The
Indian peninsula is blessed with a multitude of rivers, around which historic civilizations have manifested themselves in the past three decades, and societies amounting to millions
of individuals, spread across a vast diversity of ethnicities have grown. Some of these rivers like the
Ganga or
Godavari have become religious icons, probably due to the vast areas of land they have helped make arable and support communities around it.
This video attempts to document some of these magnificent water bodies, as seen from traveling on the
Indian railways, along with some magnificent engineering structures in the
Indian railway network in the form of railway bridges. A number of the videos are taken in the monsoon season, when the rivers are brimming with water courtesy the heavy rains which lash
India. This compilation covers 10 of the major
Indian states across all major geographical regions barring the north-east. Most of the river are major inter-state rivers, traversing over at least a couple of hundred kilometres, though a couple of local rivers such as the Rupnarain in
West Bengal, or the
Wardha in
Maharashtra are also included. The longest river within
India, the Ganga is prominently featured, along with the second longest river, Godavari. Some of bridges support some high speeds like the Chambal, Rupnarain,
Tapi or
Mahanadi, resulting in some very high speed river crossings.
There are however some notable exceptions which I have not been able to document such as the
Saraighat Bridge over the
Brahmaputra, the
Farakka Barrage over the Ganga, crossings of the
Narmada,
Kaveri,
Yamuna,
Tungabhadra,
Gandak, Ghaghara, Kosi and the rivers forming the
Indus basin. I hope that a sequel to this video would be successful in presenting these other magnificent rivers.
In order of appearance, the rivers presented in the video, and the trains from which they have been captured are:
1.
River Godavari,
Rajahmundry (
Andhra Pradesh): 12663
Howrah Tiruchirapalli Express. At 2.9 km, this is arguably the finest river crossing on
Indian Railways, with a fantastic pair of bridges offering some great views.
2.
River Hughli,
Dakshineshwar (West Bengal): 12260
New Delhi Sealdah Duronto Express. This video is captured at around
100 kmph.
3.
River Mandovi,
Madgaon (Goa): 12432
Trivandrum Rajdhani Express.
4.
River Ganga,
Allahabad (
Uttar Pradesh): 12382 New Delhi Howrah
Poorva Express. This is a night crossing under a full moon.
5.
Koel River,
Rourkela (
Odisha): 18189
Tata Alleppey Express. While this is not exactly a river crossing, the tracks run parallel to the
Koel river for around a kilometre and curve along with the river, providing a gorgeous view of the river in the midst of the
Saranda forests. The experience is heightened by the chugging and smoking of the twin diesels hauling the Tata Alleppey Express.
6.
River Mahanadi,
Cuttack (Odisha): 12278
Puri Howrah Duronto Express.
Witness the furious acceleration over the
2.1 km
Mahanadi River.
7. River
Subarnarekha,
Muri (
Jharkhand): 22824
Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express.
8.
River Tapi,
Surat (Gujarat): 22210 New Delhi
Mumbai Duronto Express, captured at around 105 kmph.
9. River Ganga,
Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh): 12382 New Delhi Howrah Poorva Express. The famous ghats of Varanasi can be discerned from this video.
10. Rupnarain River,
Kolaghat (West Bengal): 12021
Howrah Barbil Jan Shatabdi Express. This video is captured at around 100-105 kmph.
11.
River Zuari, Madgaon (Goa): 12432 Trivandrum Rajdhani Express.
12. River
Brahmani,
Jajpur (Odisha): 22824 Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani Express.
13. River Chambal,
Dhaulpur (Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border): 12433
Chennai Rajdhani Express. The train simply blasted over the bridge at 130 kmph: undoubtedly the fastest river crossing I have experienced over a major bridge on Indian Railways.
14. River Wardha,
Balharshah (Maharashtra): 12433 Chennai Rajdhani Express.
15. River Hughli, Dakshineshwar (West Bengal): 12260 New Delhi Sealdah Duronto Express. One can clearly see the famous
Dakshineshwar Kali Temple in this video, where the
Bengali mystic
Ramakrishna lived for much of his life, and from where he initiated
Swami Vivekananda into monastic life.
16.
River Krishna,
Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh): 12663 Howrah Tiruchirapalli Express.
- published: 31 Aug 2013
- views: 188471