The Krishna

THE extent to which each great river has influenced the vagaries of history may perhaps be better left to the historian. But the millions residing on the banks of a particular river are bound to be somewhat parochial and zealously defend its superior merits against a neighbour’s claims in favour of another river. Being born and bred up on the banks of the Krishna, I could never accept my river being second in importance to any other river. By tradition and sentiment, we identify our existence with the river on whose banks we live. If the Godavari is supposed to flow in unison with the melody of the raga Sankarabharana, the Krishna enchants me as the magic flute of Lord Krishna, to the music of which all living things danced in rhythm and in joy.

The picturesque Western Ghats around Mahabaleshwar in the Bombay Province, about 40 miles from the Arabian Sea, form the lap from which a murmuring stream breaks into a mighty river, extending over 800 miles to the Bay of Bengal. The start is unassuming as is the case with all big rivers. But soon the river gathers strength when she is joined by Koyna and Varna, two tributaries from the Western Ghats. Later, another small river Panchaganga by name, merges in waters with those of the young Krishna.

After meandering for full three hundred miles in the Bombay Presidency, the river enters the Hyderabad State where her waters flow over a rocky bed. Later when Bhima from the Ahmednagar area and Tungabhadra from Mysore join the river, it is said that ‘in time of flood a mighty volume of water rushes with a great roar over a succession of broken ledges of granite dashing up a lofty column of spray.’ It is after the confluence with Tungabhadra that the river strikes the Madras Presidency again and forms for a considerable distance the boundary between the eastern portion of Hyderabad and the Kurnool and Guntur districts of Madras.

The total length of the river within and along the state of Hyderabad is about 400 miles. The course of the river through the Nallamalai forests is described as one of the most picturesque in the world, being a perpetual source of delight and wonder to the tourists. In these forests live the ‘Koyas’ an aboriginal tribe with their quaint ways still unvarnished by the impact of the modern world. They are said to be a very artistic race–great lovers of beauty: and their folk-songs and folk dances are quite unique.

The river then flows through Palnad, a place of heroic traditions. It is said that mere drinking of the Krishna water in Palnad converts cowards into warriors. It was here that a warrior lady, single-handed, held undisputed sway over a thousands of her countrymen. Nagamma was at once a clever and a brave leader. Her diplomacy was unrivalled. Telugu folk-lore is replete with her Machiavellian deeds, which are off-set by the heroism of the boy-warrior, Balachandra and his noble father. Palnad also produced the famous Andhra poet Srinadha, who is reputed to have lived in true epicurean style at the court of Vema Reddi. The river Krishna, however, was not kind to the poet laureate who seems to have launched a big scheme of cultivation near a village Boddupalli on the banks of the river Krishna. The entire crop was inundated by unexpected floods and Srinadha was reduced to very dire straits, unable even to pay the kist. In utter despair the great poet wails:

Alas! I am utterly deceived by my bad venture at Boddupalli. Krishnaveni has taken unto herself all the fruits of my labour–from where shall I secure the seven hundred gold pieces to pay the king’s due with?

At one spot in Palnad, near Ganikonda, river Krishna altering the hitherto easternly or southernly course, flows northwards for a mile or so–Uttaravahini as they say, Ganikonda is only eighty miles distant from the sea, but strangely enough, owing to a rocky barrier here, the river needs must take the opposite direction and pursue a tortuous course of full two hundred miles before she reaches the sea.

Amaravati which stands on the southern bank of the river, about twennty miles to the west of Guntur was at one time the seat of a great Buddhist University. A little to the north of it was Dharanikota, the capital of the Buddhist dynasty of the Andhras.

Amaravati and its environs are of great historic antiquity and although much valuable material has been destroyed, there is enough to show that here at some distant past there flourished a wonderful seat of learning and an abode of exquisite sculpture, depicting not only scenes in the life of the Buddha but also various aspects of everyday life of nearly two thousand years ago. Amaravati has been identified as the Chinese traveller Hsuan Tsang’s Tonakieesakia and the Rahmi of Arab geographers. It would be of interest to note that the Krishna River Basin was at one time the centre of intense diamond mining. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller of the 13th Century and Nicolo Conti, a traveller of the 15th Century speak of these mines, but the Earliest authentic account of the diamond mines here is by Jean Bapitiste Tavernier who made six journeys to India between 1635 and 1689 to purchase precious stones. According to Tavernier there were as many as sixty-thousand persons working in the mines situated on the banks of the river Krishna. Tavernier also speaks of a huge gem of 900 carats weight which was picked up at a place called Kollur and presented to the Moghul Emperor Aurangazeb by the Ruler of Golconda. It is believed that the Kollur Gem is the same as the world famous Kobinoor which now adorns the crown of the King of England–the term Kohinoor being a Urdu version of the Telugu Kollur.

