The Yamuna flows through some of India’s most densely populated urban and peri-urban areas spread across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). Originating in the high Himalaya, this river has the spiritual aura of the Ganges with which merges. However, this has not stopped people from dumping sewage and plastic and chemical waste into it, so much so that many sections of the river in Delhi are now considered ecologically dead. Waste dumping and encroachment coupled with the effects of global warming have made the river highly unpredictable. Almost every monsoon, it causes devastating floods that wipe away buildings and lives.
Through this photo essay, I map the river not just in its present state but also in its past forms, through historical facts connected to the Yamuna, legends and beliefs, and architectural landmarks that have either resisted the fury of the waters or vanished in its tides. It is the river that gives life to these stories and structures, and the river, in turn, lives through them.
One of the most historical remarkable structures connected to the Yamuna is the Satpula (literally, Seven Bridges) dam, a medieval weir built on one of its streams to provide water for irrigation as well as to defend the old city’s boundaries. It dates back to the time of Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325-51), when the region was ravaged by constant warfare, drought, and famine. The reservoir was meant to conserve water for this parched land, enabling crop cultivation and settlement.
Satpula was probably connected to a network of baolis, or stepwells, which catered to the population of the anciety city. The water collected in the weir was thought to have healing properties since the Sufi saint Nasiru’d-Din Mahmud is said to have used it for his daily ablutions. The Yamuna is a sacred presence for Hindus too, who hold that it belongs to the gods. The families that live on the floodplains worship the river in spite of having to face its rampage each monsoon. Of course, imposing divinity on the river is also a way of ensuring that this valued resource stays protected.
That has not worked very well as a strategy, given the degraded state of the Yamuna today. However, pollution is killing not just the Yamuna but several other rivers all over the world; dying rivers are a distinguishing feature of the present epoch, the Anthropocene, where human activity has changed the face of the planet. Besides, pollution is just one aspect of the Yamuna’s epic story—the river leads parallel lives in legends and architecture.
Tracing the course of the Yamuna in Delhi, I found active baolis, ancient ghats, and communities living on the floodplains whose social and religious lives are shaped by the river. It is these stories that make up my larger photo project titled “The river ghosts”: the name suggests that while the Yamuna is a ghost of its former self, it is still a haunting presence for the communities nurtured by its waters.
Siddharth Behl is a documentary photojournalist and a National Geographic explorer based out of New Delhi. His works are chiefly social documentaries focussed on climate change, migration, refugees, and historical research.
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