The Shipra, also known as the Kshipra, is a river in
Madhya Pradesh state of central
India. The river rises in the North of Dhar district, and flows north across the
Malwa Plateau to join the
Chambal River
The Chambal River is a tributary of the Yamuna River in Central and Northern India, and thus forms part of the greater Gangetic drainage system. The river flows north-northeast through Madhya Pradesh, running for a time through Rajasthan then f ...
at the MP-Rajasthan boundary in Mandsaur district. It is one of the sacred rivers in
Hinduism. The holy city of
Ujjain
Ujjain (, Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: Help:IPA/Hindi and Urdu, ŠdÍ¡ËÊ’É›Ën is a city in Ujjain district of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Prad ...
is situated on its east bank. Every 12 years, the
Sinhastha fair (
Kumbh Mela
Kumbh Mela or Kumbha Mela () is a major pilgrimage and festival in Hinduism. It is celebrated in a cycle of approximately 12 years, to celebrate every revolution Brihaspati (Jupiter) completes, at four river-bank pilgrimage sites: Allahabad ( ...
) takes place on the city's elaborate riverside
ghats, as do yearly celebrations of the river goddess Kshipra. There are hundreds of Hindu shrines along the banks of the river Shipra.
Shipra is a perennial river. Earlier there used to be plenty of water in the river. Now the river stops flowing a couple of months after the monsoon.
With this reference, the word Shipra is used as a symbol of "purity" (of soul, emotions, body, etc.) or "chastity" or "clarity".
The
Puranas, or ancient Hindu texts, also suggest that the Shipra originated from the heart of Varaha, Lord Vishnu's incarnation as a boar.
Also on the banks of the Shipra is Sage
Sandipani’s ashram or hermitage where
Lord Krishna, Lord Vishnu's eighth incarnation, had studied.
Narmada Shipra Sihastha Link Pariyojana, Mundla Dosdar - a project linking Shipra river to
River Narmada was commenced in 2012 and completed in 2015 successfully.
[http://daily.bhaskar.com/news/MP-IND-narmada-kshipra-link-project-starts-4094081-NOR.html] The project lifts water from the Narmada river using electricity, and then transports it to the source of Kshipra river through pipes. The link project is the first phase of Rs 8000-crore Narmada-Malwa Link project. Under the project, Narmada would be connected to Kshipra, Gambhir, Kalisindh and Parwati rivers.
References
External links
Holly Bath in Shipra River Ujjain At Somvarti Amavasya(India News). Published on 5 December 2013.
{{Coord, 22.900, N, 75.983, E, display=title, region:IN_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki
Geography of Malwa
Rivers of Madhya Pradesh
Geography of Ujjain
Rivers of India