The boatmen ask for very high charges so tourists must be ready to haggle quite a lot. While it was a bright sunny day it was not really hot & we more than happily hopped on to a boat for a ride till the ‘Sangam’. Since it was almost afternoon, there were fewer people and ample space to roam around. I could also see the remains of temporary roads built during the mela. I could still see the temporary shacks / tents / washrooms that would have been set up during the mela to make the visit convenient for the devotees. The annual “Magh Mela” had just gotten over. Since I am neither a religious person nor am too keen of being a part of any religious ceremony, this was a good time for me to visit the place.
While Yamuna is deep but calm, the Ganges is shallow but forceful! They are quite the opposite, yet seem to be co-existing peacefully! Inspite of this, it is quite amazing to see how the 2 rivers have maintained their identities and are still different as they merge. As of last week (that’s when I was there), the color of Ganges is dark green & that of Yamuna is almost black! The rivers seem to have aged in these 10 years, & how! There is an age-old famous Bollywood song … “Ram teri ganga maili ho gayi paapiyon ke paap dhote-dhote” … sadly this seems so true now. I still remember that ‘line’, called the “Sangam”, beyond which the off-white color of the Ganges turned into blue & became the Yamuna! However, 10 years down the difference is neither so obvious nor so easily perceptible. I still recall a conspicuous difference between the waters of the two rivers. I remembered from my earlier visit, that the color of the Ganges was actually off-white & that of the Yamuna bright blue. I was visiting the “Triveni Sangam” after almost 10 years. There is a reason why I have used the word “original” for the colors of the holy rivers.
A dip at this point is said to wash away all sins!
“Sangam” is referred to the point where the “originally” pale-yellow waters of the Ganges merge with the “originally” blue waters of the Yamuna with the invisible Sarasvati co-joining them. Of these three, river Sarasvati has been referred to as dead / invisible since years however is believed to be flowing underground. The “Triveni Sangam”, in Allahabad, is a conflux of 3 rivers – the “Holy Ganges”, the “Sacred Yamuna” & the “Mystical Sarasvati”. As the belief goes, two rivers are better than one & three even better! It is also believed that those who bathe at a place where rivers, white and dark, flow together rise up to heaven. In India, meeting of rivers has always amplified the holiness of any place.
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