Devprayag (Deva prayāga) is a town and a

nagar panchayat A nagar panchayat () or 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 12,00 ...

, near New Tehri city in Tehri Garhwal District in the state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and is the final one of the

Panch Prayag Panch Prayag (Pañcha prayāga) is an expression in Hindu religious ethos, specifically used to connote the five sacred river confluences in the Garhwal Himalayas in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The five ''prayag''s - ''prayaga'' meaning "pl ...

(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 a river considered holy in Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the sourc ...

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 which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

river or Ganga.

Overview

"Devprayag" means "Godly Confluence" in Sanskrit. According to Hindu scriptures, Devprayag is the sacred place of merging of two visible heavenly rivers,

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 a river considered holy in Hinduism. In hydrology, the Alaknanda is considered the headstr ...

and Bhagirathi, to form the holy

. 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. There are major four temples located on this Godly Confluence. These temples increase the spiritual importance of Devprayag.

Geography

The Alaknanda rises at the confluence and feet of the Satopanth and Bhagirath Kharak glacier in Uttarakhand near the border with

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. The

headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...

of the Bhagirathi are formed at Gaumukh, at the foot of the Gangotri glacier and Khatling glaciers in the Garhwal 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 the Indian state Uttarakhand. The northern part of Rishikesh is in the Dehradun district while the southern part is in the Tehri Garhwal district. It is situated on the right bank ...

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

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, 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''.

Transport

Air

The nearest airport is the Jolly Grant Airport near

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter 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, d ...

away.

Railway

The nearest railway stations is at

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

Haridwar Haridwar (; ; formerly Mayapuri) 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 s ...

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 that connects Delhi with

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

and

Mana Pass Mana Pass (; ) or Chongnyi La (‌; ) is one of the Extreme points of Earth, highest vehicle-accessible passes in the world, containing a road constructed in the 2005-2010 period for the Indian military by the Border Roads Organisation and visibl ...

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 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

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

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

References

External links

Regional Govt Official website

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