The Karmanasa River ( hi, कर्मनाशा नदी) is a tributary of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

. It originates in

Kaimur district Kaimur district is one of the 38 districts of Bihar, India. The district headquarters are at Bhabua. Before 1991, it was part of Rohtas District. Till 1764 the region (Kaimur district) was a part of Ghazipur District and was a part of Kamsaar Raj ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

and flows through the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

and

. Along the boundary between Uttar Pradesh and Bihar it has the districts of

Sonbhadra Sonbhadra or ''Sonebhadra'' is the second largest district by area of Uttar Pradesh after Lakhimpur Kheri. It is the only district in India which borders four states, namely Madhya Pradesh to the west, Chhattishgarh to the south, Jharkhand in t ...

Chandauli Chandauli is a town and a nagar panchayat in Chandauli district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Chandauli District. Geography Chandauli is located at . It has an average elevation of . It comes un ...

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

and

Ghazipur Ghazipur is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ghazipur city is the administrative headquarters of the Ghazipur district, one of the four districts that form the Varanasi division of Uttar Pradesh. The city of Ghazipur also constitute ...

on its left (UP side); and the districts of Kaimur and

Buxar Buxar is a nagar parishad city in the state of Bihar, India bordering Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of the eponymous Buxar district, as well as the headquarters of the community development block of Buxar, which also contains the ce ...

on its right (Bihar side).

Disambiguation

Karmanasa is also the name of a river in the

Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom * Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India *Gar ...

Himalayas.

Etymology

The name of the river means "destroyer of religious merit". There are several legends about it. According to one legend, the sage

Vishvamitra Vishvamitra ( sa, विश्वामित्र, ) is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of ancient India. According to Hindu tradition, he is stated to have written most of the Mandala 3 of the Rigveda, including the Gayatri Mant ...

through ''tapasya'' (penance, meditation and correct practices) acquired the power to create a whole new universe. When he set out to create a new universe it aroused consternation in

Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...

. However, he continued and after creating a copy of our universe, he started creating people, the first being Trishanku whom he decided to send up to rule his new universe. Indra stopped his progress. That is how Trishanku ended up suspended head down in mid-air. The Karmanasa was born out of the saliva dripping from his mouth.

Course

The Karmanasa originates at a height of on the northern face of

Kaimur Range Kaimur Range (also spelt Kymore) is the eastern portion of the Vindhya Range, about long, extending from around Katangi in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh to around Sasaram in Rohtas district of Bihar. It passes through the Rewa and Mirzapu ...

near Sarodag in

. It flows in a north-westerly direction through the plains of

Mirzapur Mirzapur () is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India, 827 km from Delhi and 733 km from Kolkata, almost 91 km from Prayagraj (formally known as Allahabad) and 61 km from Varanasi. It is known for its carpets and brassware industries, and the folk ...

, then forms the boundary between

and

, and finally joins the Ganges near Village Bara (East Side) Ghazipur Uttar Pradesh and Chausa (Bihar). The length of the river is , out of which lies in Uttar Pradesh and the rest forms the boundary between Uttar Pradesh (Bara-Ghazipur and Bihar (Chausa). Total drainage area of the Karmnasa along with its tributaries is .

Tributaries

Its tributaries are the

Durgavati Rani Durgavati (5 October 1524 – 24 June 1564) was the ruling Queen of Gondwana from 1550 until 1564. She was born in the family of Chandel Rajput king Salibahan at the fort of Mahoba. She was married to Dalpat Shah the son of the king Sangr ...

, the Chandraprabha, the Karunuti, the Nadi, the Goriya and the Khajuri.

Waterfalls

The Karmanasa reaches the plains by a succession of leaps, including three falls known as the Karkatgarh,Devdari and the Chhanpathar, which, from their height and beauty, are deserving of special notice. Chhanpathar Falls is high. Devdari Falls, at an edge of the

Rohtas Plateau The Rohtas Plateau (also referred to as Kaimur Plateau) is a plateau that lies in the south-western part of the Indian state of Bihar. Surrounding geography A series of fluvial plateaux that run along the Kaimur Range consist of a series of descen ...

, along the course of the Karmanasa is high. However, Chandauli district administration mentions Devdari Fall as being on the Chandraprabha River.

Dams and bridges

There are two dams across the Karmanasa – the Latif Shah bund and the Nuagarh dam. There also is a dam across the Chandraprabha. The

Grand Trunk Road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...

passes over a bridge on the Karmanasa.

Archaeology

UP State Archaeology department under the direction of Rakesh Tewari, excavations has unearthed iron artifacts dated between 1200 – 1300 BC at Raja Nal Ka Tila site in Karmanasa river valley of north

Sonebhadra Sonbhadra or ''Sonebhadra'' is the second largest district by area of Uttar Pradesh after Lakhimpur Kheri. It is the only district in India which borders four states, namely Madhya Pradesh to the west, Chhattishgarh to the south, Jharkhand in t ...

. It throws new light on the history of iron-making in India.

History

The Karmanasa was the eastern boundary of

Awadh Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...

. It also possibly was the western boundary of the

Sena dynasty The Sena dynasty was a Hindu dynasty during the early medieval period on the Indian subcontinent, that ruled from Bengal through the 11th and 12th centuries. The empire at its peak covered much of the north-eastern region of the Indian subcont ...

. At the

Battle of Chausa The Battle of Chausa was a notable military engagement between the Mughal Emperor, Humayun, and the Afghan warlord, Sher Shah Suri. It was fought on 26 June 1539 at Chausa, 10 miles southwest of Buxar in modern-day Bihar, India. Sher Shah Suri wa ...

, situated on the banks of the Karmanasa, on 26 June 1539, Sher Shah defeated the Mughal emperor

Humayun Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...

and assumed the royal title of Farīd al-Dīn Shēr Shah.

References

External links

* {{Hydrography of Uttar Pradesh Rivers of Bihar Rivers of Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur district Rivers of India Sonbhadra district