THE
Godavari is one of the great rivers of India. It rises in the Western Ghats
near Nasik, and, after flowing as a perennial stream through the dry tracts of
the Deccan, it pierces the Eastern Ghats and falls into the Bay of Bengal
beyond Rajahmundry. It is nearly a thousand miles long and has many
tributaries. The Dudna flowing through the Aurangabad District, where lie
Ajanta and Ellora, falls into it from the North. The Manjira flows into it from
the south through Central Hyderabad. The Pranhita formed by the union of the
Penganga and the Weinganga drains the southern portion of the Central
Provinces. The Indravati flows into it from the western slopes of the Eastern
Ghats and the Sabari after traversing the plateau of Jeypore. Through a deep
gorge in the Papi hills, the river cuts its way to the fertile plains of the
East Coast. Beyond Rajahmundry the river spreads out into a vast fan-like belt
in the East and West Godavari Districts of the Northern Circars.
The
valleys of the Godavari and its sister river, the Krishna, together have formed
Andhra Desa. From Nasik to Rajahmundry, the Godavari and the Krishna are twin
streams, material and vital, which flow together. For hundreds of miles the
Godavari is navigable and passes through a region of varying climate and
scenery. The Deltas of the Godavari and the Krishna flank the sea for some four
hundred miles.. The rivers and mountains, plateaux and plains, forests and
mines, the sea and the winds of the two monsoons all go to make Andhra a land
of varied beauty and riches. The physical nature of the country makes its
people soldiers, farmers, and seamen. The quality of the people combines
intellect with emotion and a sense of adventure.
The
Godavari is bound with Andhra throughout history. The Andhra Empire of the
Satavahanas from the 3rd century before Christ to the 3rd century after Christ
extended from Nasik to Rajahmundry. History records that the Andhra Empire had
a well-knit organization, social and political, with fortified towns and
flourishing villages. Religion and the arts flourished. Buddhism was the
prevailing religion and its art has been recorded in the epic paintings of
Ajanta which became the centre of the art of Asia, from Ceylon through Central
Asia right to Japan. Sculpture at Ellora attained a high quality. The Andhra
language was then linked with Prakrit.
After
the Satavahana Empire came the Ikshvaku Empire with its capital on the Krishna.
It was followed by other rulers such as the Pallavas, Vishnukundins and Gangas
who ruled over the Anhdra desa. Then in the 7th century, the Eastern Chalukyas
established a powerful Empire once more, centred in the Godavari Valley at
Vengi and Rajahmundry. It was during the time of the Chalukyas that the Telugu
language, influenced by Sanskrit, attained its modern form with a
well-established grammar. The great Nannayabhattu who translated the Mahabharata
was a Court poet of Rajaraja Narendra at the beginning of the 11th century.
The Kakatiyas of Warangal ruled over Andhra during the 12th to 14th centuries
when the Andhra Empire shifted to Vijayanagara on the banks of the Tungabhadra.
Muslim kingdoms were next established, and from the 16th century, Andhra has
been under the Bahmini kings and the Nizam of Hyderabad till the Northern
Circars and the Ceded Districts became the Andhra area of Madras.
After
the Satavahana Empire, the Andhra kingdoms took root in the Eastern portion of
the Godavari region from the river Manjira on the West. Even today this region
consisting of the greater part of Eastern Hyderabad and the Northern Circars
continues to be Andhra. This area has also been named Trilinga or Telugu from
three temples of Iswara, two of them being on the Godavari–one at Draksharam in
East Godavari and another in Hyderabad–and the third being at Srisailam on the
Krishna. With recent events in Hyderabad, the Andhra area in Madras and
Telingana in Hyderabad once more come together as parts of the Union of India.
We may, look forward to Eastern Deccan being again integrated socially,
economically, and culturally, and, if Andhra sentiment throughout the area
favours such fusion, even politically and administratively. The Andhra Empire
of over 200 years ago will then flower again as an Andhra democracy playing a
vital part in the Indian Union.
Rivers
precede the races that spring from and about them. The Andhra race is the
product of the Godavari and its younger sister, the Krishna. The Godavari not
only links geographically the West and East of India but it is also the historical
meeting place of the North and South of India. So too the Andhras have been the
meeting race of Aryans and Dravidians. The clash of northern and southern
religion helped to develop Buddhism with Sanskritic ideas in Prakritic garb,
with visions of the intellect expressed in concrete form and colour. The Andhra
Empire on the banks of the Godavari was a synthesis of the Aryan and the
Dravidian civilisations which marks the quality of the Indian civilisation.
Not
only this, the Andhra has been the meeting place of Muslim and Hindu
civilisations. The Muslim Empire of the Moghuls and the Hindu Empire of
Vijianagara met and out of their clash grew the Muslim Kingdoms of the Deccan,
the last of which has been Hyderabad. The life of Hyderabad both politically
and economically has been bound up with the Godavari. The Godavari furnishes it
with facilities for irrigation. Electric power is derived from the coal fields
on the banks of the Godavari. The economic potentialities of Telingana are as
rich as those of Andhra in Madras. Both await the application of science and
organisation under the impetus of the released spirit of free India. The proud
city of Hyderabad may well again become the capital of an integrated but
democratic
Andhra.
I
have spoken so far of the geography and history, of the politics and economics
of the Godavari. But the synthesis of life is to be found in poetry. The poetry
of the Godavari is enshrined in the Ramayana. In the Aranya Kanda we
read of Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana reaching the Godavari. On its banks Lakshmana
built with simple materials a parnasala. Here Rama enjoyed a peaceful
life and the rich fruits and flowers of a tropical land. Then comes the story
of the Asuras from Ceylon who stole the Goddess of prosperity. By the determined
and sustained valour of Rama and his friends, Lakshmi was once more restored to
her husband and her country. The story of the Ramayana as it has
permeated the minds of the Andhras was a dream of the past dreamt by Valmiki.
Perhaps dreams are facts in the timeless, and facts are dreams in time. Some
days ago, when I was taking a morning walk in Madras, I saw an old woman, poor
but cleanly clad, coming out of a bungalow with a basket in her hand and a
child clad in a loin cloth by her side. She told the child that twice before
the owner of the bungalow had done what she needed but that day he declined.
She said: “There is Rama and his rule. Men are kind today and they hate you
tomorrow but Rama is kind for ever; only his kindness lasts.” Where has this poor
Telugu woman of Madras got the message of Rama? Perhaps she met him on the bank
of the Godavari where, at the parnasala, Rama met the simple and lowly
folk around and talked to them of duty and kindness, of discipline and love.
The laws of ethics are true in the timeless and are eternal. So too the
Godavari is eternal; Andhra is eternal; Rama is eternal. These three eternals
meet at the parnasala and the result of their meeting is widespread not
only through the centuries but also through the minds of men and women in
Andhra as elsewhere in Bharata Varsha.
Even
as the parnasala was simple to build, so is its modern counterpart, the
Ramapadasagar, once more to be built at the meeting place of the Godavari,
Andhra and Rama complex to be built. A place on the Godavari, kept fresh in
men’s hearts through the shining devotion of Ramadas may enact a new Aranya
Kanda that once more grips and delights the hearts of men and women. The
Godavari is a part of the life of the Andhras and therefore it is an integral
part of the life of India. 1
1
By courtesy of All-India Radio, Madras.