Devprayag (Deva prayāga) is a town and a

nagar panchayat A nagar panchayat (town panchayat; ) or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,000 ...

, near New Tehri city in

Tehri Garhwal District Tehri Garhwal is a district in the hill state of Uttarakhand, India. Its administrative headquarters is at New Tehri. The district has a population of 618, 931 (2011 census), a 2.35% increase over the previous decade. It is the 7th ranked distr ...

in the state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, and is the final one of the Panch Prayag (five confluences) of

Alaknanda River The Alaknanda is a Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the source stream ...

where Alaknanda meets the Bhagirathi river and both rivers thereafter flow on as the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

river or Ganga.

Overview

Traditionally, it is considered to be the place where sage Dev Sharma led his ascetic life, giving birth to its present name, Devprayag. It is one of the five sacred confluences in the hills and is an important place of pilgrimage for devout

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

. "Devprayag" means "Godly Confluence" in Sanskrit. According to Hindu scriptures, Devprayag is the sacred place of merging of two visible heavenly rivers, Alakananda and Bhagirathi, to form the holy Ganga. On a terrace in the upper part of the village is the temple of Raghunathji, built of huge stones, pyramidal in form, and capped by a white cupola.

Geography

The Alaknanda rises at the confluence and feet of the

Satopanth Mount Satopanth (7084m) is one of the prominent peaks of the Garhwal range of Himalayas that fall in the Indian subcontinent and also the second highest peak in Gangotri National Park. Location Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

. The

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of the Bhagirathi are formed at Gaumukh, at the foot of the

Gangotri glacier Gangotri (Sanskrit and hi, गंगोत्री) is located in Uttarkashi District, Uttarakhand, India in a region bordering Tibet. This glacier, one of the primary sources of the Ganges, has a volume of over 27 cubic kilometers. The glaci ...

and Khatling glaciers in the

Garhwal Garhwal may refer to the following topics associated with Uttarakhand, India: Places *Garhwal Himalaya, a sub-range of the Himalayas *Garhwal Kingdom, a former kingdom *Garhwal District (British Garhwal), a former district of British India *Garh ...

Himalaya. These two sacred rivers join to form the

(Ganga) in Devprayag. Devprayag is 70 km from

Rishikesh Rishikesh, also spelt as Hrishikesh, is a city near Dehradun in Dehradun district of the Indian state Uttarakhand. It is situated on the right bank of the Ganges River and is a pilgrimage town for Hindus, with ancient sages and saints meditat ...

. Devprayag has an average elevation of 830 metres (2,723 feet).

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, Devprayag had a population of 2144. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Devprayag has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 74.5%; male literacy is 82% and, female literacy is 72%. In Devprayag, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age. The town is the seat of the pandas of the Badrinath Dham.

In popular culture

Devprayag has been featured prominently in the films '' Kisna: The Warrior Poet'' and ''Ponga Pandit''.

How to reach

Air

The nearest airport is the

Jolly Grant Airport Dehradun Airport , also known as Jolly Grant Airport, is a domestic airport serving Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, India, located 25 km south of the city. Commercial operations began on 30 March 2008, after a runway extension to accomm ...

near

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, district and is governed by the Dehr ...

away.

Railway

The nearest railway stations is at

. However, Rishikesh is a small railway station not connected by fast trains.

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the ri ...

railway junction, 24 km farther from Rishikesh, has train connections to most of the major cities in India and is, therefore, the railhead for Devprayag.

Road

Devprayag lies on national highway

NH58 All Nippon Airways (ANA) Flight 58 was a Japanese domestic flight from Sapporo to Tokyo, operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA). On 30 July 1971, at 02:04 local time, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) F-86F Sabre jet fighter collided with t ...

that connects Delhi with

Badrinath Badrinath is a town and nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. A Hindu holy place, it is one of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage and is also part of India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. ...

and Mana Pass in Uttarakhand near Indo-Tibet border. Therefore, all the buses and vehicles that carry pilgrims from New Delhi to Badrinath via Haridwar and Rishikesh in pilgrim season of summer months pass through Devprayag on the way to

Joshimath Joshimath, also known as Jyotirmath, is a city and a municipal board in Chamoli District in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Located at a height of 6150 feet (1875 m), it is a gateway to several Himalayan mountain climbing expeditions, trekki ...

and further north. Rishikesh is the major starting point for road journey to Devprayag and regular buses operate from Rishikesh bus station to Devprayag. The road distance from Rishikesh to Devprayag is . * Haridwar to Rishikesh 24 km * Rishikesh to Devprayag 74 km * Devprayag to Srinagar 34 km * Srinagar to Rudraprayag 33 km

Gallery

File:Devprayag Confluence Oct 2019.jpg, Devprayag after the monsoons in October 2019 File:Devprayag Bhagirathi Alaknanda.jpg, The Bhagirathi ''(left)'' joins the Alaknanda ''(right)'' at Devprayag File:Alaknanda devprayag.jpg, The sediment-laden Alaknanda river flowing into Devprayag. File:Formation of Ganga River.jpg, Devprayag - where Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers meet and take the name Ganga or Ganges River. File:Devprayag - Confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda.JPG, Devprayag the confluence of Bhagirathi and

Alaknanda The Alaknanda is a Himalayan river in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and one of the two headstreams of the Ganges, the major river of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the source ...

rivers. The river gets the name "Ganges" (or Ganga) beyond Devprayag File:VKdevpryag2.jpg, Alaknanda and Bhagirathi sangam at Devprayag. Now the river is known as Ganga

References

External links

Regional Govt Official website

Devprayag
on ''

wikimapia Wikimapia is a geographic online encyclopedia project. The project implements an interactive "clickable" web map that utilizes Google Maps with a geographically-referenced wiki system, with the aim to mark and describe all geographical object ...

'' {{Authority control Hindu pilgrimage sites in India Cities and towns in Tehri Garhwal district