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This article has been extracted from <br/>

THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908.<br/>

OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
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[[Category:India|B]]
[[Category:Places|B]]
''Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts.Many units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value. ''
=Banganga or Utangan=
A river of Northern India, rising in 
Jaipur territory near Bairat (27 24' N. and 76 10' E.). It flows, 
generally in an easterly direction, through the States of Jaipur, Bharat- 
pur, and Dholpur, and the District of Agra in the United Provinces, 
and after a course of about 235 miles joins the Jumna 10 miles east 
of Fatehabad in Agra District. 

The word Banganga (Vanaganga) means literally • arrow river.' The 
story goes that the five Pandava brothers, on going into hiding at 
Bairat (Vairata), concealed their sacred weapons in a tree, and swore 
that before using them again they would purify them by washing them 
in the Ganges. One of the brothers, Arjun, had occasion to use his 
weapons against the Kurus. The Ganges being far off, he shot an arrow 
into the ground, and immediately a spring of the sacred Ganges water 
issued, which became the source of the Banganga. 

Between 1848 and 1856 small irrigation works were made in Agra 
District and in Bharatpur State ; but these had the effect of diverting 
the course of the Banganga, and did so much damage that in 1864 the 
works in Agra were totally closed, and in 1869 operations were under- 
taken in Bharatpur to bring back the river to its old course. Near the 
village of Gopalgarh in the Ramgarh hills, about 25 miles below the 
source, the waters of the river are impounded by a dam 80 feet in 
height to form the Ramgarh reservoir, the most important irrigation 
work in the Jaipur State. 

This lake when full covers an area of six 
square miles, and can under exceptional circumstances contain 3,000 
million cubic feet of water; but ordinarily about half this quantity, or 
sufficient to irrigate more than 13,000 acres, is impounded. The project 
is practically complete and has cost nearly five lakhs of rupees. Some 
smaller works have been carried out in the Bharatpur State. Ramgarh 
is said to have once been the capital of the Jaipur State under the 
name of Mashi ; there is a temple in the gorge called Jumwa Devi 
which is visited by the Maharajas of Jaipur on their accession to the 
gaddi. Here they are shaved, the process being part of the ceremony 
connected with the accession. 

The stream in the gorge near Ramgarh is perennial, but lower down 
the bed dries up except during the rains. The banks are for the most 
part low, and in Bharatpur are covered, often to a distance of two or 
three miles from the stream, with a dense growth of jungle grass and 
tamarisk. In Dholpur territory ravines run inland from either bank, 
sometimes for a distance of two miles or more. Where it first touches 
the United Provinces, the Banganga is a mountain torrent with a bed 
of sand mixed with gravel. The principal tributaries are the Gambhir, 
Kawar or Koela, and Parvatl on the right bank, and the Kharl on the 
left. The Banganga and Kharl often bring down disastrous floods. 
In Bharatpur the violence of these has given the river the name of 
Ghora-pachhar or 'overthrower of horses.' 
\Papers relating to the Irrigation of the Agra District from the 
Utangan River (Roorkee, 1853-4).]