Along with the Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Narmada, Indus, and
Cauvery, it is one of India's seven holy rivers.
The Saraswati is especially fascinating since no one knows
precisely where it flows.
The Saraswati River is referenced in the hymns of the Vedas,
the oldest and most authoritative Hindu religious books, and hence seems to be
in the northeastern portion of India, where these poems are placed.
In contemporary times, the Saraswati River runs through the
northern Indian state of Haryana before drying up in Rajasthan's desert.
On its banks, archaeologists have discovered huge villages
from the Indus Valley civilization, indicating that the river was once an
active tributary of the Indus.
The Saraswati, according to popular mythology, flows
underground and meets the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers at their confluence at
Allahabad.
One of the site's names, Triveni ("triple
stream"), comes from the legendary confluence of three holy rivers.
