Sarayu
Origin	Himalayas
Mouth	Tributary of Ganges
Length	350 Kilometers
Source elevation	4150 meters
Basin area	Eastern Kumaon - Western Nepal

The Sarayu (also Sarju; Dev. सरयु saráyu- f., later Dev. सरयू sarayū-) is a river that flows through the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This river is of ancient significance, finding mentions in the Vedas and the Ramayana. The Sarayu forms at the confluence of the Karnali (or Ghaghara) and Mahakali (or Sharda) in Bahraich District. The Mahakali or Sharda forms the Indian-Nepalese border.Ayodhya is situated on the banks of river Sarayu.

On Ram Navami, the festival that celebrates the birthday of Lord Rama, thousands of people take a dip in the Sarayu River at Ayodhya.^[1]

Etymology[link]

The name is the feminine derivative of the Sanskrit root सर् sar "to flow"; as a masculine stem, saráyu- means "air, wind", i.e. "that which is streaming".

Significance[link]

Traditional[link]

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), the Herat river. It is invoked together with Sindhu and Sarasvati (two of the most prominent Rigvedic rivers) in the late hymn RV 10.64.

Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana crossing river Sarayu.

Later on, according to Ramayana 1.5.6, the Sarayu flowed beside the ancient city of Ayodhya, which is in the modern day Uttar Pradesh. It was a tributary of the Gogra. This Sarayu played a vital role for the city and life of Ayodhya, and according to the great Sanskrit epic Ramayana, is where Rama, the seventh Avatar of Vishnu immersed himself to return to his eternal, real Mahavishnu form, when he retired from the throne of Kosala. His brothers Bharata and Shatrughna also joined him, as did many devoted followers. The Sarayu is also the river upon whose banks King Rama was born.

According to a sub-story within the Ramayana, the banks of the River Sarayu is also the place where King Dashratha accidentally killed Shravan Kumar.

It is also called the only river flowing beneath the earth.

In ancient times Aciravati was one of the tributaries of the Sarayu.^[2]

Modern[link]

While the Sarayu river plays an important role in RigVeda and Atharva Veda along with Ramayana. Ayodhya, capital of King Rama is mentioned on the banks of Sarayu river. Sarayu river is mentioned in great details in Ramayana. In modern times there still exist Ayodhya on the banks of river Sarayu in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is a tributary of the Ganges which meets two other rivers at the confluence (sangam) in U.P. See modern Sarayu picture

In fiction[link]

Sarayu is also the name of the river that flows by the fictional town of Malgudi created by the Indian writer R. K. Narayan.

Sarayu is the name given to the personification of the Holy Spirit in "The Shack" created by American Novelist William P. Young.

See also[link]

• Saranyu
• Ramayana
• Hindu mythology

Notes[link]

References[link]

• The Ramayana, by Ramesh Menon (2001)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Sarayu River

• The Geography of the Rigveda

Coordinates: 27°21′N 81°23′E / 27.35°N 81.383°E / 27.35; 81.383

Vineeth Sreenivasan
Background information
Genres	Playback singing, Indi-pop
Occupations	Singer, Actor, Director
Years active	2002–present

Vineeth Sreenivasan is an Indian playback singer, film actor, director, and screenwriter. He is the son of actor Sreenivasan. He made his debut as a director with his film Cycle with Vinu Mohan[2008].

Biography[link]

A mechanical engineer from Anna University, Chennai, Vineeth Sreenivasan is the son of Sreenivasan.^[1]

He is a part of the band Malayalee with Jakes Bejoy, Shaan Rahman and Arjun Sasi. He has also acted as one of the main protagonists in the Malayalam film titled Cycle which did well at the box office.^[2] Vineeth did his second movie role with his father in the movie Makante Achan.

He writes the lyrics of most of his album songs and has also shown his direction skills, directing his own music videos. His music album Coffee @ MG Road became a super hit instantly. He got first prize in Mappilappattu in the Kerala State Youth Festival 1998, where he outshone his ability for quick wit. When he was asked whether his father liked him singing Mappilappattu, he answered, "He didn't have any hatred towards my Mappilappattu, to my knowledge."

Vineeth won the AMMA Best Male Singer Award 2008 for his songs "Mampullikkavil" and "Jillu Jillu" and also the Best Male new face of the year 2008 by Asianet, for his role in Cycle. Vineeth wrote the script and Lyrics and directed the classic movie Malarvadi Arts Club with seven new young actors. He recently won the Asiavision award for the best debutant director for Malarvadi Arts Club. Thattatin marayathu is the second movie in which he proved his skills as a screenwriter, director and lyricist.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography[link]

As actor[link]

As director[link]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Films (playback singer)[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

1. Vineeth Sreenivasan at the Internet Movie Database