially communists who blind reject anything that is associated with Hindutva and its cultural heritage. We need to address these challenges and encourage the scholars to work on this area.
He also said that communist historians and so called progressive writers distorted the Indian history, opposed to Sanskrit language, Rama Sethu, and kept on propagating scientifically rejected Aryan and Dravidian theory.
Prof Rajneesh Kumar Shukla, Member secretary of ICHR, said the existence of Saraswati River is accepted by everyone, so it is time to research extensively on and bring out the facts into masses.
Prof. Satish Chandra Mittal, president of Akhil Bharateeya Itihas Sankalalana Yojana, will be presiding this two day national seminar.
Smt. Surabhi Vani Devi, chairperson of the reception committee also addressed in the inaugural session.
Prof. V. Kishan Rao, the convener of the Seminar and president of ISS(Bharateeya) Telangana state, and many eminent scholars, historians and academicians from various states and universities are participating in this seminar and presenting their researched papers on River Saraswati.
Itihas Sankalan Samiti ( Bharateeya) is a voluntary organisation affilatated to Akhil Bharateeya Itihas Sankalalana Yojana. The aim of the samiti is to involve scholars, scientists and directors of various research centres connected to archaeological departments to write and rewrite the history and culture in the correct perspective of our great country, the Bharat by organising seminars, conferences, workshops etc.
