sea near Bendamúrlanka. The three factories of the old East India Company at Injaram, Bendamúrlanka and Madapollam were situated near these three principal mouths of the Gódávari. Part of Madapollam village has been swept away by the river.
Seven traditional mouths are recognized as sacred by Hindus. The holy waters of the Gódávari are said to have been brought from the head of Siva *[1] by the saint Gautama, and the seven branches by which it is traditionally supposed to have reached the sea are said lo have been made by seven great rishis. The mouths of these are considered especially holy, and to bathe in the sea at any one of them is considered an act of great religious efficacy. It is customary for the pious (especially childless persons desirous of offspring) to make a pilgrimage to each in turn and bathe there, thus performing the sapta-ságara-yátrá or 'pilgrimage of the seven confluences.' The Vainatéyam is not one of these traditional mouths, but is supposed to have been created afterwards by a rishi of that name who stole a part of the Vasishta for the purpose.†[2] The traditional seven are the Kasyapa or Tulya (the Tulya Bhága drain), the Atri (the Coringa river), the Gautami, the Bháradvája, the Visvámitra or Kausika, the Jamadagni and the Vasishta. The Bháradvája, Visvámitra and Jamadagni no longer exist; but pilgrims bathe in the sea at the spots where they are supposed to have been.‡[3] Several other sacred bathing-places in the delta are noticed in Chapter XV. The most important of them is Kótipalli in the Rámachandrapuram taluk. But a bath in the river anywhere along its course has great sancti- fying virtue. Every thirteenth year this virtue is supposed to be much increased, and the pushkaram festival which then takes place is performed all along the stream in recognition of the fact.
Several islands of a permanent character stand in various parts of the Gódávari; but the river constantly forms new temporary islands and modifies old ones. Islands liable to these changes are called lankas. They are rendered extraordinarily fertile by the silt deposited upon them by the river, and the rich tobacco grown on them is known as lanka tobacco. Other physical changes are produced by the force of the stream. Its encroachments upon the banks are noticeable in
- ↑ * Another account says they were brought from the Ganges. The Gódávari is frequently spoken of by the name of the Ganges in ancient writings.
- ↑ † See Chapter XV, p. 202.
- ↑ ‡ The traditional Bháradvája mouth is located at Tirtálamondi, a hamlet of Guttinádévi, and the Kausika mouth in Rámésvaram, a hamlet of Sámantakurru, both in the Amalápuram taluk.
