The Saraswati is eulogized as the holiest of rivers, best of mothers & best of goddesses. "Naditame, Ambetame, Devitame." As a mighty river, she cr_dled many a cultures on her banks. She was revered as a r:nother as the consort of Brahma, the creater. Since 'vak' or the spoken word was vital for the growth of civilization, Saraswati grew in importance. She became deified as the personification of speach and wisdom. And so even when the mighty, turbulent Saras_ati of yore, ceased to flow and disappeared into the dessert as subterrenean stream, the notion of Saraswati as 'the stream of knowledge' has remained deeply imprinted in the Indian psyche.

The mythical Saraswati, which had lived on in the Indian folklore through the ages, now comes alive with the recent spurt in geological and archaeological researches. With over 2000 of the 2600 proto-historic and historical sites known being located in its river basin, such as Adi Badri, Bilaspur, Sadhaoura, Mustafabad, Bhaganwanpura, Thanesar, Raja-karn-ka Qila, Mirzapur, Pehowa, Kalayat, Kaithal, Banawali, Rakhigarhi and Dholavira. Thermoluminiscence dating of the potteries reveal the fact that human occupation in the valley started atleast in ,the 3rd millennium BoC..

Through sattelite imagery, scientists have mapped the course of an enormous river, that flowed through the North-Western region of India covering a streach of approximately 1600 Kms., from the Himalayas to the Arabian sea. The images show that it was 8 kms. wide in places and that it dried up 4000 years ago. The Vedic Saraswati was fed by the Bander Poonch Glacier in the Naitwar region of the Garwal Himalayas but in due course of time owing to tectonic uplifts the Bata-Markanda divide was came to the existence & so this source to the Saraswati was cut off, due to which it was reduced to a seasonal, rain-fed stream, and therefore the epithet 'a river of lakes' (Saras-wati, or the one with lakes). Th_ ox-bow lakes, filled with water during the monsoons and became sacred tirthas. The origin of the stream is traced to the Siwaliks. Four streams have so far been identified with the Saraswati but the consensus has settled for Adi-badri, which has incidently been taken to be the origin point or the 'Saraswati Udgam Sthal' by Cunningham also.

The questforthe lost Saraswati and subsequently its revival, by bringing these subterrenean aquifers over the ground with the help of drillings mechanisations in order to harness this potential water source is being attepted, as it offers immense economic as well as cultural potential.

Honb'le Minister for Culture and Tourism, Sh. Jagmohan has truely visualised "It is a part of the larger cultural policy for national ressurrection". Plans have been drawn to build check-dams for collecting monsoon water in Harayana, drilling of the dry beds of the Saraswati and linking of the Saraswati associated holy sites such as Thanesar, Vasishta Ashram, Pehowa, Kapal-Mochan and Brhamasarovar near Kurukshtera.

As a follow up of this larger plan, the Mini Circle, Shimla on behalf of Chandigarh Circle of Archaeological Survey of India, undertook the exploration and excavation of about 40 ancients sites in the Saraswati river basin in and around district Yamunanagar. The primary objective of   these archaeological explorations and

excavations was to determine the antiquity of these sites and to arrive at a conclusion regarding the successive cultures that developed in this region, and also to determine a cultural chronology for the area.

ADI SADRI (30o27'N 77°27'E) lies 40 kms. north of Dist. Yamuna nagar. It is approached by road via Bilaspur and is about 2 kms. from the nearest village Kathgarh. It is located in the foothills in the Siwaliks. The site accords a picturesque location, abundant with natural beauty and tranquility, with the Adi-Badri Narayana, Shri Kedar Nath and Mantra Devi Temples in the backdrop. Three mounds named ABR-I, ABR-II and ABR-III were excavated.

ABR-I : This mound is locally known as Simhabara. The excavation revealled two cultural phases of bricks and stone respectively. The exact nature and extension of these structures are in the process of being ascertained. The succeeding phase of a single course stone wall was found in a very disturbed condition. The pottery recovered from the site includes red ware of medium to coarse fabric, and few sherdsofbuffware. The main shapes are bowls basins, jars, cooking vessels, pitchers, handies, lids, knobed lids hukkas etc.