Among the French crown jewels is the Regent Diamond which is another precious stone traced to have been collected from Peritala, also on the bank of the river Krishna and conveyed to Europe by Mr. Pitt the then Governor of Madras.

River Krishna flows a long way of nearly 700 miles but does not obtain enough depth to be harnessed for irrigation, until she reaches Vijayawada, where modern engineering skill coupled with nature has created the Anicut, commanding almost all the alluvial delta comprising nearly one lakh of square miles from Vijayawada to the sea–a great utilitarian project.

Vijayawada, the nerve-centre of the delta irrigation is also the most important town in the Andhradesa. Tradition has it, that Raja Raja Narendra gave the town its present name to commemorate his numerous victories. On the peak of the hillock, Indra Kiladri where Arjuna of the Pandavas was supposed to have performed penance, now stands the famous temple of Kanakadurga.

Vijayawada is fast developing into a big city. Being an important railway junction it is a commercial centre of considerable possibilities. It may be said that the cultural importance of Vijayawada has been enhanced by the recent inauguration of a Broadcasting Centre there. Various industries have been started in the greater Vijayawada area and it is to be expected that with more abundant supply of electrical energy, as contemplated, these will grow rapidly and aid in the development of Andhradesa on modern lines.

Leaving the anicut the Krishna resumes though with subdued force, for a distance of fifty miles. At this point the river branches into two sections and joins the Bay of Bengal. The landed surface in between the two is called the Divi–meaning the island.

The lower Krishna region is again rich in cultural traditions. Srikakulam is now no more than a small village, located on the banks of the Krishna at a distance of nearly 50 miles from Vijayawada. But it was the capital of the early Andhra kings. The Vijayanagar kings held it in great esteem. Krishnadevaraya conceived his famous work Amukthamalyada during one of his sojourns at this place.

The Buddhistic impact on our history is clear not only from the sculptures at Amaravati, but also from the inscription in several places and remains of various structures. Ghantasala now a large inland village was a commercial centre in the centuries, between the first to the 13th. Ptolemy, the Greek traveller, mentions of the trade that was carried on between Rome and Kantakalsala,–which has been identified with the present Ghantasala. It was a port of no mean importance, from where country craft sailed in all directions. It is interesting to note however that river Krishna has since receded quite some miles from Ghantasala.

River Krishna had given the famous tunes to Kshetrayya’s thoughts of beautiful romance connected with Sri Krishna. The padams of Kshetrayya were originally sung in honour of Movva Gopala, a deity enshrined in a temple on the banks of the Krishna. These represent some of the best compositions of lyrical poetry in Telugu.

Not far away from Movva lies Kuchipudi, a place noted for Bharatanatya. Here the art of dancing was developed in the real Gurukula style as the hereditary vocation of a few families whose descendants are continuing the old traditions with determined effort.

An account of the river Krishna cannot be complete without a mention of Masulipatam or Machilipatnamu, the second town in the District. It is at the tail-end of the chief navigational canal fed by the Krishna. Masula was at one time a great seaport. A Dutch despatch of about 1,600 states “Masula is a city seated near a large river, where the English and the Dutch have their factories. It is a great concourse of merchants from Camboja, Surate and other places under the jurisdiction of the Great Mogul.” This early commercial importance of the town gradually faded away, but with the beginning of the present century Machilipatnam acquired a new importance inasmuch as it became the virtual seat of the renaissance movement in Andhra. It was from Machilipatnam that the present Andhra movement originated during the years 1908 to 1912 and great pioneer work in the shape of national education and intense political awakening was directed from this place. Kopalle Hanumantha Rao, the founder of the Jateeya Kalasala and Mutnuri Krishna Rao of Krishna Patrika–oneof the greatest journalists the Andhra country has produced, had each a coterie of young and enthusiastic idealists who later played their part in the wider national awakening that has resulted in the achievement of our Swaraj. It was in the Jateeya Kalasala also that the Andhra School of Art was developed under the guidance of the talented master Promode kumar Chatterjee whose students have since acquired well-merited fame in India and abroad. Citizens of Masulipatam may perhaps, quite justifiably be proud of the fact that Dr. B. Pattabhi Seetaramiah himself hails from their town.

The Andhras, particularly those on the banks of the Krishna, are an emotional race and love to live in the past. Their enthusiasm and fervour for their past glory has even led their well-wishers to regard them as impracticable idealists. But their love of their culture is ardent and sincere. One of the leaders of the renaissance movement in Telugu literature, in an excusable flight of poetic fancy visualizes a glorious future when once again great ships from many a foreign port shall ride majestically on the proud waters of the Krishna.

“Krishna Taranga Panktin Trokki
Trullinta Nandhranowkalu Natyamadunadu”–

says the poet; and we shall leave him there with his beautiful dream of a river that is a perpetual link between the successive cultures of the Past, the Present and the Future.*

* By courtesy of All-India Radio, Madras.