Origin of River Falgu

The river  FALGU  is respected by the Hindus for its sanctity and the portion of its course  flowing by Gaya is held sacred by the Hindus.  It is the first holy site visited by the pilgrims and here they makes their first offering for the soul of their ancestors. 

According to the Gaya Mahatmya , the FALGU is the embodiment of That Lord Vishnu  Himself. It is believed that Falgu was formerly flowed with milk  while some other believed that Mother Sita offered Pind Daan on its bank of river Falgu to her father in low King Dasarath .

The Mohana  , draining the northern slope of  Hazaribagh Plateau  ( Jharkhand ) , flows through a long and narrow gorge from below it's confluence with  Garhi  about three miles north - west from Itkhori.  It is nearly six miles long with a fall of 100' feet at some distance within gorge.  The falls of  Mohana are just beyond the border of the district  , but can easily be reached from  Kahudag  .

The first fall at  Tamasin is situated at the head of a deep valley, where the river plunges abruptly  down a high of steep face of black rock in to a shady pool below  , and then dashes down a gloomy gorge of strongly contorted rock .

The lower falls at  Hariakhal  presents a scene of more placid beauty  , as here the river  , issuing through a picturesque glen glides down a sloping slide of red rock into a still large spur surrounded by wooden banks  .

River Falgu

It is formed by the junction of the  Nilajan  and  the  Mohana  , some two miles below  Bodh - Gaya  . They are the two large hill streams which take their rise in to the  Hazaribagh  Plateau  . Both these rivers are very turbulent on their entering the plains of  Gaya as they are subject to high floods.

The  Mohana  enters the district about 20 miles to the south - east from  Gaya  city  . The  Nilajan  enters it about 11 miles south from  Gaya  . The  two streams which are about  300  yards wide unite near  Mankosi  village  , about  5  miles south of  Gaya city, and then the United stream is known by the name of  FALGU  which flows  on to the north  , passes the city of  Gaya . 

The  FALGU  here impinges on a  high rocky bank of the steep side of which are many  Ghats leading down to the river bed  , while above high water is the  Vishnupad  temple with many minor shrines and the houses of the  GYAWALS  .        

It then runs in a north - easterly direction for about  17 miles  ; and opposite the Barabar Hills it again divides into two branches  --  One  , the  Falgu  , flowing in a northerly direction  while the other   , the  Mohana  , in a north - easterly direction  . 

Both these branches enter the  Patna district after flowing for a few miles and here again they are divided into numerous branches and their water is taken to several  canals and pains for irrigation  purposes  .  

The river  Falgu is thus hardly able to reach the  Poon poon  , although  one of its branches falls into the branch of the  Poon poon  called  Dhorja in  Patna district  .

The  Falgu like the confluent streams of the  Mohana   and Nilajan is subject to high floods because of the destruction of forests in its catchment area  . During the rains the water level rises very high and almost touches the road and railway bridges at  Gaya, but at the other  seasons of the year it is nearly dry and dwindles to an insignificant stream wandering through a wide expanse of sand dotted here and there with stagnant pools  . 

Steps are being taken however by the  State Government of  Bihar to minimize the danger from its floods by constructing dams and weirs on the river  . A great part of its water is diverted for the purpose of irrigation and is distributed among the fields by a series of irrigation channels  , the most important of which is the  Jamuawan  Pains opposite the   Barabar  hills which has converted the whole area into rich paddy fields  .