Sarayu

The Sarayu is a river that flows through the Indian states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. This river is of ancient significance, finding mentions in the Vedas and the Ramayana. The Sarayu river forms at the confluence of the Karnali (or Ghaghara) and Mahakali (or Sharda) in Bahraich District. The Mahakali or Sharda forms the western Indo-Nepal border. Ayodhya is situated on the banks of river Sarayu. Some mapmakers consider the Sarayu to be just a section of the lower Ghaghara River.

The Sarayu rises at Sarmul (or Sarmool), which is located in the extreme north of the district Bageshwar of Uttarakhand on the southern slope of a ridge of the Nanda Kot. It flows through the Kumaon himalayas, and passes by the towns of Kapkot, Bageshwar and Seraghat before flowing into the Mahakali at Pancheshwar.

The river is mentioned three times in the Rigveda. The banks of the Sarayu are the location of the slaying of two Aryas at the hands of Indra in RV 4.30.18. It is listed together with western tributaries to the Indus: Rasā, Anitabha, Kubha, Krumu and the Sindhu itself as obstacles crossed by the Maruts in RV 5.53.9. In this verse, Purisini appears as its epithet. At this stage of the earlier Rigveda, it apparently was a river west of the Indus system that corresponds to Iranian Harayu (Avestan acc. Harōiium, Old Persian Haraiva, modern Harē or Harī), the Hari River. It is invoked together with Sindhu and Sarasvati (two of the most prominent Rigvedic rivers) in the late hymn RV 10.64.

According to the regional versions of the Ramayana written in different Indian languages, especially in Ram Charit Manas by Goswami Tulsi Das 1.5.6, the Sarayu flowed beside the ancient city of Ayodhya, which is in modern day Uttar Pradesh. It is a tributary of the Ghaghara. This Sarayu played a vital role in the city and life of Ayodhya, and according to the Ram Charit Manas, Rama, the seventh Avatar of Vishnu immersed himself in the river to return to his eternal Mahavishnu form, after he retired from the throne of Kosala. His brothers Bharata and Shatrughna also joined him, as did many devout followers. The Sarayu is also the river on whose banks King Rama was born.

In ancient times Aciravati was one of the tributaries of the Sarayu.