River Musi Got Its Name From Sage Muchkunda

Hyderabad: As the state government intensifies its efforts to rejuvenate the Musi river, which over the years became a sewage canal, Hyderabad’s river has attracted renewed interest among people.

The Musi river — also known as Muchukunda and Musunuru — rises in the pristine Ananthagiri Hills, located towards the west of Hyderabad. According to an account, the river was known as Muchukunda in ancient times. It was named after Suryavamha king Muchukunda, who protected devas and later became a rishi. He got moksha at the end of his life after he helped Lord Krishna to eliminate a Yavana enemy Kalayavana.

Interestingly, the river Muchukunda merges with the river Krishna at Vadapally village in Nalgonda district after flowing 240 km from Ananthagiri Hills in Vikarabad district.

According to another account, Musi got its name because of its two tributaries — Moosa and Esi — which originate in Ananthagiri Forest and merge with each other near Langer Houz.

A visit to the Ananthagiri forest, the birthplace of the Musi, reveals more about the river that is caught up in the political controversy over unauthorised encroachments.

Like all rivers that flow northward having prominent Hindu temples on the banks, the Musi too that initially flows to north in the Ananthagiri forest has a famous Laxmi Narasimha Swamy temple. Since the boulders on the top of hillock are located far away from habitation, the temple is also known as ‘Kosagundla’ (faraway rocks) Laxmi Narasimha Swamy Temple.

Atop the hillock are over 30 feet high boulders that still bear inscriptions that date back to the 3rd-century common era, attest the Buddhist influence in Telangana. As the rocks are in the shape of a snake's hood, which is called Phani in Telugu, the area around it got the name Phanigiri Colony, says Narasimha Murthy, a local priest.

Since the temple is located close to the river, its lands were encroached to a large extent. Originally, the temple had eight acres, but now it is barely spread over an acre after pucca houses and sheds came up all around.

The temple committee, however, is scared of HYDRAA after the Musi Riverfront Development Authority officials marked several houses in the area for demolition. The temple committee claims that many houses that came up on temple lands will be taken over by the government if HYDRAA goes ahead with its demolition drive, said a local.

For some people, however, attempts to remove encroachments brought cheer.

Sikander, a 92-year-old person, who lives at Moosa Nagar, named after the river, near Chaderghat, recalled the days when hundreds of women used to walk up to the river after celebrating Bathukamma festival to immerse their floral offerings. After the immersion, he said the river used to look beautiful with unique seasonal colourful flowers floating over the water the next day.

“Tab ki zamaane mein hum sab log, bathukamma thavhar mein mil-julkar shaamil hote the. Ab zamana hi badal gaya. Is cheezon ko dekhne ke liye bhi nahi mil raha hai’ (In those days, we used to take part in Bathukamma celebrations. The days have changed now. It is hard to find such things these days),” narrates Noorunnisa.

Hari Narayan Singh, another octogenarian, said that ‘Panjas’, which are also known as ‘Alams’, used to be washed in the Musi river ahead of the Muharram procession in the city.