Advertisement
Published: November 1st 2007
Edit Blog Post
Across the river, into the woods
The Godavari river meanders through the Eastern Ghats. Rickety drive on shitty roads is passé. Godavari shines in the morning light, the temple across it enveloped in a haze. The river, which stinks of buffalo dung and paper pulp in Rajahmundry, is fresh 80 kilometres upstream in Pattiseema. The boats are waiting for enough tourists on board to set sail for Papikondalu, a jungle deep inside the Eastern Ghats. Our dilapidated bus was one of the many suppliers.
Nuclear families, extended families, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law…people are making the maximum out of the Dusshera vacation. Thankfully, the river is still a destination for local tourists. (In other well-branded water bodies, domestic tourists are second-class citizens against their dollar-wielding counterparts.) But lack of marketing does not ensure a healthy environ. Plastic trails of previous cruises float in the placid water.
As the upper deck of our boat is filled, the captain and his team swing into action. The small crew comprising local boys and girls ensures that everyone is on board and well fed. Cold idlis and sweet chutney are served. (The Rs 500-package includes travel to the jetty and the day’s food.) We are ready to leave as two large boxes - the next meal - are brought in.
A journey back in time
The mystic river connects civilization to its long forgotten roots. Smaller boys who play around are ready to hitchhike.
On the bow, with my back to the breakfast buzz, I am eager to explore the vast river that snakes into the distant hill range. A sense of deja vu…the light, the water…a romantic morning, a fleeting expression. The reverie is chased away by a loud Telugu song…Nee Charanam, Kamalam, Mridulam…. The large sound system in front of me is at work. My position suddenly becomes the most unenviable in the boat.
Anchor's aweigh and the ropes untied. The boat starts. The song is interrupted by Nagarjuna, who would be our emcee. He welcomes us on board and gives a lowdown of things to expect on the journey. What promised to be a calm, reflective day turns into a scene out of a Telugu movie. Amid pious NTR songs and freaky Mahesh Babu numbers, Nagarjuna (not the matinee idol) tries to entertain his guests. Surprisingly, I find it amusing.
Colourful clothes are festooned on the riverbanks. Flags of the dhobiland. Men, women and children are busy cleaning laundry from the two coastal districts that flank the river. East Godavari and West Godavari are separated by the common lifeline.
Life and livelihood
The Godavari river is the giver of life and livelihood for people along its torturous itinerary. Godavari delta is the most fertile region in south India. The Oil & Natural Gas Corporation asset in the Krishna-Godavari basin is vital to the prosperity of Rajahmundry and its surroundings.
We leave civilization behind as the green hills become more prominent. The spotting of a riverside hamlet becomes less frequent as the cruise progresses. Once in a while, there is a proper settlement. We anchor at a stretch of settlement near Gandi Posama Temple on the right bank. Women at a dozen shops try to sell offerings and cool drinks. Alms-seeking children wait near the boat for the returning travellers.
Emcee wields the mike again: “See the white steps on the left side. That’s where Chiranjeevi chased the villain in the film…That Vijayashathi-Mohan song was shot in that village over here…” The filmlore goes on till we reach the Polavaram dam site. Nagarjuna points to the construction site on the left and right banks with a thrust on “Poolavaaram projectu”. An old man on the deck comments: “All this will be lost.”
The Rs 13,500-crore, 150-foot-high dam, named Indira Sagar, will generate 960 megawatts of electricity and irrigate 2,91,000 hectares of land. It will also submerge
Where lores are born
The river is the mother for these people, who have been fishing here for generations. 63,691 hectares of land and displace 2,00,000 people in Andhra Pradesh and the neighbouring states of Orissa and Chhattisgarh. Little does our emcee realize that he is one of those people living by the river and threatened by the project he is so excited about.
The commentary goes on. People take snaps of a building on the right bank. One of the many police stations raided by the band of Alluri Sita Rama Raju, Andhra’s own militant freedom fighter. The upper deck is almost empty by noon. Travellers seek the comfort of the air-conditioned hall below. There, Nagarjuna is joined by his friends Devi and Sushma, who put together an impressive dance performance.
We enter tribal country. Many of the tribesmen of the Eastern Ghats still live by fishing and nomadic farming. They cultivate the land, but for a short period. Then they would clear another patch of the virgin forest and sow a crop. Five percent of the land doomed to Indira Sagar dam project is estimated to be forestland. The loss would be bigger considering the upward movement of the tribal cultivators.
The river already looks like a reservoir, stretching from hill to hill. Godavari, like Ganga, nurtures the granaries and legends of India. In fact, it is called the Ganga at its origin in Maharashtra. From Triambakeswar Jyotirlinga temple near Nasik to Kotipalli Siva temple in Godavari delta, the river has caused so many shrines. We cruise past a boat moored at a tourism village. Its travellers will go up to Bhadrachalam temple on a two-day package.
The river has washed away the sins of Gowtama the sage, Indra the raingod and countless pilgrims who dip in the holy river every day. Every 12 years, thousands flock to Rajahmundy for Godavari Pushkaram, the Kumbh Mela of the south. Around 4 lakh pilgrims visited the sleepy town during the 12 auspicious days in 2003, when Sun and Jupiter came together over the Godavari.
We are surrounded by Papikonda hill range. Here and there, a tree sways to the wind. Perhaps, there are monkeys on it. The wildlife sanctuary, established in 1978, has every Indian mammal except lion and elephant. Vanisree claims she spotted a deer. It must have scooted in the seconds she took in translating it to English. Her sister Sunita finally convinces the DJ to switch off the music system.
As we near the hills that seemed like shadows a few minutes ago, more shadows emerge in the background. Layers and layers of hills stretch out after every bend in the river. Sometimes the steep hills covered by thick vegetation act as walls. Walls that rise into the sky, they hide even the afternoon sun from us. We sail past inaccessible rocks and cliffs and an occasional clearing.
We leave the jungle untouched before we enter another settlement. We come across melancholy men rowing their boats. Someone is fishing in the shallow water. From a distance he looks like a prehistoric hunter with a crude spear. Two days ago in Marudemilli, from where a perennial stream flows to Godavari, I had met farmer-tribesmen roaming around with their specialized arrows and bows.
On its 1000-odd kilometer journey, Godavari encounters the pious and the rebellious. Despite the efforts of Integrated Tribal Development Agency, the tribal areas are still grossly underdeveloped. Underdevelopment becomes fodder to militant ideologies. East Godavari district is peaceful compared to upstream Khammam, where Maoists run a parallel government in many pockets.
Mainstream society, which glorifies the heroics of Alluri Sita Rama Raju, are not so sympathetic with the contemporary revolutionaries. End doesn’t justify the means. There is no end in sight and the means are pure terror. More than 200 villages in Khammam district have been targeted by the Maoists because native people have consented to sell their land for the Indira Sagar project.
We get down at a muddy bank watched by a group of children and women perched on an exposed tree root. A stone flight leads to another group of children and women squatting behind a row of flower-and-vases made of bamboo flakes. The travellers hasten up the path, guided by the sound of a waterfall. A hermitage. This nondescript shrine is our point of return. With a taste of the virgin spring, we return.
At dusk, the river becomes more mysterious. Waning rays bid goodbye to the water when they can find a gap in the hill range. The hills turn blue in the moonlight. Against a chilly wind, the boat heads back for Pattiseema. I thank my friend Preethesh Babu for suggesting this cruise. Next time may be too late when half this paradise is submerged.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.156s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 12; qc: 61; dbt: 0.1078s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
godavari pushkaram
non-member comment
godavari pushkaram
good informationo about godavari river godavari pushkaram